Macbeth Essay

Macbeth Essay 

Topic:

Lady Macbeth is the key force of evil in Macbeth. It is not the witches, nor Macbeth’s own ambition that takes him to his doom. Instead, it is the direct manipulation and vicious ambition of his wife that sets everything in motion and maintains Macbeth’s vicious course leading to his own death.

Rough Notes:
(Act one scene five)

Before Lady Macbeth Says Anything:
- thinks if fate wants him to be king, it will happen and he will not have to do anything
-feels many different emotions
-not happy unless Macbeth is working with Banquo
- says

What she says:
- wants to change his state of manhood
-tells Macbeth he doesn't have a mean streak in his body
-Lady Macbeth reads a letter in which Macbeth tells of the witches’ prophecy, she immediately concludes Macbeth should murder Duncan, but fears Macbeth won’t have the courage to do it.


How he changes afterwards: 
-has a lot of respect for Lady Macbeth (act one scene 5, page three)
-talks about how he wants to get the deed done quickly 
- Lady Macbeth appears and urges Macbeth to come to the feast with Duncan and the others. When she finds Macbeth is having second thoughts about the murder, she mocks him and questions whether he is a “real man.” She points out that she, though a mere woman, has the courage to do this deed, and tells Macbeth to leave all the planning to her

• Macbeth has a soliloquy (like an aside, but a much longer speech) in which he debates his internal conflict over whether to kill Duncan or not.  He wants to have the crown, but fears the consequences of killing Duncan, who is a good king, and to whom Macbeth owes his loyalty.
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ROUGH DRAFT:

    In this play Lady Macbeth is characterized as more of a dominant male figure in Macbeth and her relationship. Lady Macbeth is the key force of evil in Macbeth. It is not the witches or Macbeth’s own intention that takes him to his doom. Instead, it is the direct manipulation and vicious ambition of Lady Macbeth, that sets everything in motion and maintains Macbeth’s vicious course leading to his own death. Three reasons Lady Macbeth is the evil in Macbeth are she changes his opinion of murdering Duncan, Lady Macbeth mocks her husband's manhood making him feel guilty for thinking about not killing Duncan and finally Lady Macbeth is not the murderer but she is an accessory to murder.
   
     Lady Macbeth is the key force of evil in this play due to the fact she is the one who changes Macbeth's mind on murdering Duncan. Power is used by certain characters to influence others. One such character is Lady Macbeth. In the beginning of the play, she is a strong-willed character. She takes on the role of a dominant male. Lady Macbeth has a greater influence over her husband, Macbeth, who is believed to be weaker than she is. It is Lady Macbeth's impact that convinces Macbeth to murder Duncan. Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to achieve his goal of becoming king, he will do this by killing Duncan and as of result of this she organizes the murder that she wants to happen. In the beginning Macbeth was very hesitate on killing the king, Duncan, due to the fact he feared the consequences that would occur afterwards. Therefore, Lady Macbeth is a key force of evil in the play due to the fact she changes his mind on killing Duncan.
 
     During act one, scenes six and seven, Lady Macbeth urges Macbeth to feast with Duncan and the others, when she finds Macbeth having some second thoughts about the murdering of Duncan, she mocks him and questions if he is a 'real man' or not. Lady Macbeth then goes on to point out how she is a woman and she has the courage to do the deed. Lady Macbeth is mocking her husband's man hood and making him feel guilty by saying that she could do it, so why can't he. This is an excellent example of how she is a key force of evil in the play, Macbeth. When mocking Macbeth she does not have any second feelings of what she is saying or she does not second guess the things she is says. Throughout these scenes, Duncan comments on how attractive and wonderful Lady Macbeth is, but little did he know she was wanting him killed. Throughout the play when Macbeth has his doubts and fears in himself and murdering Duncan, Lady Macbeth is quick to call him everything from a coward to a helpless baby. Lady Macbeth is a key force of evil in the play, Macbeth, because she is an accessory to murder but she makes her husband kill Duncan.
   
     Finally another reason Lady Macbeth is a key force of evil in the play is because she is an accessory to murder but she is not the murder. Lady Macbeth wants Macbeth to murder Duncan, but she will not do it herself therefore making her just an accessory to murder. An accessory to murder is someone who assist in the commission of the murder, but does not actually participate in the commission of the crime as a joint principle. So therefore Lady Macbeth organizes and plans the murder and all Macbeth knows is he will be the one carrying out the murder of Duncan. During act one, scenes six and seven, in Macbeth's soliloquy, he debates his internal conflict over whether to kill Duncan or not. He wants the crown, but fears the consequences of killing Duncan, who is a good king and Macbeth owes his loyalty too. But after Macbeth's soliloquy, Lady Macbeth then asks if he was a drunk when he had seemed so hopeful before, she also questions if he is scared to murder Duncan, In act one scene seven, Lady Macbeth says "What beast was '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 they you were, you would be so much more than a man." She is telling Macbeth that if he does continue with the deed then that is when he will become a man. Therefore Lady Macbeth is a key force of evil in this play because of the way she mocks Macbeth's manhood when he feels he can not do one thing.

     Therefore, Lady Macbeth is the key force of evil in the play, Macbeth, for the three main reasons; Lady Macbeth changes his mind about killing Duncan, she mocks Lady Macbeth's manhood, and finally she is a key force of evil in the play because she is not the murderer but she is the main accessory to the murder of Duncan. In the end of the play, Duncan was murdered but Macbeth then gets into a fight with McDuff and in that fight Macbeth was killed. Macbeth should have feared the consequences of killing Duncan due to the fact that he ended up dying. Many of the disturbing and/or horrible events that happened during the play are caused from Lady Macbeth or at least she had a hand in these situations. Therefore Lady Macbeth is the key force of evil in the play, Macbeth.