The riveting tragedy Macbeth written by William Shakespeare conveys the progression of the protagonist Macbeth’s character from the moment a life-altering prophecy is bestowed upon him of supernatural origin, to the multitude of crimes he commits out of paranoia and greed, to his ultimate downfall at the conclusion of the play. However, without an understanding of Macbeth’s transition in character and that vaulting ambition is at the forefront of the aforementioned events, we fail to truly appreciate this tale. Furthermore, the soliloquy highlighting Macbeth’s initial hallucination regarding the floating dagger provides the audience with solid evidence for this development and foreshadows future events. The prophecy decreed by the witches,
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The witches are the masterminds behind the actions of Macbeth as they insinuate such tempting ideas into his mind. The hallucinations of the dagger are a direct result of stress caused by the prophecies bestowed upon Macbeth, and coerce him into committing the immoral deeds that serve to hasten his ascension to a higher rank. From this quote, the paranoia present in Macbeth’s character is evident when he questions his sanity at the initial sighting of the dagger, and goes on to say that the bloody business (murder of Duncan) is at the root of these visions. This exhibits the mental deterioration of Macbeth himself and displays the moral crisis he is enduring by having the death of an individual on his hands. Furthermore, the prophecy causes Macbeth to see the ghost of Banquo after the horrific deed of killing Banquo …show more content…
Once she discovers the full extent of the prophecy bestowed on her husband, she takes it upon herself to alter Macbeth 's apparently “feminine” and “weak” persona in order to hasten their rise to royalty. Consequently, she berates her husband over his cowardice, and essentially forces him into committing an act that contradicts all of his morals and ethics. Macbeth is pushed to the brink and states in act 1, scene 7 that he will bend up each corporal agent to do this terrible feat, meaning he is going to strain every part of his body to carry out such an unthinkable deed as killing the king. By admitting such a phrase, we can observe just how detrimental the influence from his wife has become to his overall character. The pressure placed upon Macbeth to commit such acts results in an immense amount of stress and anxiety, causing him to experience hallucinations. In act 2, scene 1, Macbeth begins to show symptoms of his oncoming paranoia as visions of a dagger float in front of him, splotched with blood. From this, we can infer that the relationship Macbeth has with his wife is essentially becoming harmful, as his sanity and morality are being put into question with every moment spent with her. Furthermore, Lady Macbeth is one of the most prominent contributors to her husband’s madness. After the murder of Duncan, we
The witches are the masterminds behind the actions of Macbeth as they insinuate such tempting ideas into his mind. The hallucinations of the dagger are a direct result of stress caused by the prophecies bestowed upon Macbeth, and coerce him into committing the immoral deeds that serve to hasten his ascension to a higher rank. From this quote, the paranoia present in Macbeth’s character is evident when he questions his sanity at the initial sighting of the dagger, and goes on to say that the bloody business (murder of Duncan) is at the root of these visions. This exhibits the mental deterioration of Macbeth himself and displays the moral crisis he is enduring by having the death of an individual on his hands. Furthermore, the prophecy causes Macbeth to see the ghost of Banquo after the horrific deed of killing Banquo …show more content…
Once she discovers the full extent of the prophecy bestowed on her husband, she takes it upon herself to alter Macbeth 's apparently “feminine” and “weak” persona in order to hasten their rise to royalty. Consequently, she berates her husband over his cowardice, and essentially forces him into committing an act that contradicts all of his morals and ethics. Macbeth is pushed to the brink and states in act 1, scene 7 that he will bend up each corporal agent to do this terrible feat, meaning he is going to strain every part of his body to carry out such an unthinkable deed as killing the king. By admitting such a phrase, we can observe just how detrimental the influence from his wife has become to his overall character. The pressure placed upon Macbeth to commit such acts results in an immense amount of stress and anxiety, causing him to experience hallucinations. In act 2, scene 1, Macbeth begins to show symptoms of his oncoming paranoia as visions of a dagger float in front of him, splotched with blood. From this, we can infer that the relationship Macbeth has with his wife is essentially becoming harmful, as his sanity and morality are being put into question with every moment spent with her. Furthermore, Lady Macbeth is one of the most prominent contributors to her husband’s madness. After the murder of Duncan, we