Macbeth's Murders example essay topic

This scene marks a turning point in Macbeth's nature and destiny but it is difficult to detect this at the start. He appears to be content and composed as he greets his guests and puts on a brave face, playing the host to perfection, but inside, his anxiousness is easting away at him as he waits for news on the expectant murder of Banquo and Fleance. So when he has heard that Banquo has been slain, he is relieved, but to hear that Fleance still lives makes him anxious, as Macbeth thinks that he will be a threat to his kingship, but tries not to let this provoke him, so continues to be the authority figure however, he humbles himself among his visitors, ! SS Ourself will mingle with society and play the humble host. !" Macbeth keeps a fair composure until the abrupt arrival of Banquo's ghost, where he becomes confused and irritated by its presence, so begins hurling abuse at it, ! SS Thou canst not say I did it; never shake thy gory locks at me.

!" All the while, he fails to remember all the others present, bewildered at what they are seeing. This continues until he finds himself again when the ghost recedes. He calms and resumes in making a heart-warming toast to Banquo, which enlightens the crowd. But this is once again disrupted by a second appearance of the ghost, which aggravates Macbeth who, once more, looses track of his surroundings and criticizes it, ! SS Avaunt, and quit my sight, let the earth hide thee! Thy bones are marrow less, thy blood is cold.

!" But poor Macbeth is also confused, as he cannot tell anyone else what he can see, for fear of being found out, so wallows in his pain. Already uneasy because of the unanticipated visit of the murderer, the ghost has added greatly to Macbeth's nervousness. It had reminded him that his throne is under threat and that what goes around, comes around and after the exit of the thanes, he makes a speech in which he says, ! SSI will tomorrow, and betimes I will, to the weird sisters. !" Now Macbeth's curiosity is driving him as well as his ambition and he grows more paranoid and afraid, which is why he resorts to seeing the witches once more. He interprets the ghost as a sign of bad fortune and horror, something wicked and so would Jacobean audiences.

They would have been terrified of a supernatural being and would have related it with evil, so they also may have been fearful of the ghost because they believed it to be quite real. This new change in Macbeth is a definite contrast to his state of mind before murdering Duncan. We can see this through his use of language as he continually complemented the king, telling him that service to him was enough payment for his duties. At this point, he didn! |t keep anything from anyone and never had to put on a false face to hide his true feelings. This was when all those around him admired him as he was stable-minded, brave and loyal to his king, but the sudden change happened around the time when he met the witches who told Macbeth that he was to be king, so he went about his! yen duties! | and killed him. But not far into the preparation for the murder, Macbeth was showing signs of weakness and when he was crowned he began to become more ambitious, confused and insecure, an almost complete opposition to what he was before.

At this point he was growing to be distressed and after the execution of Banquo and appearance of his ghost, Macbeth shows slight signs of psychosis. This is when he rants and raves at the ghost, using bold language that stands out from the rest of what he says and when he changes his attitude, becoming caring and sympathetic (towards the absence of Banquo), he seems almost schizophrenic as this change happens so swiftly. These changes in Macbeth could be emphasised with the appearance of the ghost. So to better understand his emotions, it would be best of the ghost were present on stage so that he and the audience could view it.

The rest of the characters ignoring it would add empathy on Macbeth's behalf so that we can comprehend with the trauma he is going through. There should be music playing softly, with lots of light to illustrate happiness and peace, but when the ghost enters and Macbeth notices it upon his throne, the music stops and as he blindly insults it, the lights dim (but are bright enough to roughly see the other people) with two spotlights, one on him and another on the ghost. This would show things from Macbeth's point of view, that it is only he and the ghost, no one else and when it leaves, the lights and music gradually return to their original state, representing Macbeth's more relaxed state of mind. As well as this scene being a turning point in Macbeth's state of mind, there is also a change in the tightness of the bond between him and Lady Macbeth. At the beginning of the scene, their relationship appears to be flourishing as they receive their guests with pleasure, whilst continuously complementing them as well as each other; ! SS Our hostess keeps her state, but in best time, we will require her welcome.

!" ! SS Pronounce it for me sir, to all our friends, for my heart speaks they are welcome. !" This looks as if the pair are giving off a false impression and it may seem like they are becoming theatrical, but the thanes do not detect it. At this time, they are at peace with one another and Lady Macbeth isn! |t complaining like she usually does, which is a good sign. But she soon gets aggravated again when she sees Macbeth acting irrationally at what appears to be! yen the invisible man! | and, as she does not know about the murder of Banquo, she is left in the dark and she mocks him, torments him and questions his manhood, like we! |ve seen her do numerous times throughout the play.

This used to work well for Lady Macbeth and she was able to make him frail so she could mould him how she wanted, ! SSW as the hope drunk in which you dressed yourself? !" This eventually led to the death of King Duncan after Macbeth crumbled and cracked under the pressure. But now it looks as if she is loosing her power over him as he has found his own two feet and is finally standing upright. So, try as she may, Lady Macbeth can no longer use her influence to make him frail, Macbeth just doesn! |t pay attention to her, !

SSO proper stuff! This is the very painting of your fear. !" Now realising that the manipulation techniques are not taking a great deal of effect, Lady Macbeth is quite different to what she as before. She too was once self indulgent and hard-hearted about others feelings, even those of Macbeth, but now she is anxious and worried about him and is still unaware of the secrets he is keeping from her (mainly the murder of Banquo.) It is possible to see this in the way she responds to Macbeth, with one-line answers; ! SSDi d you send to him sir? !" !

SS You lack the season of all natures, sleep. !" So because of the dramatic change in the state of mind in both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, their! yen closeness! | shown at the beginning of the scene has faded. Macbeth has gained his authority for the first time and the distance between them is being pushed further apart because he is keeping things, big things, from her, like the murder of Banquo. This shows the trust in the relationship is diminishing. When the murderer appears at the banquet he goes off in private to talk with him, Lady Macbeth probably notices his absence but he doesn! |t bother to explain himself. Also, he begins to say things with covert meanings; !

SS The secret'st man of blood (Banquo's ghost)!" which she doesn! |t understand, so thinks the only rational explanation is Macbeth's lack of sleep. This could be conveyed to an audience through positioning and the way in which the actors express themselves. So at the beginning, the two should stand side by side, both being on the same level with happy smiling faces and loud cheerful voices. But as the scene goes on, Macbeth should move away from Lady Macbeth, shrugging her off whenever she gets close, representing the fact that their relationship is drifting and the growing difference between them and their thoughts and feelings. Their voices should become quieter and sterner so as not to allow others to hear because they both know something that no one else does, so they have to try and act like everything is normal. If they separate themselves from the crowd every now and again, it could show that not only are they are advancing further from each other, but also those around them, which could help arose suspicions more.

While everyone thinks order has been restored to Scotland now that they have a strong and brave king (which Macbeth and Lady Macbeth try to keep people thinking) the truth begins to show that there are cracks on the surface of their reign. They are not only keeping secrets from their people, they are also keeping them from each other which shows that they are not respectable monarchs that are not to be trusted because they are self centred and malicious. The underlying reality is that Macbeth has a lot of power and it willing and able to exploit it. He suffered distress after he murdered Duncan himself, but he knows that he had to continue to keep his power, but knows what pain it will cause him to do it himself again, so Macbeth employs people to do the work for him proving that he is weak. The appearances of both the ghost and the murderer show this. The ghost appears to mock Macbeth because he didn! |t have the courage to do it himself, which brings out the irony in the entrance of the murderer and both he and the ghost know that Macbeth's supremacy remains under threat now that Fleance has escaped (going back to the prophecy of the witches where it was said that Banquo's descendents will be kings.) This can be contrasted with the reign of Duncan who was a noble and kind king who didn! |t take advantage of his power and who wasn! |t under any known hazard.

This reality shows a definite disorder at the end of the scene where everything is a bit chaotic which can be seen through all the drama that's been going on. Macbeth going mad at the numerous appearances of the ghost and the shock and disturbance it causes, as well as the melodramatic measures that Lady Macbeth has to take when she (once again) covers up for him. This includes requesting the thanes to leave in an unusual manner, without their standard leaving formation (the most important departing first.) These thanes already know something is wrong because they! |ve already seen Macbeth go haywire at what seems to be nothing; so to be told to leave so abruptly at the climax of the party is quite irregular, they are bound to have their suspicions. Macbeth's murders have not only taken toll on the whole of Scotland as well as himself, but also nature and Macbeth himself knows what he's doing a great disturbance to the environment. This is because murder was considered to be unnatural and inhuman and he admits this in his speech at the end of act three scene two: !

SS Good things of day begin to droop and drowse, whiles night's black agents to their preys do rouse, !" and the fact that Macbeth is saying this in rhyming couplets gives more emphasis to what he is pronouncing. So once more, Scotland's fortunes are about to change and it is made more obvious at the end of the scene because it has now been brought to light that Macbeth is ruthless and will slay anyone who tries to get in his way, even his friends. So Scotland doesn! |t realise this yet, but it is in great danger. The country has already been through a lot with the death of a noble, stable and caring king, but to have him replaced by a cruel, unstable and undignified one, being quite the opposite. With Macbeth becoming ever paranoid, the tension builds up about the fate of his kingship. Scotland should be afraid because Macbeth says he is not used to eradicating of his! yen victims! | yet and that there is much time left for him to do that.

So what Macbeth is trying to say, is that there will be many more crimes before he is finished, ! SSIs the initiate fear, that wants hard use. We are yet but young indeed. !" At around this point, all light should be low and there should be a faint spotlight on Macbeth until he finishes the last bit of his speech, when it should go completely black. This would be to call attention to the fact that the mood is getting sinister and troubling, which is shown through Macbeth's ill-treat of his power. So in conclusion, we see the dominant impressions left on the audience.

Macbeth's madness and the unusual departure of the thanes must have left them in great confusion, which is showing that Macbeth is loosing control of himself and almost giving away what he had done, which leads onto the next point, the unstableness beginning to show on Macbeth. He is becoming so sceptical that it is hard for him to trust himself, let alone others, which goes on to show the relationship between him and Lady Macbeth breaking up. He had failed to tell her the recent! yen secret! | events that have been happening, when he used to tell her every last detail. So through the breaking of the royal family and the immorality of the king, it is almost safe to say that the future of Scotland is unanticipated and traumatizing.

Expectations that follow would include Macbeth decaying under the burden of being secretive and apprehensive, which would lead to things falling apart in the monarchy, which directs the way for a discontented Scotland.