Macbeth Essay

In William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is portrayed as having several different personality traits. Throughout the play Lady Macbeth is shown to be a strong willed woman whose only focus is for her husband and herself to become King and Queen. She is totally consumed by her desire. In order to achieve her success, Shakespeare presents her as a greedy, ambitious woman. This is proven by negative attributes control and manipulation. In the end all she has left is a guilty conscience.

In the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth uses a negative approach to attempt to achieve her ultimate goal of being Queen. Lady Macbeth calls upon the witches through an evil spell to give her reassurance that her plan to kill King Duncan will not fail. She wants the spirits to take away her womanhood, to make her strong like a man, to fill her head to toe with terrible thoughts of murder and to rip out her heart so she feels no regret. “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top- full of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood.” (1.5) In addition Lady Macbeth uses a negative approach to try and convince her husband that they should kill King Duncan. Lady Macbeth uses flattery when her husband agrees to her plan but belittles him when he changes his mind. Lady Macbeth then proceeds to speak bluntly to Macbeth after he betrays her trust. “ I have given suck, and know how tender'tis to love the babe that milks me. I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this.” Lady Macbeth thinks that this is proving she is a stronger person than Macbeth but in reality Lady Macbeth is only using Macbeth to get what she really wants, which is to become Queen..

Furthermore Lady Macbeth shows another personality trait when she tries to control her husband. Upon the King's arrival, Lady Macbeth knows that she has to be very strong and convince her husband that they must be willing to sacrifice everything in order to kill King Duncan and become King and Queen themselves. Lady Macbeth also uses manipulation on Macbeth when she flatters his ego by telling him that he is a strong man for wanting to kill the King. When the time is close, Macbeth is second guessing Lady Macbeth's plan. “ 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 what you were, you would be so much more than what you were, you would be so much more the man. Nor time nor place did then did then adhere, and yet you would make both. They have made themselves, and that their fitness now does unmake you.” (1.7)

Lady Macbeth has a hard time dealing with the killing of King Duncan and with the consequence of feeling guilty afterwards. This guilt feeling led Lady Macbeth to, constantly would wash her hands, trying to rid herself of King Duncan's blood, instead of being in her chamber sleeping, Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking around the castle. Lady Macbeth doesn't know what is causing these problems so she consults a doctor who comes to the castle and watches over her while she sleeps. From observing Lady Macbeth in her sleep, the doctor comes to the conclusion that she was involved in someway with King Duncan's death. The doctor realizes that Lady Macbeth's problems are caused by guilt. After the doctor's visit, Lady Macbeth comes to the realization that there is no escaping the guilt and she will never be able to over come it. Soon afterwards, a distressed Lady Macbeth proves she is not a strong willed woman, as she was portrayed earlier in the play while she was planning the murder of King Duncan. Rather than live a life full of guilt Lady Macbeth feels the only solution is to commit suicide by jumping off the roof. Macbeth “She should have died hereafter. There would have been a time for such a word.” (5.5)

Lady Macbeth's plan to kill the King was achieved by using greed and ambition. This came about at a very high price ie, her suicide and Macbeth's death. The plan itself was successful but Lady Macbeth could not conquer the consequence of her actions. Her only focus was killing King Duncan and gaining power and not the outcome there of.

Frankenstein Questions

1. Briefly summarize what we learn about Victor’s family and background. Remember, we are trying to see how things from his childhood would affect him to build the man he becomes. 

In chapter one and two we learn several things about Victor's family and background. We learn that he was born and raised in Switzerland into a family of merchants. His Father marries late has he is a very career minded person, and ends up betrothing his friends daughter. His life long friend Beaufort loses all his riches and is forced to live in poverty, due to this poverty he gets very depressed and eventually passes away from his grief. When this happens his Father feels obligated out of duty to take his daughter Caroline into his care, and ends up marrying her. After Victor is born, and they take a family trip to see the Italian countryside. Due to being an only child for so long he becomes spoiled. During there trip they find a beautiful blonde girl that has been orphaned by her family, and Caroline decides to bring home and make her the daughter they never had and Victor's future wife. Victor and Elizabeth become the best of friends, along with their schoolmate Henry Clerval. Victor finds a novel written by Cornelius Agrippa, this begins his love for natural sciences. It did not take him long to branch out to other natural scientists such as Paracelsus and Alberta Magnas.

2. We see some immediate evidence of this old concept that people ARE their looks, or rather, that their looks are their personalities. Look for this in these chapters and evaluate.

The immediate evidence we see that people are there looks when Caroline discovers Elizabeth on the Italian countryside. Elizabeth is seen as an angel in a sense, because of her fragile features, blond hair and white comp-lactation. If you follow the mind set that people are their looks, then Elizabeth is pure.     

3. Compare the personalities and essential nature of each of the three young friends - Victor, Henri Clerval and Elizabeth. A chart would be handy for this.

Elizabeth Beaufort and Henry Clerval were kind loving people. they were loyal to their friends even in the worst situations. For example, Justine accused of murder, and Victors insanity after making the monster. Victors unlike these two. He is greedy and self centered. He let Justine be accused of murder when he knew it was his creation. Also, he expected his creature to be more than he is. He abandoned it because he wasn't good enough.   

4. Do some research and give me a brief outline of the three thinkers whom Victor studied in his youth: Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus and Albertus Magnus.

Cornelius Agrippa (1486- c.1535) was a philosopher and scientist with a deep interest with magic, astrology and other supernatural aspects. He was a critic of the church system and argued for a return to the old and new testaments as the basis of christian teachings. Paracelsus (1490-1451) was a renowned physician in the first century. Due to his studies in medicine he contributed a large amount of understanding and treatment of disease. He had a great interest in alchemy and was thought to be a fake who relied on magic and superstition as much as he did science. Albertus Magnus (c.1205- c.1278) was a very versatile scholar whose work ranged from philosophy and theology to psychology and natural science. He had a strong opinion that experimental science and christian faith were able to co-exist together without conflict. He was excused of using sorcery and magic instead of theology.   

5. Describe Victor’s interest in these thinkers and consider why they appealed to him.

Victor's main interest in these thinkers was that they all were thought to use supernatural powers such as magic in their work. Magic is something that is not understood and goes against the natural way of life, defying God. Due to Victor's obsession to defeat, which goes against the natural way of life, he is appealed to this supernatural possibility of anything.   

Macbeth Questions

3. a) In Act 2, how does Macbeth attempt to gain Banquo's support? How does Banquo respond?
Macbeth tries to gain Banquo’s support by deception and flattery. In today’s worls Macbeth would be known as a "con-artist". During the King’s visit, Macbeth appears to be a modest man who is loyal to the King, rather than a greedy over-ambitious man that he really is. Macbeth tries to make Banquo believe that he does not want to be King by showing no interest in the witches and not believing their vision. Macbeth tries to pull this off to fool Banquo but he does not fully believe him. Banquo is suspicious of Macbeth and this is proven when Macbeth says "If you shall cleave to my consent, when t’is, It shall make honour for you." Banquo fully does trust Macbeth and comes back with "So I lose none in seeking to augment it, but still keep my bosom franchised and alliance clear, I shall be consell’d." This quote means that Banquo will do what Macbeth wants if he is able to keep a clear conscience. Banquo makes it clear to Macbeth that he will do nothing against the King in order to make Macbeth the next King.

b) Compare how Lady Macbeth and Macbeth react to the King's murder. Why are they so different in their response?In this time period women were thought to be dainty, fragile and so "lady like" and rather helpless. When Lady Macbeth becomes aware of Duncan’s death, the reader is led to believe she was horrified at the death but in reality, it was because it happened in her house not simply because it happened. When Macduff walks into the room Macbeth’s reaction was totally different. Men were not to show emotions for example by crying. He appears to be completely surprised and non-committed and than makes over by pretending to be a good friend and subject.
　
c) In Act 1, Duncan is established as King. What kind of King is he, based upon how he interacts with his thanes? Be specific and give references where possible.
In act one scene two, after the battle Duncan learns from Ross that the Than of Cawdor is a traitor and Macbeth defeated the rebels. The King decides that the Than of Cawdor must die and the new Thane of Cawdor will be Macbeth. This indicates that the King gives awards to loyal subjects and punishes rebels with death.
In act one scene four, Duncan recites "There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face. He was a gentleman on whom I built an absolute trust." Which indicates that he is not as gullible as he lets on. Duncan tells Macbeth how proud he is of him and that the title of Thane of Cawdor is not reward enough for the killing of the rebels. At the same time, he tells this to Macbeth, he also says his son Malcolm will inherit the title of King. Macbeth becomes angry about this and confused about the witch’s conversation with him. Macbeth does not show his feelings so Duncan does not know Macbeth’s true feelings.
In act one scene six, Duncan and Banquo are arriving at Macbeth’s castle for a royal visit. The King is impressed with the castle and ventures to the courtyard where he meets up with Lady Macbeth. Duncan appears to be more gullible because he does not realize that Lady Macbeth happy and grateful outlook is not for. This scene depicts a friendly personality and a King who gets along with his royal thanes.

d) After reading his letter, how does Lady Macbeth describe her husband? Why do you think she describes him this way?Lady Macbeth depicts her husband as a ambitious but yet weak man and full of kindness. Lady Macbeth’s words "and shalt be what thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o’th’ milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way: tho wouldst be great, art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it." proves this description of her husband. This means that Macbeth has the ambition to become King but does not have the ability ti acquire the title. She feels that he is too kind to seize the opportunity. She believes her husband to be naive as he thinks he can become King without being anheir to the King or doing something evil to get the title. Lady Macbeth describes her husband in this manner because she wants to be a strong powerful woman instead of being stereotype as weak and timid. This is evidence when she is the one to think of the plot to steal the throne and to be the leader of this up roar. Her plan would be to switch roles so she would make decisions and he would do as she tells him to do.


4. a) What appears to be motivating Macbeth the most? Figure it out and show some evidence from the play.There are three main motivating factors, they are; young ambition, need to prove his manhood, and greed. The one that motivates Macbeth the most in the play is his need to prove his manhood. He always wrestles with decisions when it comes times to make them, he has doubts about his strength and abilities. When Macbeth starts to doubt himself Lady Macbeth is there to take advantage of the moment and manipulate him into doing what she wants, instead of him making decisions he wants. You see this time nd time again in this play, for example Act Three Scene Four. When Macbeth sees Banquo's ghost and starts having a freak, Lady Macbeth says;
"Oh, these flaws and starts, Impostors to true fear, would well become A woman’s story at a winter’s fire, Authorized by her grandam. Shame itself!".

b) Make a list of reversals or paradoxes from Acts 1 and 2 that show how "fair is foul, and fouls is fair".
- In Act One, Scene Two the nobleman Ross informs King Duncan that the trusted the thane of Cawdor, is a traitor who conspired with Norway during the rebellion. The fair thane of Cawdor is foul.

- In Act One, Scene Three after the witches tell Macbeth and Banquo's future, Banquo says the lines;
BANQUO And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,
The instruments of darkness tell us truths,
Win us with honest trifles, to betray ’s
In deepest consequence
-This example is a paradox because telling the truth is a act of good not evil, so it a reversal to have evil be the one telling the
truth.

- The witch's appearance, this is a reversal because they are woman that look like man.
- Another reversal is Lady Macbeth's male strength and Macbeth's female weakness; i.e being commanded by male.

- The largest paradox you see is the entire plot the play is based on, the fact that Macbeth's motifs are to kill Duncan and become King in his place is an act that goes against all ways of life during that time period.

Newspaper Article

King Duncan is Dead

After the victorious battle led by Macbeth, the King planned to reward Macbeth with the title of Thane of Cawdor. In celebration of this new title, King Duncan pays a royal visit to Macbeth’s castle. Upon arrival the King was greeted by Lady Macbeth and the servants as Macbeth had yet to arrive at the castle.

When everyone had arrived at the castle, fun and merriment were enjoyed by everyone until the wee hours of the morning. At dawn, everyone was in disbelief that the King was brutally murdered sometime during the night. Upon the discovery of their father’s death, Donalbain and Malcolm fled the country leaving many questions unanswered. A blood trail led investigators to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s quarters. When questions were asked about their whereabouts in the wee hours of the morning, they couldn’t explain their whereabouts or why the blood was outside their sleeping chamber.

People in the Kingdom want justice for their King. They feel the sons should be brought home to answer questions and for Malcolm to serve as their King as Duncan had already appointed him to be. As for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, the people thought they should be charged with the King’s death and made to stand trial.

Lady Macbeth Character Sketch

In the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth is portrayed as an arrogant, self-indulged wife. In act one, scene five Lady Macbeth is first introduced to the audience, you see her reading a letter from her husband that had been sent to her. Macbeth informs his wife of the witch’s prophecy and the new title of Thane of Cawdor. Upon hearing the news she gets immediately thrilled by the idea of being royalty and thrilled by the idea of being in becoming so. Due to her arrogance she believes that she could kill the king and not get caught. This scene clearly shows the degree of her arrogance and the starting point in her character arc.

You see Lady Macbeth’s character begin to take another step in act five, scene one when her sleepwalking begins. During her sleepwalking episodes she confess’s to the murder and constantly scrubs her hands in attempt to wash away the murder. This is showing her arrogant attitude is giving way, and she is being brought back to reality that is life.

Lady Macbeth’s transformation is complete in act five, scene five when she is completely brought back to reality and her illusions of strength have crumbled. She finally understands the consequences of going against nature and cannot handle it. Macbeth hears a woman’s scream, the is Lady Macbeth ending her life.