Macbeth Assignment #4

My Thoughts On Macbeth 

Changes I would make to the play:

I found that Macbeth made so many hasty decisions it seems obvious that he could have changed many of his choices.  He starts on a bad foot by listening to the three witches and then acting on their prophecies.  I don't know if it was common to make important decisions based on strangers with supernatural powers in the times of Macbeth but Macbeth could have ignored the prophecies of the witches.  He seemed way to eager to take their prophecies to heart and by doing this he ruined his own life and the lives of anyone involved with him.  Could he not have just thought that it was a coincidence that King Duncan named him Thane of Cawdor.  If the former Thane of Cawdor was a traitor it is really not that unreasonable to think that the king had to get another Thane of Cawdor to take his place.  How many thanes were in the running?  With or without the witches, Macbeth may have been named the Thane of Cawdor.  Macbeth was much too eager to make ridiculous decisions based on the witches' prophecies.   It is a big leap from being told by the witches you would be king and then immediately murdering the current king.  Did Macbeth have to kill the king right away?  What was the hurry?  Murder is a big decision.  I can't imagine murdering someone just because my wife talked me into it.  I don't think I would allow my wife to talk me into murdering someone for any reason.  It just seems like there was a lot of bad decision making going on!  Secondly, was it necessary to murder his friend Banquo?  Banquo was a trustworthy, loyal friend.  Killing Banquo seems like another bad decision.  Even if Macbeth didn't care too much about the death of King Duncan, the death of Banquo seemed to push him over the edge of sanity.  Did Macbeth have absolutely no common sense?  Banquo was his best friend!  He also thought that it would be wise to murder Banquo's son Fleance.  He did this so that the witches' prophecy about Banquo's children being in line to the throne would never happen.  Why didn't he just put his efforts into being a good king while he was king?  He was so worried about the future he had no idea why he was even king!  He was obsessed with power and it seemed to take over him so quickly.  Macbeth needed some time to reflect on his ridiculously bad decisions.

 

"My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,/ Shakes so my single state of man/ That function is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is but what is not." (I.III,52-55)

I'm not entirely sure why Macbeth was the obvious choice to be King of Scotland in the first place.  Why did Malcolm and Donalbain have to leave Scotland entirely and why did they miss their opportunity to be king?  I understand that they were afraid for their lives and afraid of being blamed for their father's death but why was Macbeth given the benefit of the doubt?  Why was Macbeth next in line to the throne?  I would have explained this more thoroughly if I was Shakespeare! I guess without Macbeth's hasty, terrible decisions and all of the murders he committed, the play would have been a lot less interesting. It was just a bit frustrating to watch him make one bad decision after another with very little thought. By changing his decisions the tragedy of Macbeth would have been more like a bad reality TV show.

 

 Destiny: How it played a role in this play:

 

"If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me,/Without my stir" (I.III,144-145)

 

 Macbeth listened to the prophecies of the witches and believed that it was his destiny to become king. He was impatient, however, and had to take destiny into his own hands. The witches didn’t mention that Macbeth had to murder the king or anyone else for his destiny to become reality. I think he was too impulsive and ambitious. He got so wrapped up in the witches’ prophecies but didn’t think about all the possible angles. Instead he allowed himself to be bullied by his wife, Lady Macbeth, into committing the murder of King Duncan without thinking of all the possible consequences. If I went to a psychic I would keep what they told me in the back of my head but I wouldn’t start murdering people to make sure my destiny fell into place. The witches didn’t tell Macbeth he had to do anything for fate to run its course. One bad decision led to another until the only destiny possible for Macbeth was a violent death. 

 

Banquo and his children were also mentioned in the witches’ prophecies. The difference between Banquo and Macbeth is that Banquo didn’t act on the witches’ predictions and let fate take it’s course. Banquo acted with dignity and remained a loyal friend to Macbeth until he was murdered. I think that Banquo should have been more observant and cautious of Macbeth’s growing ambition. For the sake of protecting his son, he should have noticed the changes in Macbeth.If he had noticed how unbalanced Macbeth had become, Banquo's destiny would not have ended with his untimely murder.

"Rather than so, come fate into the list,/ And champion me to the utterance!" (III.I, 70-71)

 

Macduff was another character mentioned in the witches’ prophecies. The witches’ told Macbeth to beware of Macduff. They fooled him though, when they added, “for none of woman born/ Shall harm Macbeth.” (IV.I, 81) As it turns out, Macduff was born by caesarean section. So Macbeth’s destiny continued to be determined by a silly riddle. I think Macbeth really should have paid a lot more attention at how wrong things were going listening to those witches! In the end it was Macduff who ended Macbeth’s life and the destiny the witches predicted came true. I think that life is about choices and Macbeth made bad choices. Even if the witches’ prophecies were true, it was Macbeth’s lack of morals and bad judgement that were his downfall. He had no morals and he was destined to die a sad and violent death!

Lady Macbeth versus Macbeth:

"But screw your courage to the sticking-place,/ And we'll not fail." (I.VII,60-61)

I don’t think that these two were a match made in heaven.  She was a manipulative, greedy, ambitious troublemaker who pushed her husband to murder in order to have the power he craved.  Although the prophecies of the three witches led Macbeth to think he could be king, Lady Macbeth pushed him to murder so that she could be queen.  I don’t know which one was worse.  It’s hard to say.  Would Macbeth have murdered without the pressure lady Macbeth placed on him?  Lady Macbeth insulted Macbeth’s manhood when he started to get cold feet about murdering the king.  She says “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 the man”(I.VII.52-54) indicating that Macbeth was less than a man.  She wasn’t willing to see how fate and the witches’ prophecies played out.  Any reasonable person would have at least have considered this option.  Instead, she was greedy and ambitious to become queen and forced her husband to make the witches’ prophecies come true by murdering the king.  I don’t think Macbeth would have murdered the king without the push from Lady Macbeth.  As Lady Macbeth said Macbeth was “too full o’ th milk of human kindness”(I.V.18) which is not normally a bad thing.  But to Lady Macbeth it made you a wimp! She on the other hand said that she would “while it was smiling in my face, / have pluckt my nipple from his boneless gums/ and dashed the brains out”(I.VII.59-61) of her own child just to give an example of what she was capable of.  I wouldn’t want to mess with her!  Funnily enough she was all talk and no action.  She said she would kill the king herself but couldn’t because he resembled her father while he slept.  In the end Lady Macbeth wasn’t as tough as she thought that she was.  She couldn’t murder because he looked too much like her father.  Once she becomes queen she slowly loses her mind because all of the murders are too upsetting to her.  She starts sleepwalking and washing her hands over and over to clean them of the imaginary blood that was on them. She says, “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!” (V. I, 34) while talking to herself and trying to wash her hands in the air.  Finally she kills herself because she cannot handle all of the horrible things she has done.

Macbeth while wanting the power that the witches promised him wasn’t as eager to do what was necessary.  It did cross his mind that he could become king when he said, “Stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires”(I.IV, 56-57).  I don’t think he seemed quite as eager to commit a murder as Lady Macbeth did though. He didn’t want to deal with the consequences of murder “It were done quickly: if th’ assassination/ Could trammel up the consequence” (I.VI, 36-37). With the push from Lady Macbeth, Macbeth is able to kill King Duncan. This is the beginning of his murder spree. He becomes king and realizes he must also kill Banquo and Fleance. He figures this out on his own without any help from Lady Macbeth. He plans the murder and hires murderers. At this point Macbeth becomes just as bad or worse than Lady Macbeth. He will do anything to keep his power. He was so power hungry that he would not let anything get in his way. He plans the murder of Macduff’s family purely to create fear and chaos in the kingdom. Anyone who got in his way he was willing to kill. He had completely lost his mind when Macduff arrived to kill Macbeth and Malcolm’s army is marching to take back the kingdom. Macbeth was a tragic character and Macduff kills him shortly after having heard that Lady Macbeth has killed herself.  Lady Macbeth and Macbeth started off as a horrible team and that team disintegrated with each evil act that they committed together.   I think the world was a better place without Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. They got what they deserved in the end.

One setting in the play that made me uneasy:

There are a number of disturbing scenes in Macbeth but I found the scene where murderers came to Macduff’s castle and murdered his wife and children especially disturbing. Lady Macduff was helpless and alone. They had no reason to suspect that their lives were in jeopardy. When the murderers arrive and stab Macduff’s little boy, it seems a bit over the top. Rarely even in Hollywood films dose a little kid get murdered. To be stabbed right in front of your mother is horrifying for the child and the mother. After watching her son be stabbed the murderer’s chase down Lady Macduff and kill her as well. She is very brave and refuses to give up the location of her husband Macduff. When the murderers ask her where Macduff is she replies, “ I hope, in no place so unsanctified/ Where such as thou mayst find him.” (IV.II, 54-55) To murder such a brave defenseless woman whose heart is broken as she watches her son being stabbed is disgusting.

"I hope, in no place so unsanctified/ Where such as thou mayst find him."(IV.II,182-183)

 

I would describe my overall experience in reading Macbeth as:

I would describe my overall experience in reading Macbeth as helpful to my education. As a teenage boy the thought of reading Shakespeare isn’t at the top of my list of priorities. I have to admit it wasn’t that bad. I was actually proud of myself that I read and understood most of what was going on in Macbeth. The characters were interesting, and the witches added a supernatural element to the play that was entertaining. The plot was exciting and it made me think about the choices that I make in my life. Macbeth had choices and he only seemed to make bad ones to fulfill his destiny. I learned not to be convinced by anyone to commit evil crimes. It’s just not worth it. I need to make my own choices in life and think about their consequences carefully. 

If Macbeth were modernized I think it would be as interesting to watch as ‘The Lord of the Rings.’ There would be awesome supernatural scenes with the witches and the trees marching from Great Birnam Wood! I could see it being very entertaining even for teenage boys to watch! Overall, Macbeth actually made me think a lot about morals, evil, destiny and relationships with other people. I learned a lot and especially learned that Shakespeare isn’t so bad.