Ascertation In Macbeth

Over the course of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the titular main character has a singular burning desire: to become King of Scotland and to retain the title for as long as humanly possible. It can be assumed that initially Macbeth thinks that becoming King will result in happiness and prosperity for himself and his family, though in actuality the exact opposite is true. Macbeth explores the idea that success does not necessarily bring happiness, an ironic and paradoxical statement that holds true throughout the play. This ascertation can be proven by the fact that Macbeth succeeds in his goals in attaining power and high status, yet all that comes from this success is misery, anguish, and insanity. Throughout the play, Macbeth succeeds in his primary …show more content…
After Macbeth murders Duncan, he feels sickened with himself, stating “I am afraid to think what I have done; Look on't again I dare not” (2.2, line 67). It is at this point that he begins to lose some of his sanity. After he murders Duncan he becomes almost frantic, spouting nonsense and ramblings such as "How is’t with me, when every noise appals me? / What hands are here! Ha, they pluck out mine eyes. / Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather / The multitudinous seas incarnadine, / Making the green one red" (2.2, line 76) which shows that his mental state has already started to deteriorate. After the initial murder and subsequent promotion to King, Macbeth grows more and more paranoid, eventually hating being King and acting out of fear rather than sane thought. He believes that “Upon my head they plac'd a fruitless crown, And put a barren sceptre in my gripe, Thence to be wrench'd with an unlineal hand” (3.1, line 66) and begins to fear that he will be overthrown and that his descendants will not be rulers because of the witches prophecy that Banquo’s offspring would become Kings. This paranoia is also demonstrated when Macbeth states “To be thus is nothing; But to be safely thus: (3.1, line 50) which leads Macbeth to the conclusion that he must kill Banquo. Once he does, however, his sanity is permanently lost as he begins to see the ghost of his former friend. All of Macbeth’s success led to more problems because of the problematic way in which he procured this success. Even though Macbeth in the end got what he originally wanted, all the power in the world could not save him from the consequences of his