Macbeth-Evil
Macbeth examines the nature of evil and the corruption of the human soul. In Macbeth evil is the opposite of humanity, the deviation from that which is natural for humankind, yet evil originates in the human heart. Supernatural and unnatural forces are the agents of human beings, not their instigators. The witches’ words do not seduce Macbeth. He is compelled by his own ambition and his wife’s ruthlessness. Similarly, spirits do not solicit Lady Macbeth, rather she invokes their aid for her purposes.
The character Macbeth, like the play itself, is a collection of contradictions. His wife believes that his “nature / . . . is too full o’th’ milk of human kindness / To catch the nearest way” (1.5.15 17, all references are to Stanley Wells and Gary Taylor, eds., William Shakespeare: The Complete Works [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988]). At the beginning of the play, he seems the epitome of a loyal subject, valiantly fighting the rebel forces to protect the king and preserve his power. Described as an almost superhuman warrior on the field of battle, brave Macbeth “carv’d out his passage” (1.2.20) through the enemy till he reached the traitor Macdonald, “unseamed him from the nave to th’ chops, / And fix’d his head upon ... [the] battlements” (1.2.22 23).
When we actually meet Macbeth and Banquo, however, we see interesting contrasts that belie the great hero. His first words, “So fair and foul a day I have not seen” (1.3.36) echo the “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (1.1.10) of three witches in scene one and immediately link him to them. Upon his bidding, the witches speak, greeting him with three titles: Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and king hereafter (1.3.46 48). Macbeth hears their words not with the detached skepticism of Banquo but with a kind of fear. For him, this is not a revelation of the future but an invasion of his private, hidden thoughts. His first reaction is like one who has been discovered. Banquo asks him, “Good sir, why do you start...
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