Macbeth Essay Research Paper Macbeth is

Macbeth Essay, Research Paper

Macbeth is one of the well admired historical tragedies by William Shakespeare. It is believed to be written 1604-5 when King James I was the king of England. The play is about the rise and fall of the Scottish king Macbeth who ruled Scotland between 1040-57AD . Shakespeare used some of the facts from Holinshead.s report even though he hid some due to political reasons . Macbeth and his wife are seen by those who watch the play as evil partners , ruthless murderers who began as a normal couple but who took the wrong track led by their evil desires.

In act one scene five Lady Macbeth is introduced to the audience for the first time . She is reading a letter from Macbeth . It contains the words .my dearest partner of greatness .. Even though these words may seem normal to us as we live in a society of equality , the Christian audience of Shakespeare.s time would have thought them odd because the Bible dictates :-

Your desires will be for your husband ,

and he will rule over you .

Genesis 1:16.

Wives ... be submissive to your husbands .

1 Peter3:1.

In the audience.s view wives were supposed to be obedient and certainly were not to be equal partners with their husbands. Therefore they would have seen the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as an unnatural one at this early stage .

Macbeth.s letter tells her about how three witches foretold him about his new title the .Thane of Cawdor. and their other prophesy emphasised by the greeting .All Hail , Macbeth that shalt be king hereafter.. This letter makes her think about how to make Macbeth king and her thoughts are shown through her monologue. Lady Macbeth.s horrifying monologue contains unpleasant evil phrases such as .unsex me . and .make thick of my blood . . In Shakespearean times women were meant to be soft submissive creatures whilst men were supposed to be brave and tough . Due to the influence of virgin Mary in Christianity there was greater reverence to womanhood . Lady Macbeth.s desire to be .unsexed. would have absolutely horrified Shakespeare.s audience and would have made them speculate that because she cannot turn in to a man she will use the manliness of Macbeth to achieve her evil desires.

Macbeth meets Lady Macbeth for the first time since his courageous victory with his new title .Thane of Cawdor. . We expect any wife to congratulate her husband and talk about his bravery . Lady Macbeth instead of this directly talks about the letter and their .future.. This reveals her strong persuasive character as she firmly tells Macbeth .leave all the rest to me.. We also realise that Macbeth is going to be pushed into evil.

When Macbeth tells her about Duncan.s plans she says . O never shall sun that morrow see .. At this stage her relationship seems more than a partner as she has made the decision to murder without consulting Macbeth . She advises him to .Look like the innocent flower , but be the serpent under.t.. The gender roles switch again as she commands him what to do. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are often compared to Adam and Eve because like Eve Lady Macbeth in tempts Macbeth to sin . According to the Bible humans lost their everlasting happy life because of what Adam and Eve did . The Shakespearean audience would have feared that something similar might happen to the Scottish rulers . Macbeth only says .We will speak further . but Lady Macbeth remains keen in the idea.

In the time of Macbeth people believed in a theory called .The Divine rights of kings. which explained that the monarch was considered to be God.s representative on earth . Macbeth knew that God would seek retribution if he over reached himself by killing God.s representative on earth . He also considers how Duncan was kind and honourable to him and firmly says .we will proceed no further in this business.. This is when Lady Macbeth shows her full potential for evil . She calls him .coward. . This is really an irony because we know that in act one scene two the Sergeant described him .brave Macbeth.. Macbeth considers her accusations seriously because when others were referring to his outer strength she is the only one who knows his inner strength .She also asks him .what beast was.t then made you break this enterprise to me... We as audience do know that Macbeth never promised her that he will kill Duncan . She also threatens his sexuality by saying .When you durst do it , then you were a man. .She amuses the audience by showing how she can achieve what she wants from Macbeth by .sexual taunting and force of determination..

Lady Macbeth is the one who drugged the guards and enabled Macbeth to kill Duncan . After the murder Macbeth is terrified and his conscience commands .Macbeth shall sleep no more.. Sleeplessness was believed to be caused by guilt . Lady Macbeth without any sign of guilt greets him .My husband!. which indicates that he has proven his sexuality .She takes full control over the scene by returning the dagger to the murder scene because Macbeth was afraid to do so and makes him wash his blood stained hands . She tries to convince Macbeth that their guilt will vanish by saying . A little water clears us of this deed. as she washes her hands . When the murder is discovered Lennox tells Macbeth about the unnatural events of chaos in the natural world such as the .strange scream of death.. M