At the start of the play, Macbeth is a celebrated hero – a warrior who has defeated not one, but two armies, and is praised by his soldiers and his king. At the end of the play, Macbeth is vilified as a traitor and a tyrant, and his decapitated head is held up on a sword.
The play dramatizes the story of how this transformation happens.
Before we meet Macbeth in Act 1 Scene 3, Shakespeare provides us with different characters’ perspectives on the eponymous tragic hero. In Act 1 Scene 1, the witches see him as a heroic leader – but also plan to take control over his life. The motif of heroism is continued in Act 1 Scene 2, in which the captain describes Macbeth as “valour’s minion” who “unseamed [the traitor Macdonwald] from the nave to the chops”. Yet even in this early description, the audience has the sense that Macbeth is not just an honourable hero, but is also motivated by bloodlust. His relentless pursuit of violence is also unsettling.
As the play progresses, Shakespeare reveals how the witches light the spark of ambition in Macbeth’s heart. Shakespeare juxtaposes Macbeth with Banquo, as the former immediately believes the witches, whilst the latter is more sceptical and questioning. Macbeth believes that “this supernatural soliciting / Cannot be ill – cannot be good”. This quotation suggests that at this point, Macbeth is going to wait to see what will happen as a result of the meeting with the witches, as their words cannot be “ill” and bring destruction on him. Yet in the following scene, Duncan destroys Macbeth’s hopes of being named as his heir to the throne, and the tragic hero is plunged immediately into “black and deep desires”. Here, the adjective “black” connotes the evil and destruction we may associate with the witches, while “desires” implies that Macbeth is motivated by a lust for power.
Yet in the rising action, Shakespeare consistently suggests that Macbeth is not sufficiently determined to take the throne. In Act 1 Scene 5, Lady Macbeth describes her husband, complaining that he is “too full of the milk of human kindness / To catch the nearest way”. The “nearest way” to the throne is murder, but Lady Macbeth believes that her husband has the stereotypically feminine qualities (“milk”) of compassion and love – meaning that he will not be able to kill his friend. Many literary critics have spent a considerable amount of time debating whether Macbeth kills Duncan as a result of the witches’ influence, Lady Macbeth’s manipulation, or his own ambition. This scene provides evidence that it is Lady Macbeth who pushes Macbeth into the act of regicide, as when he speaks to her about the murder she takes charge. She tells him to “look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it”. Shakespeare uses the image of the flower to suggest that the couple will put on a façade, pretending to be virtuous and loyal to Duncan. In reality, they will be the “serpent” – a Biblical allusion to the devil, who will betray anyone for his own purposes.
Despite his wife’s manipulation, Macbeth is still unsure about whether or not to commit the murder. He recognises his own “vaulting ambition, which overleaps itself”. At this moment, Shakespeare implies that Macbeth recognises his own hubris and hamartia, and knows that regicide will lead him to disaster. Once again, it is Lady Macbeth who convinces her husband to act violently. This time, she metaphorically emasculates her husband, saying “when you durst do it, then you were a man”. This means that if Macbeth kills Duncan, he will prove his masculinity. For a warrior living in a hypermasculine society, these words are extremely powerful.
As a result of the witches’ prophecies, Lady Macbeth’s words, and his own desires, Macbeth’s mind becomes “heat-oppressed”, and in this state of anxiety he sees a dagger in the air in front of him. The dagger appears to lead the way to Duncan’s chamber, and draws Macbeth on to regicide. Is this dagger a vision sent by the witches to further control Macbeth? Or is it a product of his own mind? Either way, he follows the dagger and murders his friend, King, and cousin.
In Act 2 Scene 2, Shakespeare highlights how Macbeth is plunged into torment as soon as he has committed the murder. He returns from Duncan’s room, carrying the daggers and with his hands covered in his friend’s blood. Macbeth asks “will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand?” Here, the blood symbolises his guilt, which Macbeth believes will never be washed away – even by “all” the water in the world. Water is a religious allusion, as in the Bible the waters of baptism wash away human sin and purify the soul. Shakespeare juxtaposes Macbeth’s words with Lady Macbeth’s reaction, as she takes command, returning the daggers to the guards and insisting that they wash their hands.
After this, events happen very quickly. Duncan’s body is discovered, his sons flee, and Macbeth is crowned king. At the start of Act 3, Shakespeare portrays Macbeth as a king tormented by guilt and the futility of his actions. Macbeth is increasingly upset by the fact that he has no children, and he laments hi “fruitless crown”. The “crown” symbolises the power, wealth, and privilege Macbeth has gained – whilst this is juxtaposed with the adjective “fruitless”, which indicates that he cannot have children. His childlessness causes him to question his masculinity, and also means he is unable to found a dynasty of kings. In a particularly poignant line, Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that “full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife”. The image of the scorpions conveys the mental pain and suffering Macbeth endures, whilst the phrase “dear wife” indicates his emotional reliance on Lady Macbeth. However, Shakespeare indicates a shift in their relationship, as Macbeth no longer trusts Lady Macbeth with his plans. Despite the fact that he is going to order Banquo’s murder, he tells his wife: “be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck”. In this quotation, Shakespeare echoes an earlier line: “look like the innocent flower”. But here, it is Macbeth who commands his wife. The name “dearest chuck” is diminutive and belittles Lady Macbeth – she is no longer his “dearest partner in greatness”, but a wife who must do as she is commanded.
Act 3 Scene 4 is the climax of the play, and perhaps the most dramatically powerful scene. Macbeth hosts a feast for his Thanes, but it is interrupted by Banquo’s ghost – who appears only to the guilt-ridden host. Shakespeare vividly presents Macbeth as unravelling. He is not only losing control over himself, but also of his marriage, his Thanes, and Scotland. In an attempt to take back control, Macbeth commands Banquo’s ghost: “never shake thy gory locks at me”. However, the imperative falls on deaf ears, whilst the visual impact of the bloody hair (“gory locks”) echoes the blood-stained hands of Act 2.
Plagued with doubts and remorse, Macbeth seeks help from the witches. Here, Shakespeare emphasises how far Macbeth has fallen: instead of being ensnared by the weird sisters, he is turning to these servants of the devil of his own volition. On his return home, he isolates himself from his wife and orders the vicious murders of women and children: Macbeth has truly become an “untitled tyrant, bloody-sceptered”.
As Malcolm and Macduff’s army approaches in Act 5, Macbeth descends into nihilism, and reflects on the pointlessness of his life. Prompted by his wife’s suicide, he says “tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow…”. In this line, Shakespeare emphasises how the tragic hero sees his life stretching endlessly in front of him, empty and without direction. By adding an extra syllable into the expected iambic pentameter, Shakespeare extends the rhythm of the line to mirror Macbeth’s sense of a hollow expanse of time. Ultimately, for Macbeth life is now “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”. Yet Shakespeare still presents Macbeth as delusional, as he chooses to fight Macduff – even though his own death now seems inevitable. Defeated by his rival, Macbeth’s head is decapitated and lifted up on a sword in an act which mirrors Macbeth’s killing of the traitor Macdonwald in Act 1. Macbeth is reduced to an upstart traitor, and the head is a warning to the Scottish people not to betray their king.
Overall, Shakespeare uses Macbeth to show the destructive consequences of unchecked ambition on society, family, and one’s own psychological state.
Amy Smith Literature 