Good And Evil In Shakespeare's Macbeth

“When one with honeyed words but evil mind persuades the mob, great woes befall the state” – Euripides. Shakespeare’s Macbeth portrays a man with a great desire for power- a man whose actions cause disorder in the intertwined natural and human worlds. Macbeth is thought to be a “valiant [soldier] […] [and] worthy gentleman” (1.2.26), whom for his loyalty to Scotland gets promoted to the Thane of Cawdor by King Duncan. Furthermore, Macbeth is told of his future reign as king by the three Weird Sisters. This news alongside his wife, Lady Macbeth, draws out the evil which resides deep inside of him. Lady Macbeth believes “[Macbeth’s] nature [(on its own)] […] is too full o[f] th[e] milk of human kindness” (1.5.16-17) to be king. Therefore, she wishes to the spirits to “unsex [her] now” (1.5.48) and make her stronger and manlier – consequently, she, rather than Macbeth, becomes the commander of her and Macbeth’s castle and she brings out Macbeth’s evil. …show more content…
He is brought to have a savage mind which so greatly desires power that to make sure he becomes king, he murders King Duncan – subsequently, becoming king himself and changing from fair to foul (1.1.12). As a result of Macbeth, a lesser being, killing Duncan, a greater being, chaos is created in the natural world. “The heavens [are] troubled with [Macbeth’s] act […]. By th[e] clock [it is] day, and yet [the] dark night strangles the traveling lamp” (2.4.7-9): the assassination causes an absence of heaven and its stars – letting hell reside in its place and unsettling