Shakespeare in 5 min: Macbeth

When the Black Death broke out in England in the early 1600s, life stopped, and theaters were no longer performing. During the quarantine period, Shakespeare began to write plays: one of them is The Tragedy of Macbeth. The shortest one of Shakespeare’s tragedies starts with glory and honor for the brave Scottish general Macbeth. While Macbeth is a Nobel soldier at the beginning of the play, he turns into a betrayer at the end of the play. This play questions morality, politics, and power.

When the play begins, Macbeth receives a prophecy from the three witches that he would become king one day. This prediction inevitably consumes him with greed. He follows his wife’s treacherous path and tells him to kill King Duncan and take the throne without hesitation. After doing this and rising from the throne, however, he is consumed by guilt and fear. In other words, he becomes cruel, paranoid, and suspicious. He resorts to killing others to preserve his place, and as the bloodbath continues, both he and his wife tend to arrogance, madness, and death.

What hands are here! Ha, they pluck out mine eyes.
Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red.  (ACT II, SCENE II)

These words represent Macbeth’s guilt; he says even the “Neptune’s ocean” cannot clean the blood. Thus, this feeling never stops following him at the end of the play.

Macbeth illustration

Lady Macbeth illustration

What is the definition of Macbeth’s tragedy?

He is not someone who makes mistakes without knowing it; on the contrary, he deliberately embraces and perpetuates evil. Therefore, perhaps his tragedy stems from the fact that while trying to dominate the future, every step he takes on the road to evil torments him, knowing how far he has moved away from moral values. That lines prove:

I am in blood
Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more
Returning were as tedious as go o’er (ACT III, SCENE IV)

So what do you think? Do you think Macbeth is the puppet of the witches, or does he pay for his ambition? Don’t forget to share your comments with us.

SOURCE:

Macbeth: Study Guide | SparkNotes

Check out another version of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra play:

The Theater Play of Antony and Cleopatra by Dryden

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