Macbeth" by William Shakespeare
This blog is part of the study activity provided by the head of the Department of English (MKBU), prof. and Dr. Dilip Baradsir. here is the link of the professor's Blog:Click here
Character Study:
A) Macbeth – the Hero or Villain:
- Macbeth : The Hero or Villain:
Macbeth begins the play as a celebrated hero, admired for his courage, loyalty, and military skill. In Act 1, Scene 2, he is praised as “brave Macbeth well he deserves that name” for defeating the rebel Macdonwald and the Norwegian forces. This valiant service earns him high honor as Thane of Glamis and Thane of Cawdor. However, the witches’ prophecy that he will become “King hereafter” plants a dangerous seed of ambition. His thoughts begin to turn dark “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical” revealing his growing temptation to commit regicide. Even after Duncan’s murder, he shows flashes of conscience, asking, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?”, yet he continues his descent, becoming a hero-villain: a man of noble beginnings, corrupted by ambition.
- Macbeth: a valiant villain:
Once ambition takes over, Macbeth transforms into a valiant villain. He retains physical bravery, fighting fearlessly even in the face of defeat, declaring, “I’ll fight till from my bones my flesh be hack’d.” However, his moral courage is gone. He orders the murders of Banquo and Fleance to secure his throne and commits the merciless slaughter of Macduff’s wife and children. His bravery now serves not justice, but the defense of ill-gotten power a cruel irony that cements his identity as a valiant villain.
- Macbeth: The Milk of Human Kindness wasted on the altar of ambition:
The tragedy lies in the waste of Macbeth’s innate humanity the “milk of human kindness.” Lady Macbeth, in Act 1, Scene 5, observes that he is “too full o’ the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way.” This reveals that Macbeth was once compassionate, moral, and reluctant to act ruthlessly. But Lady Macbeth manipulates him, questioning his masculinity “When you durst do it, then you were a man” and pushing him to abandon his kindness in favor of ambition. His natural goodness is sacrificed at the altar of power, replaced by paranoia and bloodshed.
- Macbeth: As a tragic hero:
Ultimately, Macbeth is a tragic hero whose downfall follows the classic Shakespearean pattern. He begins with high status and noble qualities, but his hamartia unrestrained ambition and susceptibility to manipulation drives his moral decline. His peripeteia comes as he turns from Scotland’s protector to its tyrant, losing allies and gaining enemies. Near the end, he experiences anagnorisis, recognizing the futility of life in his famous “Life’s but a walking shadow” speech. Yet this awareness comes too late, and he meets his death at the hands of Macduff. The audience feels pity for the great man he once was and fear of the devastating effects of unchecked ambition.
B)Lady Macbeth:
- The ‘Witch’-Like Side of Lady Macbeth:
In the early acts, Lady Macbeth displays qualities that would have seemed ‘witch-like’ to a Shakespearean audience. Her chilling invocation in Act 1, Scene 5 “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here” calls directly on supernatural forces to strip away her femininity and fill her with cruelty. She furthers this request with “Make thick my blood; stop up the access and passage to remorse,” rejecting compassion and moral restraint. Like the witches, she manipulates fate by influencing Macbeth’s actions. In Act 1, Scene 7, she goads him into murdering Duncan, attacking his masculinity with the taunt, “When you durst do it, then you were a man.” Her confident reassurance “Screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we’ll not fail” shows her control and her role as a driving force, much like the tempters who plant dangerous ideas in others’ minds.
- The Victim of Ambition, Love, and Society:
Yet, beneath her ruthless exterior, Lady Macbeth can also be seen as a victim. Living in a patriarchal society, she cannot claim the throne herself and must work through her husband, as reflected in her line, “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be what thou art promised” (Act 1, Scene 5). Her ambition is therefore tied to Macbeth’s success, and her manipulation can be read as an act of loyalty as well as self-interest. In Act 2, Scene 2, she reveals a moment of human vulnerability when she admits she could not kill Duncan herself because “Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done’t.” Her earlier belief that “A little water clears us of this deed” shows she underestimates the lasting emotional impact of murder. By Act 3, Scene 2, she admits that their power has brought no peace: “Nought’s had, all’s spent, where our desire is got without content,” revealing a deep sense of dissatisfaction and regret.
- A Complex Figure – Neither Pure Witch nor Pure Victim:
Ultimately, Lady Macbeth cannot be reduced to a single label. She begins with fierce determination, invoking dark forces and defying gender norms, but ends as a tragic figure destroyed by guilt. In the famous sleepwalking scene (Act 5, Scene 1), she desperately tries to rub imaginary blood from her hands “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!” and laments, “What, will these hands ne’er be clean?” Her earlier strength crumbles entirely when she admits, “All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand,” a poetic image of irreversible guilt. Her death, reported bluntly in Act 5, Scene 5 “The queen, my lord, is dead” is likely suicide, marking her final collapse. Lady Macbeth’s arc from bold manipulator to broken victim shows her as a deeply flawed yet human character, both the architect of her own downfall and a casualty of the forces she helped unleash.
C) Banquo:
- Banquo – A Loyal but Cautious Nobleman:
Banquo, Thane of Lochaber, is a brave and honourable Scottish general, respected for his wisdom and moral integrity. Like Macbeth, he hears the witches’ prophecy, but unlike his friend, he remains skeptical and wary of their words. When told that his descendants will inherit the throne, he resists the temptation of ambition and prays for divine help to restrain “the cursed thoughts” that disturb his mind “Merciful powers, restrain in me the cursed thoughts” (Act 2, Scene 1).
Even after Macbeth becomes king, Banquo stays outwardly loyal, though he suspects Macbeth of foul play. His integrity, however, makes him a threat to Macbeth, who orders his murder. Banquo’s death does not end his influence his ghost returns to haunt Macbeth at the banquet and his line is confirmed to continue in the witches’ later vision, fulfilling the prophecy in spirit.
D) King Duncan:
- King Duncan – The Noble and Trusting Monarch:
King Duncan of Scotland is portrayed as a virtuous, benevolent, and generous ruler, admired for his kindness and fairness. He rewards loyalty promoting Macbeth to Thane of Cawdor for his bravery and believes deeply in honor and duty. However, his trusting nature blinds him to the treachery around him, especially in placing absolute faith in Macbeth. His visit to Inverness, intended as a gesture of goodwill, becomes fatal when Macbeth murders him in his sleep to seize the throne. Duncan’s character embodies the ideal king in Shakespeare’s play, contrasting sharply with Macbeth’s tyrannical rule after him.
“What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won” (Act 1, Scene 2) showing his generosity and readiness to reward service.
The Study of Scenes from the play ‘Macbeth’:
A) Scenes of Three Witches:
The Three Witches first appear in Act 1, Scene 1, meeting in a stormy, desolate place. Their speech is full of paradoxes, such as “Fair is foul, and foul is fair”, which sets the play’s tone of confusion and moral inversion. They agree to meet again after the battle to speak with Macbeth, creating suspense about their role in the story.
In Act 1, Scene 3, they meet Macbeth and Banquo on a heath. They greet Macbeth with three titles Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and future King planting the seed of ambition in him. To Banquo, they predict that he will never be king, but his descendants will inherit the throne. After this cryptic encounter, they vanish into thin air, leaving the two men curious and uneasy.
In Act 3, Scene 5 (a scene whose authorship is sometimes debated), Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft, appears and scolds the witches for speaking to Macbeth without her involvement. She plans to lure Macbeth into a false sense of security through misleading prophecies, ensuring his eventual downfall.
The witches’ final major appearance is in Act 4, Scene 1. Performing a dark incantation (“Double, double toil and trouble”), they summon three apparitions: an armed head warning Macbeth to beware Macduff; a bloody child telling him that no one “born of woman” will harm him; and a crowned child holding a tree, declaring he will be safe until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane. Finally, they show him a vision of Banquo’s descendants as kings, confirming that the prophecy about Banquo’s line will come true. These scenes establish the witches as agents of chaos, tempting Macbeth while never directly forcing him to act.
B)Night walking scene of Lady Macbeth:
The night-walking scene occurs in Act 5, Scene 1, one of the most famous moments in Macbeth. Lady Macbeth, once the strong and ruthless partner in crime, is now mentally broken. A gentlewoman reports to a doctor that Lady Macbeth has been seen wandering the castle at night, seemingly asleep but performing strange actions. This introduces the theme of guilt manifesting in physical and psychological ways.
When Lady Macbeth appears, she is holding a candle, a symbol of her desperate need for light in the darkness of her guilt. She rubs her hands repeatedly as if washing them, muttering about the murders of King Duncan, Banquo, and Lady Macduff. Her words reveal fragments of the past “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!” showing she is haunted by imaginary bloodstains that will never wash away.
The doctor and gentlewoman observe silently, realizing that her mind is “infected” and beyond medical help. She confesses secrets unknowingly while asleep, yet is unaware of the witnesses. Her disturbed mind shows the cost of ambition and the psychological consequences of murder.
The scene ends with the doctor acknowledging that only divine intervention can help her now. This is the last time we see Lady Macbeth alive; her mental deterioration here foreshadows her offstage suicide, marking the tragic collapse of her once powerful and manipulative personality.
The Study of Quotations:
A) Macbeth in Act 5, Scene 5: Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow:
In Act 5, Scene 5, Macbeth delivers one of Shakespeare’s most famous speeches after hearing of Lady Macbeth’s death. The news barely stirs him; instead, he reflects on the meaningless repetition of life: “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day.” The repeated “tomorrow” captures the slow, dragging passage of time, suggesting life’s monotony and inevitability.
He sees life as moving towards an unavoidable end death with each day merely a step closer. Macbeth compares life to a candle (“Out, out, brief candle”), fragile and easily extinguished. This imagery underscores his sense of futility and the brevity of human existence.
He then likens life to “a walking shadow” and “a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage”, suggesting that human actions are insignificant and quickly forgotten. People are like actors who briefly perform and then disappear, leaving no lasting mark.
Finally, Macbeth concludes that life “is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” This metaphor presents existence as chaotic and meaningless a noisy, dramatic story with no real purpose. This speech shows Macbeth’s complete disillusionment, emotional numbness, and loss of ambition; he has embraced a bleak, nihilistic view of life as his world collapses around him.
B) Lady Macbeth in Act 5 Scene 1 Out damned spot. . . Hell is murky:
In Act 5, Scene 1, Lady Macbeth is seen by the gentlewoman and the doctor wandering in her sleep, reliving the crimes she and Macbeth have committed. She rubs her hands obsessively as if trying to wash off bloodstains, crying “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!” The “spot” is an imagined mark of Duncan’s blood, symbolizing the deep stain of guilt that cannot be removed. Her words reveal the psychological torment consuming her.
When she says “Hell is murky”, she is expressing both fear and hopelessness. The phrase suggests that she feels surrounded by darkness and moral corruption, as if she is already living in a spiritual hell. The remark may also recall her earlier boldness in dismissing fear of damnation now, in her madness, she acknowledges it.
Throughout this moment, her fragmented speech reveals memories of Duncan’s murder (“Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?”), Banquo’s death, and Lady Macduff’s slaughter. These confessions, though unconscious, confirm her role in the crimes. The doctor observes that her illness is beyond his skill only spiritual healing can help her foreshadowing her tragic end.
This passage marks the reversal of Lady Macbeth’s character: once the strong, controlling instigator, she is now broken by guilt, haunted by visions, and powerless to command her own mind.
Conclusion:
Macbeth remains one of Shakespeare’s most powerful tragedies, a haunting study of ambition, moral corruption, and the consequences of unchecked desire. Through its dark imagery, supernatural elements, and psychological depth, the play shows how a brave warrior can transform into a ruthless tyrant when tempted by power and manipulated by fate. In the end, Macbeth’s downfall is not just the work of witches or prophecy, but the result of his own choices—reminding us that true tragedy lies in the conflict between human potential and human weakness. More than four centuries later, the play still speaks to our fears, our ambitions, and the timeless truth that power without conscience leads to destruction.
References:
2. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth: https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/shakespeares-characters/macbeth/
THANK YOU!
No comments:
Post a Comment