FREE ESSAY ON MACBETH

MACBETH

Daniel Tuiasosopo
2nd Period
English IV
Macbeth Essay Assignment
English drama, as we know it was not always the way it is. It has evolved tremendously
since the time of early church plays. Drama in England began long before the Renaissance
period. It originated from early church's ceremonies that were performed to educate the
common folk. Before the Renaissance, several kinds of plays were written and produced.
Miracle plays and mystery plays were introduced to teach people stories from the Bible.
Morality plays taught people how to live and die. Soon, these plays became too dramatic
for church purposes; so, priests ordered the removal of drama from the church. Between
the 1300's and 1400's, various workers' guilds cooperated in staging cycles of plays that
dramatized the whole history of human race. According to the Elements of literature book
(page 283 paragraph 2), parts of four cycles of these plays have been preserved and named
after the towns where they probably came from. These cycles were named, York, Chester,
Coventry, and Wakefield. Gradually, the plays became less religious. They often relied on
deus ex machina, an artificial device arbitrarily used to resolve a plot. Later, comedy
was incorporated into the plays. This clashing of comedy and serious drama showed the
English skills of directors and producers. In the early 1500's, a new kind of play called
an Interlude was introduced. Interludes were one-act plays that combined many styles of
plays. In the mid-sixteenth century, performing drama in a permanent building came about.
Plays were still performed in marketplaces and courtyards after the first theaters were
built. James Burbage built the first public theater called the "Theater" in 1576. Shortly
after, a playhouse called the Curtain was built; then came other theaters like the Rose,
Swan, Fortune, and the Red Bull. The most popular public theater at the time though was
the " Globe". The Globe was nicknamed " The Wooden O" because of its great O-shaped
structure. The structure was three stories high and surrounded a yard with an open space
in the middle. The Globe would later be the foundation for young writers to display their
work in plays. One of these young writers was man named William Shakespeare. 
William Shakespeare was and still is the father of English drama. Shakespeare wrote about
love and passion. He also wrote about tragedy and Romance. He is well known today in
works such as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and his sonnets. One of his most famous works as a
playwright was the Tragical History of Macbeth. This play was about a man named Macbeth
who was driven by ambition to murder his king, to become king. This popular play by
Shakespeare was inspired by the real-life events of a man named Macbeth. 
Macbeth was a real character who served as King of Scotland, about 1040 to 1057 A.D.
According to Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, Macbeth had a
legitimate reason to claim the throne over King Duncan. Duncan I of Scotland was born in
1001. He ascended to the throne at the age of thirty-three after killing his grandfather,
Malcolm II. He was a spoiled and over zealous young man whose reign was spoiled with
failed campaigns and death for his people. To gain the respect of his people, Duncan
decided to invade Northumberland and attack Durman. The campaign was a disaster. When he
got back to Scotland, unhappy lords who later revolted greeted him. His cousin Macbeth,
Lord of Moray, was one of the lords involved. Macbeth later slew Duncan and ascended the
throne with his wife cousin, Gruach, at his side. Duncan's sons fled at this time. 
Malcolm went to England while Donaldbain went to Ireland. Both later returned and reigned
as kings. Before Gruach married Macbeth, she was the wife of Gillecomgain, one of
Duncan's sons. He and Malcolm had murdered Macbeth's father in 1020. Gillecomgain and
Gruach, the granddaughter of Kenneth III, had one son named Lulach. In 1027, Gruach was
widowed when her husband was burned alive in his fortress with his men. At this point
Macbeth was appointed Lord of Moray and married Gruach. They were married in 1033 when
Macbeth was twenty-eight. Macbeth did much for Scotland in his seventeen-year reign.
Under him, North and South Scotland were united. He organized a military patrol that
canvassed the entire country enforcing law and order. In 1057, Macbeth's reign ended.
Malcolm Canmore raised an army with the help of the English and invaded his homeland. He
defeated Macbeth and became King of Scotland under the title Malcolm III, but not without
a little trouble. 
After Macbeth's death, his stepson, Lulach, had a brief reign. He was assassinated in
March 1058 after 
seven months of rule. Most believe that Malcolm and his associates played a major part in
his death. Finally, 
Malcolm got what he wanted. At the age of twenty-seven, he was crowned King of Scotland.
The Tragical History of Macbeth as we know it from Shakespeare's play, is actually a
remodified twist in the life of the real Macbeth.
In Act one of Macbeth, the weird sisters appeared in thunder and lightning to plan their
encounter with Macbeth. Macbeth and Banquo then met up with them upon a heathe in which
they revealed to them their prophecies. At the same time, the witches were telling them
the prophecies; the prophecy of Macbeth becoming Thane of Cawdor was taking into
creation. With this knowledge, Macbeth's character changed slowly from good to evil. He
wrote a letter to Lady Macbeth that may have well been the plotting of King Duncan's
death. 
In Act two, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth finally agreed to kill King Duncan. As the plotting
of the murder went on, Macbeth became increasingly nervous. The ironic object is, in the
end of the play; Lady Macbeth became more psychologically affect4ed by the murders than
Macbeth did. In the same act, King Duncan was discovered dead in his room and his
chamberlains were framed. Macbeth then killed the Chamberlains in act of insecurity.
In Act three, the main even that took place was the murdering of Macbeth's good friend
Banquo. Banquo became suspicious of Macbeth killing the king, so Macbeth hired two
murderers to kill him. The murderers killed Banquo but failed to kill his son Fleance.
During supper, Macbeth began to hallucinate again. He saw Banquo's bloody spirit in one
of the seats. It is at this point in which, people began suspecting Macbeth of the
murders. 
In Act four, the weird sisters again entered the play. This time their master Hecate was
scolding them. Macbeth also decided that he was going to visit the witches again. It was
here that Macbeth was given three apparitions. The first one warned Macbeth of Macduff.
The second apparition stated that any man born of woman could not kill Macbeth. The third
apparition said that Macbeth would not die until Birnam Woods moves to Dunsinane Hill.
When Macbeth got back to his castle, word came to him that Macduff had fled the kingdom.
Fearing treachery, Macbeth ordered that Macduff's family be killed. Both Lady Macduff and
her son were murdered. In England, Macduff found Malcolm and urged him to combine forces
with him to destroy Macbeth. Malcolm feared that Macduff might betray him, so he tested
him. In the end, they decided that it was time to pay Macbeth a visit. 
In Act five, Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking spoke of their plan to murder King Duncan. The
doctor and nurse who looked after her witnessed everything. Soon in the act, Lady Macbeth
was announced dead. In this Act, all of the prophecies of the witches were once again
taking into action. Macduff and his army came with branches from Birnam Woods symbolizing
the coming of the woods to Dunsinane. Battle raged on, and it finally came down to
Macbeth and Macduff. Macbeth told Macduff that he did not want to fight. He told him that
woman born could not kill him. Macduff then revealed to Macbeth that he was ripped
untimely from his mother's womb and that he could kill him. Instead of giving up, Macbeth
still decided to fight. He fought against destiny and he could not prevail. 
Perhaps the most distinguishing characteristic of Shakespearean tragedies is the use of
various types of imagery to emphasize the theme of the story. In Macbeth, William
Shakespeare uses nature imagery, water, blood, light versus dark, good versus evil, night
versus day, clothing imagery, and animal imagery. Imagery is figurative language or
mental pictures that enable the author to show the significance of specific actions.
Shakespeare uses nature imagery and the presence of blood as mediums for explaining the
parallels between characters, their actions, and the nature of sin. 
The weight of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's crimes are represented through the reaction of
nature to those actions. Shakespeare shows this relationship by using body politic. Body
politic states that if politics go wrong, then nature goes wrong. In Macbeth, the murder
of King Duncan is the political flaw, where chaos is nature's reaction. The first example
of body politic occurs when Duncan arrives at Macbeth's castle. 
"This guest of summer, / the temple-haunting martlet does approve, / . . . that the
heaven's breath / Smells wooingly here;" (Act 1. Scene4.line 4-6). 
The irony of a church bird dwelling on a house of evil shows that something is wrong in
nature. On the night of the murder, Lady Macbeth says, "I heard the owl scream and the
crickets cry". (Act 2. Scene 2. Line 15). Her statement is a revelation to the audience,
because owls give a pleasant, calming "hoot" and a cricket's voice is not that of a cry,
but that of a sweet "chirp". 
In scene four, Ross wonders at, " . . . the heavens, as troubled with man's act, / . . ..
By th' clock 'tis day, / and yet dark night strangles the traveling lamp." (Act 2.Scene
4.Lines 5-7). 
Ross speculates as to why the heavens are troubled because there is an eclipse in the
sky. In other words, it is day, but darkness reigns. It is quite fitting that on the
night of Duncan's death, there is an eclipse. The fact that an eclipse is rare supports
the possibility that something is wrong in nature. 
The presence of animal imagery in this play helps to develop the irrationality in
Macbeth's deed. "A falcon, tow' ring in her pride of place, / was by a mousing owl hawk'd
at and kill'd." (Act 2. Scene 4. Lines 12-13). The irony in this statement is that a
mousing owl killed a falcon. Falcons are associated with birds of prey more than owl. In
fact, the stereotype of the falcon is statelier than the owl. It is like comparing a
vulture to a cardinal. There is a significant difference between the two. The falcon
represents Duncan, where the owl represents Macbeth. As the falcon sits on her "pride of
place" (Act 2. Scene 4. Line 12), Duncan sits on his throne. As the musing owl is
inferior to the falcon, Macbeth is inferior to Duncan. Another tool that Shakespeare uses
to portray the presence of evil in Macbeth is a main ingredient of life. Air is the
nourishment of all life, because it provides the numerous gases that animals and plants
need to survive. Ironically, Shakespeare uses air to represent evil. 
"Hover through the fog and filthy air." (Act 1. Scene 1. Line 12). The witches open Act 1
with an evil chant that establishes air as the environment for evil. Shakespeare
describes the air as filthy. Shakespeare also used imagery of blood.
The first time Shakespeare used blood as a symbol took place in Act II Scene II, when
Macbeth is going to kill Duncan. He imagines a bloody dagger in front of him, pointing
towards Duncan's room in his castle. As Macbeth described it, And on thy blade and
dudgeon gouts of blood, which was not so before...It is the bloody business which now
informs thus to mine eyes." (Act II, Scene II, 55-58) 
The blood in this scene foreshadows that Macbeth is about to kill Duncan. It also shows
his fear about killing Duncan, because his mind is playing tricks on him. He is
developing a guilty conscience although he has not yet committed the murder. During the
feast at Macbeth's castle, after his crowning, Banquo was murdered. Blood was mentioned
in this scene as a foreshadowing device. Macbeth imagined the bloody ghost of Banquo
sitting in his spot at the table. He said, Never shake thy gory locks at me". (Act III,
Scene IV, 64-65) 
This describes the blood on the ghost. Lady Macbeth also mentioned the air-drawn dagger
that Macbeth saw before killing Duncan. Macbeth's fear and guilty conscience from his
killings is rising steadily. While he is killing for his own purposes, he does not
realize how much it is hurting him mentally. His images of bloody ghosts and knives are
evidence of this, as Macbeth is unable to keep a clear mind. This is also foreshadowing
that all of Macbeth's killings will eventually cause great mental problems for Macbeth.
It is interesting how Shakespeare incorporates imagery into Macbeth. By using imagery,
Shakespeare is able to communicate the message of evil and chaos. Imagery serves as an
effective tool in bringing about understanding and correlations. As a result, Shakespeare
has managed to establish a basis for literature dealing with evil and sin. In the play
Macbeth, we discover that Macbeth is a tragic hero. Macbeth is very ambitious,
courageous, and a moral coward: all these things lead to his tragic death at the end of
the play. 
At the beginning of the play, Shakespeare defines Macbeth as a hero very clearly.
However, he is very ambitious to be king. At the beginning of the play, he was loyal to
the king. While he did imagine that of murder, his mind rejects it and said, Why, if fate
will have me king, why, chance may crown me", (Act I, Scene 3) yet, increasingly his
ambition defeated his good nature. When Duncan named Malcolm the Prince of Cumberland,
Macbeth decided on the murder of Duncan. When Duncan arrived at Inverness, Macbeth
controlled his ambition for the time being and did not kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth who
called him a coward soon reflected the failing of his decision. From then on, after the
murder of Duncan, Macbeth entered into a life of evil. Since he overcame his good nature,
he no longer needed to be with his friend Banquo. He wanted to protect his ambition, by
killing the king. He then killed Banquo, due to the prediction of what the witches said
about Banquo's son becoming the king. Macbeth wanted to ensure that he would reach his
ambition without problems. Macbeth, who now no longer needed any encouragement from Lady
Macbeth, started to leave her in ignorance of his plans. Near the end of the play, Lady
Macbeth sleepwalked and had a dream about the killing of Duncan and Banquo. She died
because of all this pressure and guilt about the murder. Macbeth would never have guessed
that Macduff would come back for revenge for the killing in Macduff's household. When
Macbeth found out that Macduff was not born of woman, and found out that Birnam Wood had
been seen moving, he realized that the third apparition had deceived him. He understood
he was no longer safe. Through the development of his character, Macbeth turned from a
fine natured person to an evil person. His ambition, strong belief in the witches, ended
him of his life, and caused many people to lose their lives. Understanding the importance
of imagery and character development in Macbeth helps us develop the theme of the play.
" Blood will have blood." (Act III, Scene IV, line 122)
This was said right after Macbeth's feast in which he sees Banquo's ghost. It shows
Macbeth's confusion, as well as his want for retaliation against the bloody ghost.
However, the only way he knows to fight back is by killing more people. Killing more
people caused Macbeth to be crazier, and his guilty conscience grew. After the killing of
King Duncan, Macbeth's hands were stained with blood. He did not immediately wash it off;
instead, Lady Macbeth had to literally push him to be washed. This foreshadowed that
there will be more blood shed because of King Duncan's murder. King Duncan's blood, led
to Banquo's blood and soon Macduff's family. " Blood will have blood," he said. In the
end, Macbeth's blood was shed. 
Today, many versions of Macbeth are being produced. We see re-enactments of the first
plays in some of today's theaters and motion picture production studios. Although many
authors and directors have tried to act out the play of Macbeth in different versions,
the concept of understanding it is very different from reading. According to Connie
Spillman, reader of Macbeth, " Reading this long play is very boring. When we watched the
BBC version, it was more real and exciting." Nancy Nickson also stated, " Reading was
hard for me because every time I get interrupted, I lose focus of where I was reading. On
the other hand, watching the play gave me an opportunity to maintain my place in the play
even when I'm interrupted." 
When reading a play, there is always an opportunity to skim back to already read
information, for reference to what is presently read. Reading the play helps with
understanding the play as a whole because you are actually reading the entire work as
intended by the writer. In Macbeth, there is a very little chance of missing an idea
because scenes are neither cut nor added in. A disadvantage of reading Macbeth is that I
did not understand most of what was going on, because of the English style it was
written. Most of the time, I would fall asleep reading it, because it had too many
dialogues. 
When I viewed the play on film, my understanding of the play expanded because actions
were performed to carry out certain phrases. Viewing a play gives the audiences a feeling
of what is going on. It sets in motion a physical description of the information given
from reading. There is a saying, " Action speaks louder than words", and this was the
case in the play Macbeth. According to Mrs. Stalder, Macbeth is a play that was meant to
be performed, not read. The only disadvantage in the film was the fact that scenes were
added and subtracted from the play. In the BBC version of Macbeth, scenes were cut out
and new ones were added in. For example, in act five scene three, Macbeth's conversation
with the doctor and Seyton was cut out. A new scene with the witches standing in the
background was added when Macbeth met with the murderers. Although many have different
beliefs in the versions of the play, Macbeth still is a great drama. 
The use of supernatural forces made Macbeth very popular around the Renaissance period.
Macbeth dealt with witches and how they played a big role in building the plot for
Macbeth. People around that time were not very fond of witches. The fact that Shakespeare
added witches in the play brought attention to the play. The setting of play was quite
interesting. It involved a loyal nobleman whom by evil, turned against his king. This
idea may have caused the viewers around the Renaissance to focus on that concept
happening. Women in the Renaissance period were quiet in their marriages. They did not
have much to say. In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth acted as a driving force behind Macbeth's
actions; this was also very ironic at the time. 
A reader today can still pick up Macbeth and gain from it knowledge. A modern viewer can
take a glimpse of what life was around that time. A modern viewer can experience from
reading the kinds of lifestyles people lived in. A modern viewer can see how ambition can
destroy the life of a good man. There is also a great deal of rhetorical devices included
in Macbeth. A modern viewer can use Macbeth as a guide to imagery and archetypes. Imagery
is what developed the plot of Macbeth and its theme. From Macbeth, viewers can see the
spiritual warfare between good and evil that still exists today. From Macbeth, we can
learn that there is evil in everybody. This is a fact that has been forgotten by today's
society. Macbeth may have been written hundreds of years ago, but it is still considered
great drama; simply because it tells a story of a tragic hero. Supernatural, Imagery,
Archetypes, and the fact that people's beliefs and morals are affected by the play, makes
Macbeth great drama.