Bloody Macbeth Essay, Research Paper

BLOCK 4TH

DATE 09/10/00

Bloody Macbeth

Macbeth was written by William Shakespeare in 1606. In Act 2, we see Macbeth assassinate the king, and get shaken from it. Later on in Act 3, Macbeth plans to kill Banquo by murderers to assure his own safety. On the other hand, the three witches appear with Hecate, and plan to show Macbeth some magic that will lead him to his own destruction. Act 3 also reveals Macduff going England for help in freeing Scotland from the tyrant Macbeth. Macbeth is so obsessed by thoughts of the murder that he starts to hallucinate. Once he commits murder he feels guilt, fear and regrets, but lack of safety and his ambitions force him to become a murderer and takes him into the river of blood.

Macbeth, who plans to kill his own king, is so obsessed by thoughts of the murder that he starts to hallucinate. In Act 2, we see Macbeth reveal his feeling before assassin the king. He says, ?Is this a dagger which I see before me, / The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee!? (2.1.42-43). In other words Macbeth see the dagger that he plans to use in the murder, a dagger which beckons him toward King Duncan?s door. Put another way he is seeing something not present. Macbeth understands that he is getting into a bloody business, but he is not horrified. Rather, he wants to be as deadly as the dagger. Having succumbed to his ambitions to gain the Crown by whatever means, Macbeth plan to kill his own king at his own castle.

Once Macbeth commits murder he losses his mind and starts to feel guilt. He starts hearing voices that are not really spoken. Macbeth returns from the king?s room dazed with horror. Macbeth says, ?Still it cried, sleep no more! to all the house; / Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor / Shall sleep no more! Macbeth shall sleep no more?(2.2.56-60). In other words, Macbeth says that, he seems sure that he who murdered an innocent man in his sleep will never sleep again. It also shows how scared and frightened Macbeth is. He can?t imagine what his hands have done. The sleep represents that Macbeth is not going to have rest in his life because in his imagination he hears a voice that says, Macbeth sleep murder and will sleep no more.

Once his conscience comes back Macbeth starts to get frightened. While Macbeth imagines that he has heard voices, he continuously carries grooms? daggers. Lady Macbeth tells him that he must take the daggers back, put them with the grooms, and smear the grooms with blood, so it will look like the grooms killed the king. Macbeth is however is frighten of what he has done. He says, ?I?ll go no more: / I am afraid to think what I have done; / Look on?t again I dare not? (2.2.66-68). Macbeth is so shaken by the murders that he brings the daggers with him to Lady Macbeth. In other words, Macbeth says, that he can?t go back to put the daggers because he is afraid to look at what his own hand has done to his own king. It reveals Macbeth feels scared and frightened. He couldn?t believe what his own hands have done. Macbeth can do nothing except stare at his hands, which remind him the deed he has done. It also shows how terrified he is. Macbeth is paralyzed with the horror of what he has done.

As Macbeth gets frighten of what he has done, he starts to regret. When Macbeth looks at his bloody hands he 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? (2.2.78-80). In other words, Macbeth looks at his hands as though he has never seen them before, and he feels that looking at them is like getting his eyes gouged out. The Duncan?s blood on his hands causes this horrible fascination, and he feels that the blood can never be washed away. Before his hands are clean, they will make all the seas of the world turn red. Macbeth is sorrowful for the bloody deed that he has done to his king. It also reveals to the audience that Macbeth is now regretting the work he has done because of the witches predictions and his own ambitions.

Macbeth?s ambitions force him to kill Banquo. After sending the servants to get two men who are waiting outside the palace gate, Macbeth has a soliloquy in which he reveals that, being king is not enough for him. He says, ?To be thus is nothing; / But to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo / Stick deep? (3.1.53-54). In other words, Macbeth says he needs to feel safe in the position, and he has reasons to fear Banquo. Because Banquo has courage, wisdom, and royalty. Macbeth feels that Banquo is naturally superior to him, and just being near Banquo makes Macbeth feel ashamed of himself. It points out that Macbeth is now going after Banquo. He is going to do the same thing that he did to his own king. It also reveals that Macbeth is becoming more and more evil. Macbeth?s ambitions are forcing him to the place where the destruction is waiting for him. He can?t stand anyone who is standing in his way.

As Macbeth reveals his feeling about not being safe because of Banquo and his son Fleance, his ambitions forces him to hires two murderers to kill Banquo and Fleance. He thinks that Banquo could suspect Macbeth of murder, and Fleance may become a king if witches’ predictions are true. So he gives order to murderers by saying, ?I will advise you where to plant your selves; / Acquaint you with the perfect spy o? the time? (3.1.144-145). In other words Macbeth tells the murderers that he will give them advice for where to place themselves and be familiar with it, and he will give them the most accurate reports available about Banquo. It shows that Macbeth is not even loyal to his own servant who used to be his partner. It also shows how far Macbeth has come in being evil, that he?s now planning to kill his own friend. Macbeth?s ambitions are getting worse and worse he thinks that killing is the only way he can solve his problems.

After Macbeth has arranged for the murder of Banquo, Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth about his ambitions and desires. He tells her that a terrible deed will be done before nightfall. He says, ?To black Hecate?s summons / The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums / Hath rung night?s yaming peal? (3.2.45-47). In other words Macbeth says that, tonight is the time for death and black magic, because the beetle is answering the call of Hecate, who dwells in the underworld and is the protector of witches. Put another way Macbeth has these strange deep black desires that are now leading him to become a murderer and also into the river of blood.

All in all, in Act 2/3 of Macbeth William Shakespeare shows Macbeth as a murderer whose ambitions take him to evilness. Macbeth kills his own king just to get the kingship. He totally devotes himself to the side where destruction is waiting for him. Macbeth kills Banquo with murderers to assure his own safety. Macbeth is so obsessed by thoughts of the murder that he starts to hallucinate. Once he commits murder he feels guilt, fear and regret, but a lack of safety, and ambition force him to become a murderer, and take him into the river of blood.

323