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Shakespeare is perhaps most noted for his many tragic plays. One of his most acclaimed works Macbeth, is a great example of this. In Macbeth by William Shakespeare there are many incidents within the play that agree with the fact that Macbeth's greatest tragedy is the deterioration of its main characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The most prominent reason for the fact that Macbeth's and Lady Macbeth's character is decaying is noticed with the hallucinations that both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth experience as a result of guilt.
The decline of their character is manifested into the inability to remain true to ones character, delusional behavior, and a conscience that only works once the harm is committed. Guilt should be held accountable for the degradation of what would have been one of the most courageous and honorable characters in all of Shakespeare's plays. The guilt that causes the delusional state in both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth begins with the questioning of Macbeth's ambition and capacity to obtain what he wants. Lady Macbeth first sells out her position by following the words of the weird sisters that predict that Macbeth will become king. After allowing the prophecy overcome her, Lady Macbeth convinces herself that she will do anything to make sure that the prediction is followed out. She states, " Hie thee hither, that I may pour my spirits in thine ear, and chastise with the valor of my tongue which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem to have thee crowned withal. " Macbeth's ineptness in remaining loyal to his self is evident when Lady Macbeth attacks his ego by negotiating with him that the murder will make him a better man, When you durst do it, ten you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man.
Thus, Lady Macbeth is as responsible for the death because she was the one that convinced Macbeth to continue the plan to execute King Duncan. Also passion and greed govern their souls and their common sense, they forget that the world does not revolve around them and what they wish to accomplish. The murders, which would to any sane person seem grotesque becomes a normal thing to them as if nothing more than washing ones hands. Macbeth is originally courageous and a godlike figure with great success in the battlefield who descends to scum by the end of the play. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both suffer from delusional mirages that are created by their conscience to make justice for their inhuman acts. While he is thinking whether or not he should undertake on the plan to kill Banquo he begins to see an imaginary dagger before him.
He questions, "Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight, or art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation, proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?" Then after Banquo is dead, Macbeth believes he sees his ghost during a dinner with the countrys nobility. At the dinner table he says, "The tables full, " when it is evident to everyone at the table that there is one available seat which Lennox repeatedly points at but Macbeth states that Banquo is sitting at. He really thought that Banquo's ghost was sitting in that seat. When Macbeth goes to visit the witches he has three more hallucinations. The first was an armed head that warned him to "Beware Macduff. " The second image was a bloody child that said "Macbeth" three times. The third was a crowned child with a tree in his hand that said, "Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him.
Lady Macbeth also suffers from delusional images. Because of all the murdering that she has been involved in, she hallucinates that her hands are covered in blood and that she cannot remove the smell of blood from her hands either. What, will these hands neer be clean, she asks desperately when she cannot rid herself of the bloodstain. Later she adds, "Heres the smell of the blood still.
All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. " Lady Macbeth also rambles on in an incoherent way, "Out, damned spot! Out, I say! One: two: why, then tis time to dot. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie!
A soldier and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?" Guilt only seems to do its justice at the wrong time. The meaningless killings of innocent people reflect the impairment of Macbeth's judgment. The murders include King Duncan, Banquo, and the murder of Macduffs wife and son. Duncan was a respected man by all in Scotland who was also a great leader to his kingdom and a good father to his sons.
His death is such an evil deed that Old Man feels that it is the most grievous thing that he had witnessed in all his life, Within the volume of which time I have seen hours dreadful and things strange, but this sore night hath trifled former knowings. The second occurrence that adds to the tragedy of the play is the murder of Banquo, a man considered flawless and respectful towards everyone. When Macbeth sent the murderers out to kill Banquo and Fleance, Banquo sacrificed his own life so that Fleance could get away. The last indecent murder was the murder of Macduffs wife and son, which were not responsible for any of the insecurities that had led Macbeth to do what he did. Here an enemy of the child's father assassinates an innocent women and her child. A tragedy of this nature can only be described as a ruthless act of a demon.
The killings that take place in the play, with a doubt, were entirely unnecessary. Therefore making Macbeth a tragedy. Shakespeare includes many symptoms of what would today be considered mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. The main cause of all the drama is the guilt that both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are faced with at the end of the play. Apparitions, eternal bloody hands, and unfulfilling feelings are the punishment to the sins that the couple committed. Macbeth, in trying to become king, kills some people he knew very well and was loyal to at one time.
The possibility that a person that holds such a high standing would commit such a devious crime is a tragedy in itself. The effect that the witches have on Macbeth is yet another tragedy in itself. The influence that one person can hold against another can also be included as a tragedy. As Macbeth is descending upon the ranks of the monarchy his soul and conscience are hitting rock bottom to the level far lower than the floor. Both characters demonstrate Shakespeare's brand of tragedy.
The collapse of character is brought on by a small, yet fatal flaw within themselves, whereby they can no longer live with themselves, and they give up on life altogether.
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