In the play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, there were many themes, but the theme of evil stood out most. Macbeth was a great warrior who devoted himself to his King. Over the phase of the play, Macbeth was slowly beginning to change, and evil began to strengthen to where he could not control himself. With such emphatic ambitions, his actions caused a lot of things to descend in the play. Evil intensifies in The Tragedy of Macbeth because Shakespeare presented Lady Macbeth to instill the evilness into Macbeth, Macbeth to have so much ambition to be king that he killed people, and he used the witches to create a corrupt atmosphere throughout the entire play.
When the play begins, Lady Macbeth appears to be a person of good character. Not long after receiving a letter she would be known to be the monstrous brain behind the evil in Macbeth. Her ambition was to become queen and for her husband to become king. Like most women, Lady Macbeth used the power of femininity to manipulate and influence Macbeth. She even questioned Macbeth’s manhood? Macbeth started to feel as if he were not man enough, after talking to Lady Macbeth. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth turned into obnoxious people. According to Utah Shakespeare, “The evil of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is so great that ultimately it destroys both of them. The human soul cannot endure such evil. One way or another evil destroys the soul” (Pilkington, 1). An example of this behavior is when Lady Macbeth could not control herself at the banquet. Her behavior towards the guest was very uncivil. However, Macbeth responded by talking to a ghost.
William Shakespeare embodied Lady Macbeth to be a woman of great determination. Her determination was as strong as a person who would work two jobs to provide for their family. According to SparkNotes, “Lady Macbeth was a deeply ambitious woman who lusts for power and position”(“Character List”, 2019). All Lady Macbeth aspiration was to kill King Duncan so she could be closer to presenting herself as queen. She did simply that with the help of her husband, she accomplished the murder of King Duncan. This demonstrated that she could accomplish anything, even if it meant going great measures to do so.
The actions of Lady Macbeth are condemned by Macbeth as he questioned her evil ways on getting what she desires. Lady Macbeth used her woman ways to trick Macbeth into doing something he wouldn’t have done. All Macbeth contemplated about was being nervous and feeling guilty if he kills King Duncan. Consequently, Lady Macbeth thought about killing him herself, but he looked too much like her father. She also thought that her husband was too kind to kill King Duncan. Lady Macbeth says, “Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great, Art not without ambition, but without The illness should attend it” (Shakespeare, 1.5.3-7). William Shakespeare presented this action to show that Lady Macbeth was acting out of her love for her husband and ambition to be queen.
Just like Lady Macbeth aspired to be queen, she also instilled a strong ambition in Macbeth to become king. Macbeth’s thoughts were only as despicable as his wife. “Before he kills Duncan, Macbeth is ambitious to become king, but he shows hesitation to act. He is passive than Lady Macbeth, who has to convince him to usurp the throne. Following the murder of Duncan, Macbeth becomes increasingly unstable. His guilt about killing a friend and paranoia about maintaining the throne lead him to madness, which also makes him ruthless and bloodthirsty” (“Macbeth’s”, 2010). The quote explains how Macbeth showed no mercy when his ambition to be king dispersed.
In the play, the murder of a great loyal king, King Duncan, was no accident. Macbeth slaughtered King Duncan so he would be one step closer to being king. “If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well, it were done quickly: if the assassination, Could trammel up the consequence, and catch with his surcease success” (Shakespeare, 1.7.1-4). This explains how Macbeth knew that his actions were wrong, but yet he still agreed to murder King Duncan. After murdering King Duncan, Macbeth felt a strong sensation of guilt and anger. “Macbeth is never comfortable in his role as a criminal. He is unable to bear the psychological consequences of his atrocities” (“Character List”, 2019). His actions now view him as destructive as his wife.
To add eviler to the play, Banquo, Macbeth’s best friend, is slaughtered by Macbeth because the witches’ prophecies convinced him to believe that Banquo and his sons can snatch the throne. “He muses on the subject of Banquo, reflecting that his old friend is the only man in Scotland whom he fears. He notes that if the witches’ prophecy is true, his will be a “fruitless crown,” by which he means that he will not have an heir (3.1.62). The murder of Duncan, which weighs so heavily on his conscience, may have simply cleared the way for Banquo’s sons to overthrow Macbeth’s own family” (SparkNotes, 2019). At this point Macbeth begins to think that Banquo can hinder him from being king. Macbeth acts out of evil and overly ambitious, so he hires two murders to kill Banquo and his son. With the two out of the way Macbeth could be closer to becoming king.
After killing one person, most people choose to kill again or not kill at all anymore. Macbeth differently became more obsessed in becoming king. It became an addiction and he chose to kill again. This time Macbeth hired two murders to kill Lady Macduff and her son. “The killing of Macduff’s family is one of the more bloody acts in the play. Lady Macduff begins the scene complaining that her husband has gone away and left her all alone — she even suggests she might leave him and find another man to replace him. Her son says he sees through her complaints and points out she still really does love Macduff. After this exchange, Macbeth’s men swoop down upon them and kill them both — first Lady Macduff and then her son after she told him to run away.” (Honestabe, 2019). This shows how vicious Macbeth was to kill anyone who could possibly hinder him from being king.
The play portrays Lady Macbeth and Macbeth to be evil, but the question that should be asked is, who initiated it all in the first place? To answer that question Shakespeare proposed The Witches. The witches played an extensive role in turning Lady Macbeth and Macbeth into two evil human being. The witches can be described as spiteful and overbearing. According to this quote, “… he knew that his audience would have felt a mixture of fear and fascination for the three ‘weird sisters’, their imaginations captivated by the mysterious meeting on the desolate heath with which the play begins” (Artherton, 2019) the witches were needed in the play to stir up the tragedy. They used prophecies to manipulate the two into have ambition to be king and queen. The witches show that the witches purposely stirred up a corrupt atmosphere to satisfy the reader of the play.
At the beginning of the play, the witches introduced the reader with something called prophecies. The first prophecy states “All hail Macbeth! Hail thee, Thane of Cawdor” (Shakespeare, 1.3.49). This means that sometime in the future Macbeth will become the Thane of Cawdor. Only to find out shortly afterwards he was named the new Thane of Cawdor. After this Macbeth starts to believe in what the witches told him. The second prophecy states, “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (Shakespeare, 1.3.50). The meaning of this prophecy is Macbeth will become king. Many things unfolded and happened for Macbeth to become king. The third prophecy states, “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none, So all hail Macbeth and Banquo” (Shakespeare, 1.3.67-68). This prophecy emphasized the fact that Banquo will father kings but would not be one himself. All of the prophecies were used to influence Macbeth in an evil way.
To back up the prophecies that the witches created, the witches also used apparitions. The first apparition states, “Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff! Beware the Thane of Fife” (Shakespeare, 4.1.71-72). This apparition warned Macbeth that he should be cautious of Macduff. The second apparition is a bloody child that tells Macbeth, “Be bloody, bold, and resolute! Laugh to scorn The pow’r of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth” (Shakespeare, 4.1.79-81). The meaning of this apparition is that no man born of a normal birth will do Macbeth any harm, but a child born any other way will. The third apparition states “Be lion-mettled, proud, and take no care Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are: Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill Shall come against him” (Shakespeare, 4.1.90-94). In Macbeth’s mind, the trees could not move which is technically not possible. What Macbeth did not depend on was that the army of soldiers would disguise themselves as bushes using the tree branches and leaves. They used this tactic to get close to the castle without being detected. All of the prophecies were used to influence Macbeth in an evil way. The apparitions each had a significant meaning which Macbeth misunderstood. Macbeth put in his mind that they only meant good for him. The predictions make a strong impression on both Macbeth and Banquo. It will lead to both the murder of King Duncan and Banquo. Even though the witches created the prophecies and apparitions to stir up evil, they intentionally did not explain them to Macbeth. This caused a bunch of things to occur throughout the story.
Evil enhanced the theme of The Tragedy in Macbeth as a result of Lady Macbeth being overly influencing, Macbeth’s greatly ambition, and witches spreading a fraudulent atmosphere. Lady Macbeth is described as a woman of evil who gets whatever she shall desire. Macbeth is described as a man who constantly murders and overly ambitious. The witches are described by deceitful woman who do not stand by their word. The theme of evil was spread throughout the entire play, making it wicked and deceiving. Nonetheless, evil can greatly control being overly ambition.
Works Cited
Atherton, C. (2019). Character analysis: The Witches in Macbeth. [online] The British Library. Available at: https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/character-analysis-the-witches-in-macbeth [Accessed 16 Apr. 2019].
Enotes. (2010). “What is Macbeth’s state of mind before and after killing Duncan”. [online] Available at: https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/macbeths-state-mind-before-after-killing-duncan-137325 [Accessed 17 Apr. 2019].
Honestabe (2019). What happens to Lady Macduff and her child in Act IV?. [online] Enote. Available at: https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-happens-lady-macduff-her-child-act-iv-72755 [Accessed 16 Apr. 2019].
Pilkington, E. (2019). Macbeth and the Nature of Evil. [online] Utah Shakespeare Festival. Available at: https://www.bard.org/study-guides/macbeth-and-the-nature-of-evil [Accessed 17 Apr. 2019].
Shakespeare, W. and Brooke, N. (1623). The Tragedy of Macbeth. William Shakespeare, pp.1.5.3-7,
Sparknotes.com. (2019). SparkNotes: Macbeth: Act 3, scenes 1–3. [online] Available at: https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/macbeth/section5/ [Accessed 17 April 2019].
Sparknotes.com. (2019). SparkNotes: Macbeth: Character List. [online] Available at: https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/macbeth/characters/ [Accessed 17 April 2019].