Throughout history, greed has exhibited a capacity of good and evil. The story of Macbeth begins as a respected and loyal hero of Scotland during the Middle Ages takes a turn for the worse. Greed causes the character Macbeth to make sinister decisions; his violence causes his country to turn against him, and hallucinations cause both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to become insane. The pressure put on Macbeth and the witches’ prediction eventually override his good motives, allowing greed to take control. “Macbeth and another of the king’s general’s, Banquo, encounters three witches, who greet Macbeth as thane of Glamis, thane of Cawdor, and future king”( Dominic, Catherine C., Ed “Shakespeare’s Characters for Students New York: Gale, 1997
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While violence is a part of this warrior society, Macbeth’s uses of it off the battlefield to further his personal ambition (Dominic 252). Macbeth is an extremely vicious man and you can see this throughout the entire play. A quote that exemplifies his violence is, “I am in blood stepp’d in so far, that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’ver”( Shakespeare, William 3.4 36-39). Macbeth is stating that there is nowhere left to turn. He is forced to stand ground, since he has murdered Duncan. Violence begins to completely destroy the impressions and deeds of Macbeth. “Macbeth is a complex of evil and its corrupting influence on humanity” (Scott, Mark W., ed. Shakespeare for Students. Washington, D.C. 1992 Print). The killings in the play are unpleasant and acts of violence take over the play. “Unsex me here, and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty! Make my thick blood, stop up th’access and passage to remorse” […] (Shakespeare, William 1.5 40-42). She wants nature to strip her of everything that makes her a woman so she could build the courage to murder. The drama has arrived at a world without them, world entirely under the control of men of violence in which women have no natural place (Cohen 55). This cruel harsh world is no place for a …show more content…
“Banquo’s ghost appears at Macbeth’s banquet scene and it’s only seen by Macbeth. It is commonly held that the ghost is a hallucination, conjured, from Macbeth’s guilt” (Dominic 254). Banquo’s ghost reminds him that he has murdered a former friend. Macbeth feels guilty for murdering his friend, but he will do anything to keep people out of his way of becoming king. “Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight? Or art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation, proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? (Shakespeare, William 2.1 36-39). Macbeth does not believe that the floating dagger is real. The dagger is covered with blood facing the king’s chamber. It’s pretty clear that something bad is going to happen. “It catalyzes Macbeth’s consciousness of his own criminality and at the same time teeters playfully on the frontier between idea and object (Curran 393). Lady Macbeth also gives into the hallucinations and visions. “Out damned spot! Out, I say!”(Shakespeare, William 5.1 30-35). As though she sleepwalks, she believes her hands are covered with blood that cannot be washed away no matter how hard she tries. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth slowly began to become sickened, and the hallucinations and visions they see shows the reader
While violence is a part of this warrior society, Macbeth’s uses of it off the battlefield to further his personal ambition (Dominic 252). Macbeth is an extremely vicious man and you can see this throughout the entire play. A quote that exemplifies his violence is, “I am in blood stepp’d in so far, that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’ver”( Shakespeare, William 3.4 36-39). Macbeth is stating that there is nowhere left to turn. He is forced to stand ground, since he has murdered Duncan. Violence begins to completely destroy the impressions and deeds of Macbeth. “Macbeth is a complex of evil and its corrupting influence on humanity” (Scott, Mark W., ed. Shakespeare for Students. Washington, D.C. 1992 Print). The killings in the play are unpleasant and acts of violence take over the play. “Unsex me here, and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty! Make my thick blood, stop up th’access and passage to remorse” […] (Shakespeare, William 1.5 40-42). She wants nature to strip her of everything that makes her a woman so she could build the courage to murder. The drama has arrived at a world without them, world entirely under the control of men of violence in which women have no natural place (Cohen 55). This cruel harsh world is no place for a …show more content…
“Banquo’s ghost appears at Macbeth’s banquet scene and it’s only seen by Macbeth. It is commonly held that the ghost is a hallucination, conjured, from Macbeth’s guilt” (Dominic 254). Banquo’s ghost reminds him that he has murdered a former friend. Macbeth feels guilty for murdering his friend, but he will do anything to keep people out of his way of becoming king. “Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight? Or art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation, proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? (Shakespeare, William 2.1 36-39). Macbeth does not believe that the floating dagger is real. The dagger is covered with blood facing the king’s chamber. It’s pretty clear that something bad is going to happen. “It catalyzes Macbeth’s consciousness of his own criminality and at the same time teeters playfully on the frontier between idea and object (Curran 393). Lady Macbeth also gives into the hallucinations and visions. “Out damned spot! Out, I say!”(Shakespeare, William 5.1 30-35). As though she sleepwalks, she believes her hands are covered with blood that cannot be washed away no matter how hard she tries. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth slowly began to become sickened, and the hallucinations and visions they see shows the reader