Representation of Evil Through Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

Macbeth, written by Shakespeare, is a play which shows evil; the action of being profoundly immoral and wicked. Since the beginning of the play, there is an act of betrayal. The Norwegians fight against the Scots, Macbeth and Banquo are on Scots’ side as well as Macdonald should have been, however Macdonald decided to change to the Norwegian side as he thought they were going to win. Due to his decision, Macdonald was killed and accused of committing treason against the king and his nation. “Merciless Macdonald-worthy to be rebel, for that”, resulting in a hateful ending as the word “merciless” suggest lack of clemency which is a clear representation of evil.

Macbeth, in this play, is shown by Shakespeare to be sinful, this is shown when Macbeth says “might be the be-all and the end-all--” implying that if he kills Duncan, it would be all he possibly wanted as the repetition of the word “all” implies certainty. Macbeth continues saying “but here, upon this bank and shoal of time, we’d jump the life to come.” This suggests that he will reach what he desired as the expression “jump the life to come” suggests the passing of time. This quotation clearly suggests that Macbeth’s actions are completely ungodly as his acts are morally wrong and against God, who is in charge of deciding who holds the throne; and Macbeth commits regicide by killing Duncan, the king; even though in Shakespearean times the monarch should never be opposed. In the Jacobean Era any king was better ruler than James VI so Shakespeare creates a willingness in Macbeth to kill Duncan as a result of him being a better king. Macbeth's vulnerability is used by Shakespeare, to demonstrate what negative aspects of being ambitious, a man who lacks manhood can have. Shakespeare shows this in act 5; Macbeth's ambitious actions finally take his life as he hasn’t got enough masculinity or strength to defeat Macduff. At the beginning of the play, he is presented as a good, heroic man. “Brave Macbeth- well deserves that name” informing the audience that he is an example we should follow, because the word “brave” is an unambiguously positive adjective. Shakespeare also decided to include Macbeth’s weak side but in a very discreet way. Yet, some characters make the audience notice. “I have begun to plant thee and will labour to make thee full of growing.” This metaphor, stated by Duncan, compares Macbeth with a plant that needs care to be able to grow and shows Macbeth’s weak side because the word “growing” is an adjective that implies development and maturity. Nonetheless, all the way through the rest of the play Macbeth acts as an evil man. This change Shakespeare created from good to evil makes the play more unpleasant. Shakespeare shows Macbeth ordering the assassins to kill Banquo, his best friend. “we shall my lord perform what you command us” showing his evilness through cowardice; as he is not capable of doing it himself. But not only that, because he convinces them through deception ”whose execution takes your enemy off,” promising them an exceptional life due to getting rid of their problems by killing Banquo as the word “taking” suggests freedom. In act 4 scene 2, action is falling; therefore, Shakespeare generates Macbeth to cause eradication and therefore decides to kill Macduff’s “wife, babes and all unfortunate souls”, showing his evil actions again. Macbeth then tries to be a vulnerable man by admitting his guilt. However, his malice takes him over; “ my soul is too much charg’d with blood of mine already” making his apologies villainous through the use of the phrase “too much charged” which implies no availability as he has no feelings when speaking those strong, emotional words, presenting evil.

Part of his evilness, is due to Lady Macbeth’s influence. Though, Macbeth never realised as Shakespeare presents their relationship as being beyond everything. “My dearest partner of greatness” this quotation is said by Lady Macbeth and with such emphasis that we can understand the true love feeling between them as the word “dearest” is a positive adjective which regards Macbeth with a deep affection. By saying this Lady Macbeth also shows her affection towards Macbeth as she calls him “partner” which is a noun that positively refers to a married loved couple. Lady Macbeth, is presented by Shakespeare as a malevolent character all the way through, as she is the one who wants to kill Duncan in the first place, and the one who encourages Macbeth to commit evil actions all the way through the play. The writer composes Lady Macbeth to question her husband’s manhood, “when you durst do it, then you were a man” employing not only weakness but superiority on her part, as she is a woman and has more masculinity. The use of the word “durst,” suggests lack of courage in Macbeth. However she says those words with a more corrupt tone rather than an empathetic tone. Shakespeare's choice of this tone creates an atmosphere of demand as Lady Macbeth is using the imperative tone implying Macbeth to be a man. This is an evil action as Lady Macbeth is changing Macbeths behaviour by ordering him to behave like a malicious person. At the beginning of the play, as her evil feelings grow, Shakespeare generates Lady Macbeth to have willingness to kill a child; “have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brain out.” Here, Shakespeare shows Lady Macbeth’s cold actions and evil feelings as the word “plucked” suggests a malicious, disgusting action, and the use of the word “dashed” suggests a evil raging action. Lady Macbeth’s cruelty is such that she even asks the “spirits that lend on mortal thoughts” to “unsexme here.” By this, she is giving herself a chance to be malicious without being constrained by society, as men’s masculinity is seen in a different way; with no judgement. In the Jacobean Era, women were considered weak. So Lady Macbeth is considered evil by Shakespeare, partly because she is a weak woman. So she can’t cope with her regret and therefore assassinates herself. With this actions, Shakespeare is employing Lady Macbeth’s death as she is a woman and society wont listen to her apologies. Therefore this shows evilness as Lady Macbeth has no other option but death. Unconsciously, while dreaming, Lady Macbeth presents her truly evilness by revealing her deep thoughts, “what’s done cannot be undone”showing fakeness as she can’t undo her actions meaning she is contradicting herself as she regrets of an action she can’t amend because the use of the prefix “un-” gives the adjective an opposite force. But at the same time she shows regret that enervates herself as she cannot clear her bloody hands, “what will this hands ne’er be clean.” The fact that Shakespeare makes Lady Macbeth suffer because of some “bloody hands” makes the scene evil as those small details end with Lady Macbeth's life.

Moreover, the weird sisters are presented by Shakespeare as evil characters.The witches are the first to appear in the play, and Shakespeare decides to introduce them with an act of evil. “When shall we three meet again?” Shakespeare makes the first setting a malicious start. The weird sisters, are planning their reunion to confront Macbeth in “thunder, lightning or rain.” which is a scene of loud crashing noise with natural electrical discharge of high voltage full of heavy water droplets which create a sinister atmosphere. In act 3 scene 5, the witches appear again and they enter “in a deserted place” with “thunder.” By referring to the weather for a second time, Shakespeare is impregnating the weather all the way through the play; creating malevolent scene as the word “thunder” is a scareful adjective. The witches, also first appear in Act 4, where the action is starting to fall. So Shakespeare’s intentions were to start with an action of wickedness, as the witches’ objective all the way through the play is to cause destruction. In this scene, they make “a deed without a name” creating an atmosphere of suspense. Shakespeare, decided to choose supernatural characters to create Macbeth’s malice as, through their self-fulfilling prophecies they influence Macbeth’s behaviour making him more nefarious as the play develops. Also, the fact that Macbeth has high ambitions and weakness, makes it easy to convince him as he wants to become an ambitious powerful man. “Liver of blaspheming Jew, Gall of goat, and slips of yew” the witches are showing their truthful evil thoughts as they are having racial sensitivity by using the word “blaspheming” which is an insulting irreverent verb towards the Jews in Elizabethan times. Shakespeare decided to write the witches’ dialogue in blank verse “double, double, toil and trouble” which is a flexible form, consisting in syllables which are stressed. In this quotation, the stressed syllables “double” and “trouble” create emphasis in the key idea of evil.

To conclude, all of the acts committed by Macbeth if done by anyone else, would have been considered evil and would have been condemned. Shakespeare makes Macbeth's natural evilness cause him to ask the weird sisters for advice, “speak if you can” which emphasises Macbeth’s cruelty to cause eradication.. After all the destruction committed, the audience, sees Macbeth as a cruel, immoral person and they won't sympathise with him towards the end of the play; when all his citizens are against him.