An exploration of evil and its development within the Macbeth play Essay

‘Unnatural deeds do breed unnatural events’ Macbeth, one of the most ingenious plays ever written that expresses the power of good against evil. It is a gloomy tale of a Scottish general’s murderous ascension to the throne, aided by supernatural prophecies and a scheming wife whose lust for power eclipses his own, and has precious few good things to say about the human race. In this essay I will exemplify the exploration of evil and malevolence and its development within the Macbeth play. In Elizabethan times, there used to be a natural order and a way of life. It was called the Elizabethan World Picture. This is a chain of command starting from the most divine beings at the apex and the most to the earthly at the base of the chain; everyone had a place, and a role to fulfil. All the creatures of the Universe were arranged in their proper order. At the top was the initiator of all and sundry, god. Below him was the divinely appointed King. The importance of the King cannot be over-estimated: on him rest the fate of the state. Below the King, and deriving their power from him in proper feudal order, came Earls, Dukes, fundamentally the top Churchmen and all the rest of the aristocracy, all the way down to the customary common folk and the servants, below the servants were peasants and the beggars at the foundation of the sequence. This was the hierarchical structure of society and when this is broken in the play, so is the natural order of the world and unnatural and evil things become to occur. Shakespeare shows when the rightful place of things is upset, then everything will be upset, until state of affairs is returned to customary. When Macbeth slays King Duncan, then nature went chaotic. Elizabethan order in the 17th century was Monarch ruling by divine right, and the worst possible crime was to commit regicide. Shakespeare tries to show us the great disruption caused by the regicide. Owls kill falcons (where Macbeth is the owl and Duncan is the falcon), dark in daytime and horses eating each other. The natural order is the most important theme in the play. ‘Tis unnatural, eve like the deed that’s done. On Tuesday last, a falcon, towering in her pride of place, was by a mousing owl hawk’d at and kill’d’ Act II scene IV ‘And Duncan’s horses, -a thing most strange and certain,-†¦Tis said they eat each other. They did so, to the amazements of mine eyes.’ Act II scene IV 1603-1606 coincided with the accession to the English throne of James VI of Scotland who also became James I of England who was a protestant. James I showed a lot of interest in paranormal and supernatural things, he was also affectionate of people who penchant him and said pleasant things about him. James himself wrote a book on witchcraft and had fancied himself an expert, it is also claimed he persecuted witches and had them hung. So Shakespeare wrote the play on honour of James. Shakespeare took this into account and expressed homage to James by constructing it as a supernatural play by supplement witches, apparitions, ghosts and the Kings Evil and Kings Admiration. He also created the hero Banquo as one of James’s ancestors. This very much appealed to James and he enjoyed the play enormously. But what James knew was that his ancestor Banquo did not have entirely sanitary hands, he to performed iniquitous things in his epoch. The faith in the existence and power of witches was extensively believed in Shakespeare’s time, as was demonstrated by the European Witch Craze, were almost nine million women were put to death for being perceived as witches. The belief of the majority of people during the seventeenth century suggests that the witches are influential figures who can implement immense power over Macbeth; the intensity of the calamity is dependant on whether Macbeth is in full control over his deeds or the witches control the naive and inexperienced Macbeth. Witches, ghosts, and disturbances of nature appeals to the fascination of human nature, Shakespeare knew this and with this verity in mind, his intentions were to create the witches, and at the commencement of the play the frame of mind is set with the three witches. The Witches are associated with evil, as Banquo is quick to comprehend, and although their promise to Macbeth appears to foretell the good upcoming, it in reality brings him calamity. Even commencing Act I scene I the witches put their own words into Macbeth’s mouth. ‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’ The witches in Act I Scene I ‘So foul and fair a day I have not seen.’ Were Macbeth’s first words Why are the witches’ words in Macbeth’s mouth? We are supposed to associate him with the witches and evil, this echo introduces the idea of a divination and prompts the question of Macbeths own self control. Is Macbeth in charge of his own destiny or are the witches enticing and alluring him, and taking control of his fate for him? The witches are also very erudite because they opt the perfect time to approach Macbeth when he is full of battle triumph and fresh from killing. They entice him in and he supplicates of them to tell him more, he chooses his individual fate in this particular segment of the play. ‘Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more.’ Act I scene III The witches speak Macbeth’s innermost and intimate thoughts. They know exactly what to say to Macbeth and their timing is precise; the evil just seeps through right from the beginning of the play. They tell Macbeth prophecies that manipulate him in which disaster strikes at the end of the play. The witches are referred to as women with beards, entirely sordid and squalid in appearance, and also Shakespeare’s choice of words is amazing as it hangs you in suspense and leaves you wanting more. ‘When shall we three meet again, in thunder, lightning, or in rain?’ Act I scene I ‘When one wins, one must lose’ The witches on a few occasions refer to Macbeth as something depraved and malevolence, and on one juncture as there son. ‘Hath been but for a wayward son, spiteful and wrathful.’ Act III scene V ‘By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked comes.’ Act IV scene I The Witches and the apparitions also give Macbeth a false sense of security, they make him feel secure, make him feel protected and make him feel as if he can always turn to them, but, they betray him and lead him on knowing what will happen to him. They just use him for there own amusement and make him corrupt. ‘As by strength of their illusion, shall draw him on to his confusion†¦ and you all know, security is mortal’s chiefest enemy.’ Act III scene V It’s not only the witches who exemplify the evil in the play; it’s also the supernatural and paranormal things that happen such as the apparition of the dagger. Macbeth begins to hallucinate about a dagger covered in blood in his hand pointing to Duncan’s room. The dagger symbolizes the point of no return for Macbeth. If he chooses the path in which the dagger leads, there will be no turning back for him. ‘Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee: I have thee not and yet I thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight? Or art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Also Macbeth visions Banquo’s ghost in the middle of the great feast and Banquet, he almost has a nervous breakdown. Lady Macbeth attempts to calm him down but to no avail. He sees his ghost as a sign for the future and he goes crazy. Shakespeare somehow makes you feel sympathetic for him. ‘Avaunt! And quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee! Act III scene IV Also, the witches show Macbeth three apparitions. One of them presages: – ‘Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Act VI scene I The second apparition notifies: – ‘Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn the power of man, for none of women born shall harm Macbeth.’ Act VI scene I And finally the third apparition warns: – ‘Macbeth shall never be vanquish’d be until Great Birnham wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him’ Act VI scene I In the end, all of these apparitions come to pass and Macbeth was warned about them in advanced. Macbeth did be cautious of Macduff but in the end he did not massacre or kill him, and he did not take into precaution the guarding of Great Birnham Wood. Also, the witches only warned him of things to come; they did not tell him how to transaction with them†¦ At the commencement of the play, Macbeth is regarded as the most honoured men in Scotland. He had just won a victorious battle and was referred to as a dignified and courageous man. ‘For brave Macbeth, he well deserves that name’ Act I scene II At first, Macbeth felt he had no reason to kill King Duncan; he deeply cared and esteemed Duncan and the witches’ prophecies which stated that in the future, he will become king. ‘If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me without my stir.’ But as the play grew on, with Lady Macbeth pushing Macbeth and testing his manly hood, Macbeth soon becomes a cerebral, sadistic and merciless king. The witch’s were only partially to blame for Macbeth’s downfall; Macbeth himself did the dirty deeds. Macbeth is not naturally inclined to perform malicious and spiteful deeds, but he deeply desires supremacy and power. Macbeth’s character is physically strong and mentally weak, and it is this weakness that instigates the downfall and change of Macbeth. Lady Macbeth forces him to make the wrong choices, which puts his leadership at steak. She is mostly responsible for the evil doings of Macbeth. This line shows that she considers Macbeth as a ‘wimp’, and a feeble human. ‘Is too full o’ the milk of human kindness’ Macbeth’s manliness is always being tested so he has no choice but to kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth transforms Macbeth into a greedy, cold-hearted human being; by saying things such as â€Å"Are you a man?† She undermines his masculinity, to make him feel at fault, and have it her way. ‘When you durst do it, then you were a man’ Act I scene VII ‘Thou esteem’st the ornament of life and live a coward in thine own esteem’ Although not a â€Å"secret, black, and midnight hag†, as an evil female, Lady Macbeth could be contemplated as a witch according to the standards of Shakespeare’s day. She is more heartless than Macbeth, she lures him and the killing of Duncan was mainly because of her desires to be queen. ‘Look like the innocent flower, But be the Serpent under’t.’ Act I scene V Also, the fact that she works with the witches to influence Macbeth suggests that she is at least indirectly allied with them. At the start of the play Lady Macbeth appears as a nice, beautiful and respectful wife but underneath lies a conniving, deceitful woman. Lady Macbeth’s strong power is used to effortlessly persuade her weak husband. Her strength inspires him at the beginning of the play, but after he realizes his actions he persists with his bloody path. Macbeth does say that he does not want to prolong the foolishness but again is persuaded by Lady Macbeth. Macbeth, while he clearly likes the idea, and even shares her desire, falters on holding his promise to her until she threatens his manhood directly, she is so single-minded in her purpose that she can sacrifice all her femininity and all human feelings in her lust for power ‘We will proceed no further in this business†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢At I scene VII Lady Macbeth is blinded by her own ambition and her own pride, she will not see the proper and loyal side to life, and she would even take life from her own infant to persevere with her plans and her promises. ‘I had given suck, and know how tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling in my face, have pluck’d my nipple from his boneless gum, and dash’d the brains out, had I sworn as you have done this’ Act I scene VII Lady Macbeth is very manly on the inside, she is very cruel and would never relinquish in battle, it is like she would prefer to be a man than a women. ‘Unsex me here’ As the play draws to an end, so does Lady Macbeth. In Act V, we see Lady Macbeth falling apart, a downfall we later learn leads her to suicide. Macbeth, on the erstwhile hand, has forgotten his guilt and is ready to slaughter more innocent people. As Macbeth progresses with his evil acts, Lady Macbeth begins to go through an episode of insane sleepwalking, convinced that her hands are stained with blood that can not be washed off. At her suicide, Macbeth has already thrown away his conscience and executes even more evil acts without even admitting her to his conscience. The doctor says that the disease that she has cannot be cured. ‘The Thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now? What! Will these hands ne’er be clean? No more o’ that, my lord, no more o’ that: you mar all with this starting’ Act V scene I ‘This disease is beyond me practice: yet I have know those which have walked beyond their sleep who have died holily in their beds’ Act V scene I On act II scene II Macbeth says ‘will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine making the green one red’ lady Macbeth then says that this deed can be washed away, she soon suffers from the same fate at the end of the play. ‘A little water clears us of this deed’ Act II scene II But Lady Macbeth does not have the concluding say in the end, and nor do the witches have the ultimate say; it is Macbeth who has the final say. The witches did not tell Macbeth to command murders and kill Macduff’s wife and children. In the commencement of the play Macbeth is a kind, loyal, hero, and at the end he becomes an evil tyrant. To Duncan, Macbeth is the most honourable and successful of his noblemen. Duncan’s gifts of position and land to Macbeth are met with his being murdered in cold blood. The thing that started Macbeth of was the prophecy that Macbeth found rather alluring was that he would be future king. ‘All hail, Macbeth!, that shalt be king hereafter!’ ‘Let not light see my black and deep desires’ Act I scene IV Macbeth gains from this foul act the fair position of kingship, which, of course, is met with tragedy at the play’s end. Shakespeare has taken the structure of Tragedy and imbedded its shadow into almost every part of the play. Along with the central rise and fall, there are many switches and unexpected turns of good and bad convincing the reader by the play’s end that the witches are right indeed. When Macbeth returned after completing his brutal murder his character had changed for the worse he became obsessive over his ambition; becoming future king. Macbeth then decided that he would kill Banquo because he was with him when he getting his prophecies from the witches, and therefore he knew that Macbeth had a reason to kill Duncan. Macbeth hired three murderers to finish Banquo. He does not want to kill Banquo himself because he cannot kill a friend and lose the support of one. ‘But wail his fall who I myself struck down.’ Act III scene I Macbeth changes drastically from the beginning of the play, he becomes much more evil and much more sinister from when the play began. He orders murders to savagely annihilate Macduff’s innocent wife and children, with Macduff only hearing about it from the Ross. ‘But I have words that would be howl’d out in the desert air, when hearing should not catch them.’ Act IV scene III When Macbeth hears about his wife’s death, Macbeth broods on life’s futility. ‘She should have died hereafter; there would have been a time for such a word. To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day, to the last syllable of recorded time; and all of our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death.’ Act V Scene V Even when Macbeth does get confronted by Macduff and his gathered forces, he refuses not to surrender and chooses to fight on and get killed. The honour and bravery that once run bright through Macbeths blood still remains to some extent. ‘They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly, but bear- like I must fight the course. What’s he that was not women born? Such a one am I to fear, or none.’ Act V scene VII The language that Shakespeare uses is so powerful and so indulging and at the same times. All of his idioms have meaning and life and some of them are just so magnificent to read, the language used on all the evil that develops is outstanding and is not just put there for any reason. ‘I am in blood yet stepped in so far that I should wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er’ Act III scene IV The weather set in the play is also dark, gloomy and moody. On every occasion the witches are brought into milieu, the weather changes to dark and dreary. Always comes thunder before the lightning, which comes before the witches. And before every apparition, the thunder strikes again. I believe that Shakespeare uses thunder and lightening because they represent the power of the witches and the turbulence of Scotland. ‘In thunder lightning, or in rain’ Act I scene I Darkness, in our society, represents and is an indicative of Evil. For instance, a dark night, a dark place or even a black cat all symbolises horror and evil. Shakespeare knew this and used the witches, Macbeth and the in orderly Scotland as prime examples. Even in appearance the witches are ‘Secret, black, and midnight hags’ because they represent the agents of chaos. Macbeth is an agent of disorder, he murders and he consults witches, because of this he is described using dark imagery. Scotland it self was in shambles when Macbeth ruled, it all represented the evil. Scotland under the rule of Macbeth is described as, â€Å"shrouded in darkness†, by Malcolm.. ‘Sighs, and groans, and shrieks that rent the air’. Scotland All these descriptions of Scotland portray Scotland as a place where the agents of darkness have shrouded the land. In conclusion, there is a big comparison between the beginning and the end of the play. In the beginning, Macbeth was Valiant; Lady Macbeth was pure and sweat-hearted, Scotland was in peace and natural order was rightfully in place. At the end of the play, Macbeth had become a tyrant, Lady Macbeth had died and was cruel and sadistic and Scotland was described as ‘shrouded in darkness.’ In the end, the Evil reigns supreme over the good.