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Analysis of Macbeth Essay

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Macbeth is a play by William Shakespear, which is about the a brave warriors journey to king and eventually a tyrant. The protagonist, Macbeth, undergoes a negative experience, which was when he encountered the witches who gave him a prophecy that boosted his ambitions to become king. This negative experience led to a series of dreadful bloody events as ambition was used in an immoral and unjust way. This negative experience helps us to understand more about the Macbeths ambition.

Macbeth is the protagonist of the play and was the Thane of Glamis. At the beginning, he is described as a brave and noble warrior, as seen on Act1 Scene2 For brave Macbeth, disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel which smoked with bloody execution. These descriptions by a soldier shows how Macbeth is brave that he defied fortune itself to overcome the hurdles that face him. Also, in Act1 Scene2, the king describes Macbeth as valiant and worthy, which shows that Macbeth was a brave and honourable person. However, on his return from a battle, he meets the witches whose predictions give Macbeth blind ambitions and severely change his character from a great warrior to king and tyrant.

Macbeths negative experience is hearing the witches prophecy while returning after a battle, telling him that he will become Thane of Cawdor and then king. Although Macbeth felt scared and mystified of their choppy fingers and skinny lip, he is triggered by curiosity as seen in Act1 Scene3 Stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more Speak, I charge you and ambition eventually overwhelms him after hearing the prophecy. However, his companion Banquo doubts the predictions. He warns Macbeth that the witches win us with honest trifles, to betray in deepest consequences, meaning that they must be careful when believing something too good as the witches might try to win them over with and it will harm them. These different reactions create a contrast between the two characters as it emphasizes the ambition of Macbeth. Then when he became the Thane of Cawdor, he believes the prophecy and thinks greatest is behind, saying that he will become king. This tells the audience that Macbeth is ambitious and he will take any actions to become king. Lady Macbeth hears about the prophecy and plans to kill the current king, Duncan, to fulfil her ambition to make Macbeth become king. She persuades Macbeth to murder Duncan, as seen in Act1 Scene7 What beast wasnt then that made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man!. Lady Macbeth questions his manliness and convinces him to kill Duncan, which he eventually kills. This adds to our understanding that Macbeth succumbed to temptation for power and he would do whatever it takes to become king.

The negative experience leads Macbeth to some negative effects. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth fall victim to madness due to guilt in the end. He deals with fear that Fleance, Banquos son, or Maduff, another Thane, will one day attempt to overthrow him. So he kills Macduffs entire family when Macduff left to England to gather rebellions against him. Also, he orders Banquo to be murdered but is haunted by his ghost. In Act3 Scene 2, he says Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves shall never tremble. This expresses his fright of seeing Banquos ghost, which tells the audience that Macbeths judgement and mental health is in decline and his evil actions will lead Macbeth to a terrible ending. All of these unfortunate events are the result of the predictions. In the end, Lady Macbeth commits suicide and Macbeth is killed as a result of their blind ambition. However, although this is the result of Macbeth executing his evil plans due to his ambition, witches are also responsible as they told the prophecy to Macbeth that caused him to use ambition in a wrong way. These negative effects show the audience how ambition can be used in an evil way, and it eventually results to a terrible ending.

In conclusion, Macbeth, who is the protagonist of the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, faces a negative experience, hearing the witches prophecy of him becoming the king. This lead Macbeth to undergo unfortunate events, such as murders. Therefore, this helped the audience to understand Macbeth and how those events led him to temptation to be a violent and ended up destroying himself.

Well structured. Some good ideas. Some good quotes. You could include more. You could also mention how the predictions lead to not only the murder of Duncan and Banquo but of Macduff too. You need to be more explicit about what Macbeth turns into eg from hero to tyrant.

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