The Calamity of Macbeth
Cole Mitchell
Lady Macbeth's Persuasion on Macbeth
All throughout the "Scottish Play", Lady Macbeth constantly is convincing Macbeth to do what she wants him to do belittling him so that she can control Macbeth's actions. Macbeth is Lady Macbeth's husband which makes it almost impossible for him to say no to her schemes because he loves her so much. Furthermore, following Macbeth's actions also comes consequences. Lady Macbeth's persuasion on Macbeth to commit all of these murders and savage choices greets him with harsh repercussions. If Macbeth would have stood up to Lady Macbeth, and made the moral and correct decisions, then he could have not been left to face so many troubles and eventually his own death.
"Second Guessing""To be the same in thine own act and valor As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would, ” Like the poor cat i' th' adage"(1.7.40-45)? One of the main things lady Macbeth tries to convince Macbeth to do, is to convict the murder of the current king Duncan so that he himself can be king. As lady Macbeth goes on she cannot believe that Macbeth would even have a second though about doing the crime. She was even so surprised that she thought he was drunk when he was saying that he didn't think he should kill King Duncan. | "Be the Man Thy Shall Be" "What beast wasn't, then that made you break this enterprise to me? 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"(1.7.50). As Lady Macbeth is trying to get Macbeth to commit the murder of King Duncan she tells him he would be more of a man if he did it to make him feel like he should, or has to do it. The pressure on Macbeth pushes him to eventually commit the crime, which in turn makes him feel very depressed. He goes on to say that he will never sleep again and will not go back to the crime scene to place the bloody daggers on the guards bodies. If Macbeth would not have been so pressured by Lady Macbeth then he might not have had to face so many of the problems and hallucinations short after. | "Weaknesses" "Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be What thou art promis'd. Yet do I fear thy nature, It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way"(1.5.15-18). Lady Macbeth goes on to say that Macbeth is too kind and weak to commit such a crime of killing someone. Macbeth, to protect his manhood, takes into consideration what Lady Macbeth said and decides to man up and commit the murder. If Lady Macbeth would not have said he was weak and too kind, then he probably would not have been so pressured to kill the king. He also would not have been left to face the hallucinations, and difficulties that followed thereafter. |
"Second Guessing"
"To be the same in thine own act and valor
As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that
Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life,
And live a coward in thine own esteem,
Letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would, ”
Like the poor cat i' th' adage"(1.7.40-45)? One of the main things lady Macbeth tries to convince Macbeth to do, is to convict the murder of the current king Duncan so that he himself can be king. As lady Macbeth goes on she cannot believe that Macbeth would even have a second though about doing the crime. She was even so surprised that she thought he was drunk when he was saying that he didn't think he should kill King Duncan."Be the Man Thy Shall Be"
"What beast wasn't, then that made you break this enterprise to me? 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"(1.7.50). As Lady Macbeth is trying to get Macbeth to commit the murder of King Duncan she tells him he would be more of a man if he did it to make him feel like he should, or has to do it. The pressure on Macbeth pushes him to eventually commit the crime, which in turn makes him feel very depressed. He goes on to say that he will never sleep again and will not go back to the crime scene to place the bloody daggers on the guards bodies. If Macbeth would not have been so pressured by Lady Macbeth then he might not have had to face so many of the problems and hallucinations short after.
"Weaknesses"
"Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be
What thou art promis'd. Yet do I fear thy nature, It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way"(1.5.15-18). Lady Macbeth goes on to say that Macbeth is too kind and weak to commit such a crime of killing someone. Macbeth, to protect his manhood, takes into consideration what Lady Macbeth said and decides to man up and commit the murder. If Lady Macbeth would not have said he was weak and too kind, then he probably would not have been so pressured to kill the king. He also would not have been left to face the hallucinations, and difficulties that followed thereafter.
What thou art promis'd. Yet do I fear thy nature, It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way"(1.5.15-18). Lady Macbeth goes on to say that Macbeth is too kind and weak to commit such a crime of killing someone. Macbeth, to protect his manhood, takes into consideration what Lady Macbeth said and decides to man up and commit the murder. If Lady Macbeth would not have said he was weak and too kind, then he probably would not have been so pressured to kill the king. He also would not have been left to face the hallucinations, and difficulties that followed thereafter.
"Tragedy in Macbeth" "I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise?"(2.2.10-15). In the second act when Lady Macbeth is trying to convince Macbeth to kill King Duncan: Macbeth is unsure if he should do it or not. After Lady Macbeth tells him he will be more of a man if he does do it, then he decides to commit the murder. Tragedy is being used in this scene to show that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth will do anything to be the new king. This shows the readers that they will probably do more bad things following after. | "Macbeth as a Tragic Hero" "Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires"(1.4.50-55). Macbeth wants to hide his dark desires of what he is going to do. He is a tragic hero because at the beginning of the play he is highly regarded from other people like when Duncan refers to him, "O valiant cousin! Worthy gentlemen!"(1.2.24), but then has a tragic flaw in his decision to kill Duncan which eventually leads to his own downfall. | "Simile In Macbeth" "...Contending 'gainst obedience, as they would make war with mankind"(2.4.18-19). Ross is talking about how Duncan's horses were acting at night. He uses a simile to compare the horses disobedience to them acting as if they were in a war against man. This simile shows the reader that Duncan's horses do not usually act like this, and that all the strange events that night had to be tied together. |
"Tragedy in Macbeth"
"I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise?"(2.2.10-15). In the second act when Lady Macbeth is trying to convince Macbeth to kill King Duncan: Macbeth is unsure if he should do it or not. After Lady Macbeth tells him he will be more of a man if he does do it, then he decides to commit the murder. Tragedy is being used in this scene to show that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth will do anything to be the new king. This shows the readers that they will probably do more bad things following after.
"Macbeth as a Tragic Hero"
"Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires"(1.4.50-55). Macbeth wants to hide his dark desires of what he is going to do. He is a tragic hero because at the beginning of the play he is highly regarded from other people like when Duncan refers to him, "O valiant cousin! Worthy gentlemen!"(1.2.24), but then has a tragic flaw in his decision to kill Duncan which eventually leads to his own downfall.
"Simile In Macbeth"
"...Contending 'gainst obedience, as they would make war with mankind"(2.4.18-19). Ross is talking about how Duncan's horses were acting at night. He uses a simile to compare the horses disobedience to them acting as if they were in a war against man. This simile shows the reader that Duncan's horses do not usually act like this, and that all the strange events that night had to be tied together.
"Character Analysis of Macbeth"
Macbeth starts out on the battlefield and is a well respected man by many people including King Duncan. He has trouble making difficult decisions because of how nice he is, but with the help of Lady Macbeth who persuades him to do bad things, he is able to follow through. He is driven by Lady Macbeth, his wife, to do almost everything he does. "What beast wasn't, then that made you break this enterprise to me? 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"(1.7.50). This quote shows that lady Macbeth is one of the main contributors of Macbeth's decisions because she is challenging his manhood by saying that he would be more of a man if he did the crime. Macbeth, wanting to be manly, decides to commit the crime. He is also driven by the three witches and their prophecies to make some of the choices he does. "Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff; Beware the Thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough"(4.1.80). Macbeth has to be driven by Lady Macbeth to commit murders and other bad choices because he is too charming and good that he does not want to do harmful things. Macbeth is "too full o' the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way"(1.5.17-18). Also, Macbeth is very compulsive so he often makes choices without thoroughly thinking them through. One more characteristic of Macbeth is that he has a tendency to self-doubt. I think that if Macbeth would have followed his own mind and not done what the witches and Lady Macbeth wanted him to do, then he probably would not have died in the end. Even if he would not have killed King Duncan; I think he could of still became the King later.