Smell Of Victory In Macbeth

While the smell of victory is said to be sweet as roses, it can often be tainted by the foul stench of foul play. When someone is so caught up in what they are doing to achieve a goal, their actions can be immoral and their victory is not always fair. In both Macbeth by William Shakespeare and Ambition by Kevin M. Sorbello, both main characters are seen to be ruthless in their tactics for victory. Macbeth goes to great lengths to become king after the three witches told him he would be “king hereafter”. He murders the beloved king Duncan, the guards whom he framed for Duncan’s murder so they could not speak, his best friend Banquo because he became suspicious and all of Macduff’s family and servants because he had learned Macduff was planning …show more content…
Macduff realizes this and heads to England to meet with Duncan’s son, Malcolm who plans to mobilize against Macbeth immediately. When they arrive at the castle, they learn that Macbeth has prepared an army, but almost none of them are willing to fight for him and end up joining the English troops. Macbeth has no one, any one that would still possibly be loyal to him is either dead or suspicious of his previous actions. His wife, the only person that could help him at such a time was driven to insanity by paranoia and kills herself, leaving Macbeth vulnerable. “In the end I’m alone, but I’ve always been so / I’m not evil, though I’ve certainly known sin” (25-26). In some sense, Macbeth has been alone since he took the throne. The advisors of the king do not trust him and the king’s sons flee in fear. Banquo is murdered at the hand of who he thought was his best friend and Macduff wants him dead. This leaves Macbeth “alone in the end” to face his death. Considering this, Macbeth was a man neck deep in blood and sin. He claims he is not evil because he sees his actions as necessary and for the greater good. The reader sees that his actions are purely for selfish reasons and put nearly everyone in jeopardy. But in the same way, Macbeth does realize that he knows nothing but sin. After the first murder of Duncan, he claims that all of Neptune’s oceans could not clean his hands of the blood and after Banquo and the Macduff’s murders, he claims he can no longer wade in all the blood he has spilled. This being said, Macbeth can be categorized as evil although he thinks not due to the selfish motives driving him