At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a good and
valiant soldier who is happy to serve his king. In Act 1, sc. 2, ll. 17-25, the Captain
tells Duncan of Macbeth's valor in battle. We see Macbeth start to change as early as
Act 1, sc. 3 after Angus delivers the news about Macbeth's new title as Thane of
Cawdor. Since this confirmed the witches' second prophecy, Macbeth lets his thoughts go
to the possibility of becoming king (ll. 148-163). He quickly, at the end of that
aside, decides that he will let fate run its course rather than help it along though.
When Macbeth's wife gets the news about the prophecies and Macbeth's new title, she
decides he must become king and fulfill the prophecies. When Macbeth decides he will
not kill the king as Lady Macbeth wants, she gets angry with him and insults his
masculinity. This, then, convinces him that, to appease his wife and his own ambition,
he will go through with the deed (Act 1, sc. 7, ll. 92-95), even though he is obviously
still reluctant. His reluctance is also shown in Act 2, sc. 1, when he delivers his
soliloquy. He knows that the dagger he sees in front of him is a product of his
imagination stemming from the guilt he feels over his impending deed (ll. 45-51).
Macbeth still has a conscience that is telling him killing Duncan is wrong. By the
time, we get to Act 3, sc. 1, Macbeth's conscience, if not gone, is on its way out. He
tells the murderers here to kill his friend, Banquo, and tells them that Banquo is their
enemy (ll. 125-126). In Act 4, sc. 1, after the witches' apparitions have appeared,
Macbeth has become cold-blooded. He plans to kill off Macduff's family (ll. 173-177).
Macbeth has now become extremely paranoid also. The paranoia shows itself in Act 5 when
Macbeth keeps grasping on to the apparitions' prophecies (Act 5, sc. 3, ll. 4-9 and Act
5, sc. 7, ll. 2-4). By the end of the play, Macbeth has become resolved to his fate,
which is death at the hands of Macduff (Act 5, sc. 8, ll.
35-39).
Sunday, December 26, 2010
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