The Demise Of Lady Macbeth In Shakespeare's Play

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Macbeth Essay

How could such a great general, honored and respected by the king, end up being a savage, murderous criminal? Macbeth by William Shakespeare tells the story of how a great man fell from honor into disgrace because of just one character flaw. His lust for power eventually led Macbeth to his demise. From the moment Macbeth began entertaining the thought of gaining power, he felt impelled to pursue his want. In Act I Scene III, three witches appeared to Macbeth and told him about his future reign as king. With these seeds planted in his mind, he longed to understand what the witches meant. He then wrote a letter to his wife who incited him to murder the king. Saying that he should leave the plot in her hands, Lady Macbeth prepared the knives and devised a plan for Macbeth to kill the sleeping king. Although he felt afraid at first and guilty to execute his wife's plan, nevertheless, Macbeth's greed won over his conscience. Because Macbeth …show more content…
As a result of his atrocities, he lost his conscience, good reputation, and honor. In Act V Scene V, Lady Macbeth took her own life, but Macbeth, null to the gravity of death, carelessly stated that she would have died eventually anyway. Conceived from the myriad brutal and malevolent assassinations he had carried out, this conduct demonstrated his inherently villainous character. Consequently, his actions led to his inglorious death when Macduff, to avenge his wife's and son's deaths, fought and killed Macbeth. To sum up Macbeth's story, Macbeth's downfall was his inability to control his discontent, causing the once-reputable general to commit the abominable act of murder. He enjoyed the title of king for a season but ultimately had to confront justice for his actions thus proving the truth that every sin has its consequences. The epitome of a tragic hero, Macbeth shows the damage one character flaw can do when he allowed it to manifest itself in

Role Of Insanity In Macbeth

The Tragedy of Macbeth is one of William Shakespeare’s most well known plays. From the very first line the reader is drawn in and spellbound to the tragedy. Each one of Shakespeare’s works holds this power, but it is more prominent than ever in the The Tragedy of Macbeth. The entire piece holds many feelings a darkness, guilt, and paranoia as the poem goes on. However, the effect of insanity is observable the whole time. Shakespeare puts the single effect of betrayal in his play to show that guilt…

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Lady Macbeth Essay

Macbeth In William Shakespeare‘s play, Macbeth, we see the character, Macbeth, fall to his tragic flaw. His downfall is brought on not only by his own desire for power, but is also compelled by his wife’s, Lady Macbeth, bloodthirsty aspiration for power. While Macbeth down fall is still his own fault, Lady Macbeth is the backbone of almost the entire plot to kill King Duncan. Without her encouragement, Macbeth would have never gone through with the plan to take the throne. As the play continues…

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Lady Macbeth: A True Tragic Hero

William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, is filled with tragedies and unlucky characters. Almost everyone encounters a moment of total satisfaction, almost everyone suffers from the conflicts aroused, and almost everyone has an unfortunate downfall. However, some characters have more a critical role in the play than others, such as Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is the true tragic hero of the play since her greed ultimately leads her to presumably commit suicide due to the guilt she experiences. Without…

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Lady Macbeth Symbols Analysis

predominant symbols in William Shakespeare's play Macbeth ; blood, water represented by the motion of washing hands and hallucinations. By combining all three symbols the reader is introduced to the overall theme of the play, guilt. The three versions of symbolism are all demonstrated by Lady Macbeth in Act 5 Scene 1 of the play. " Here's the smell of blood still; all the perfumes in Arabia will not sweeten this little hand", (Shakespeare.5.1.45). In this scene Lady Macbeth is smelling blood , a scent…

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Macbeth and Witches Essay

the influence of Lady Macbeth, or the prophecies from the three witches. Draw explicitly on quotations and plot development to support your ideas. Macbeth, a tragedy scripted by William Shakespeare in the 17th century, shows the effects a desire for power can have over a man. Macbeth, the title character of the play is often expressed as being the villain of the tragedy however through the study of the play it is evident that rather being an innately evil character Macbeth was a tragic hero…

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Duncan's Use Of Irony In Macbeth

In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, it can be seen in Scene 6 how irony and metaphors are used to highlight King Duncan’s flaw of trusting too easily. When Duncan first arrives at Macbeth's’ castle he states how “the air nimbly and sweetly recommends itself” (Shakespeare 1.6.87). Duncan finding enjoyment in his current environment is ironic considering that his host and hostess are planning to murder him. This irony is included to emphasize how deep the betrayal of Macbeth is when he deceives Duncan…

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Examples Of Sympathy For Macbeth

William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” is a play which shows a flawed character worthy of the audience’s sympathy. The play follows the titular character Macbeth’s path of treachery after being informed by three witches that he would be the King in the future. Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, turn to means of murder and violence in order to achieve the titles of King and Queen of Scotland, by slaughtering anyone who stands in their path to the throne, including friends and innocent women and children…

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Hail Macbeth Essay

Macbeth The character of Macbeth is one of the most prominent and notorious personalities ever featured in any one of Shakespeare’s plays. Commonly labelled as a ‘tragic hero’, which is often made reference to in the play “For Brave Macbeth, well he deserves that name”, Macbeth is the perfect example of a man who is neither totally good nor totally evil and who finds himself caught up in a serious situation as a result of both psychological weakness and error in judgement. His gradual mental decline…

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The Theme Of Guilt In Macbeth

Perhaps the inspiration for such a hauntingly prolific statement stems from Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, in which the five acts contain themes of ambition, fate, but most notably, guilt. When Macbeth brainstormed the possible repercussions of killing King Duncan to take the throne, the soul-shattering guilt he would feel was not even mentioned. However, in the end, it is this guilt that leads to both his and Lady Macbeth’s demise. Shakespeare, in all his infinite wisdom, used these characters to portray…

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Macbeth: Macbeth and Lady Macbeths Sleep Essay

king Duncan and is cast with the Macbeths, drenched in the aftermath of their “bloody deeds”. The scene depicts Lady Macbeth elated by the success of her evil plan and Macbeth, frozen in his state of guilt is almost as icy cold as his wife’s bitter heart. This passage sets the scene for the demise of Macbeth from valiant soldier to wretched tyrant, and it is this, the beginning of the bloody course on which he embarks that characterises this play as one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies of all time…

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