Macbeth Essay, Research Paper

It s a shame that murder can become a person s addiction. In Shakespeare s Macbeth, Error in Macbeth s judgment causes him to go from a noble man to a cold hearted, bloodthirsty murderer. The murders of Duncan, Banquo, and Macduff s family, cause Macbeth s deterioration in character.

His desire to be king causes Macbeth to break away from his nobleness and enter the life of a villain. Driven by Lady Macbeth s sick and twisted mind and her desire to be a queen, she forces Macbeth into this villain life. Lady Macbeth convinced

Macbeth that he wasn’t a man unless he went through with the murder of Duncan. She threatens his manhood by saying “When you durst do it, then you were a man;/ And to be

more than what you were, you would/ Be so much more the man” (act I, scene vii, l 49-51). This made Macbeth begin to think. Slowly but surely Lady Macbeth had manipulated his mind to think the right thing to do was kill Duncan. Macbeth had committed the crime he felt that his soul could never be cleansed no matter what he did. He said, “They pluck out mine own eyes! /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” (act II, scene iii, l 58-62). This shows that he really didn’t want to kill Duncan, but he did it in order to prove himself to Lady Macbeth, and to become the king. This shows his Deterioration in his character by giving him the title of a murderer.

By taking the title of murderer, Macbeth encounters another problem, the cleverness of Banquo. As Banquo gets suspicious of Macbeth, Macbeth starts to worry about what he knows, and what he would do about it. He says And mine eternal jewel given to the common enemy of man, to make them kings, the seeds of Banquo kings! [ActIII,I,72-75] Here, Macbeth realizes that if something is not done to Banquo, then his sons will become King. Macbeth can’t have this because he’s already worried that his soul will go to hell for what he’s already done. His fear becomes evident in this scene also, “But to be safely thus: our fears in Banquo Stick deep.” [Act III, S I, L 53-54] Macbeth then has Banquo murdered, however his son Fleance escapes and goes to Scotland to see Malcom. This is a main factor in the deterioration of Macbeth because he s so worried about his secret that he would go as far a killing his best friend to keep it quiet.

The last murder, the murder of Macduff s family is the murder that gives Macbeth away. Macduff refuses to accept Macbeth as king and flees to England to join Malcom. And also the witches tell him to beware of Macduff. “Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! beware Macduff; Beware the thane of Fife.” [Act IV, S I, L 77] , well now that Macbeth has heard this, he believes that he must kill Macduff, however he learns that Macduff has fled to England, so Macbeth decides to kill his family. More fear of losing the impending battle with England, makes Macbeth start doing anything that will give him an edge in the final battle. Macbeth’s fear is starting to consume him, he can no longer sleep and is ravaged by guilt over what he’s done. This reinforces the fact that Macbeth has turned to a full-fledged murderer.

In conclusion, bad choices often lead to tragedy. In the play Macbeth, the tragedies are infinite. Bad Choices, led to Macbeth’s downfall, starting with one decision that he wasn t even up to doing. Now his bodies six feet deep, and his soul is sentenced to an after life in hell.