Macbeth, considered Shakespeare s most intense tragedy, chronicles Macbeth’s seizing of power and subsequent

destruction, both his rise and his fall the result of blind ambition. Although many critics see Macbeth's ambition as a
classic example of a tragic flaw, others dispute whether Macbeth's lust for power is, in fact, a tragic flaw. Shakespeare
scholar Jesse M. Lander notes that in the play ambition and treachery are not unique to Macbeth. Instead, they
"permeate the entire world of the play." On this reading, even though Macbeth possesses an unusual concentration of
it, ambition is not so much a fatal flaw as part of the social fabric.

Macbeth represents a classic tragedy in that its protagonist travels down a dark path of treachery and violence that
inevitably leads to his own downfall and death. Macbeth is a study of the human potential for evil. As a man who
abandons his own potential for good, Machbeth can be seen as an illustration of Judeo-Christian concept of the Fall,
humanity’s loss of God’s grace.

Like the protagonists in other classic tragedies, Macbeth is a politically noteworthy figure. Macbeth is a historical figure,
he is a Scottish nobleman who kills King Duncan of Scotland and is killed in combat by Lord Macduff. Although in many
respects the play follows the classic definition of tragedy, Macbeth is notable for being the only tragedy Shakespeare
wrote where the villain is also the hero.

The tone of the play is fatalistic, creating the sense that the natural world has been thrown out of order by Macbeth’s
unnatural ascension to the throne. In Elizabethan times there existed a belief that the state of the Universe could be
disturbed by a horrible act of betrayal such as the murder of a good king.

The play opens in the aftermath of a bloody battle, and even though the rebels have been defeated, this opening creates
an unstable and threatening atmosphere. An important literary device that Shakespeare uses in the play is
foreshadowing: most of the major events of the play are foreshadowed before they take place, although the hints can
be incomplete or misleading. Prophecy sets Macbeth’s plot in motion: Macbeth and Banquo, who are generals serving
King Duncan of Scotland, meet the Weird Sisters, three witches who prophesy that Macbeth will become thane of
Cawdor, then king, and that Banquo will beget kings. The appearance of the witches suggests that the world of the play
is one where supernatural elements can torment humans and unleash dark forces against them. The first time the
witches appear, their references to “fair is foul and foul is fair,” and “fog and filthy air” convey the sense of an
impending storm, and the elements in conflict with each other. The weird sisters make a number of other prophecies:
they tell us that Banquo’s heirs will be kings, that Macbeth should beware Macduff, that Macbeth is safe till Birnam
Wood comes to Dunsinane, and that no man born of woman can harm Macbeth. Save for the prophecy about Banquo’s
heirs, all of these predictions are fulfilled within the course of the play. Still, it is left deliberately ambiguous whether
some of them are self-fulfilling. The frequent use of foreshadowing also raises questions of agency and moral
responsibility; to what extent is Macbeth responsible for his choices and actions, and to what extent is he simply fated to
carry out these particular actions?

The main theme of Macbeth—the corruption power of unchecked ambition —finds its most powerful expression in the
play’s two main characters, Lord and Lady Macbeth. Macbeth is still essentially good at the beginning of the play when
his faithful service to Scotland in battle wins him the respect of the king and the honor of a new title, the Thane of
Cawdor. Ironically, it is precisely this respect and honor that trigger Macbeth's corruption—coupled, of course, with the
witches’ prophecy, which accurately predicted his new title and promised much greater rewards besides. This pairing of
prophecy and realization amplifies Macbeth's ambition.

When King Duncan visits the castle of Dunsinane, Macbeth and his ambitious wife realize that the moment has arrived
for them to carry out a plan of regicide that they have long contemplated. Spurred by his wife, who lusts for power and
position Macbeth kills Duncan. It is essential to remark that in the play, Duncan is always referred to as a “king,” while
Macbeth soon becomes known as the “tyrant.” In this way the play also thematizes the difference between kingship and
tyranny.

Another major theme explored in the play is the relationship between cruelty and masculinity. Macbeth and Lady
Macbeth equate masculinity with naked aggression, and whenever they converse about manhood, violence soon
follows. In the play the women are also sources of violence and evil. The witches resemble the mythological fates, they
use their knowledge of future to toy with and to destroy human beings. Lady Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s most
forcefully drawn female characters provides the brains and the will behind her husband’s plotting; and she urges him to
be strong in the murder’s aftermath. Arguably, Macbeth traces the root of chaos and evil to women, which has led some
critics to argue that this is Shakespeare’s most misogynistic play.

The King’s murder is discovered when Macduff, the thane of Fife, arrives to call on Duncan. Duncan’s sons Malcolm and
Donalbain flee the country, fearing for their lives. Their speedy departure seems to implicate them in the crime, and
Macbeth becomes king. Once Macbeth and Lady Macbeth embark upon their murderous journey, blood comes to
symbolize their guilt, and they begin to feel that their crimes have stained them in a way that cannot be washed clean.

Macbeth is a famously violent play. Interestingly, most of the killings take place offstage, but throughout the play the
characters provide the audience with gory descriptions of the carnage, from the opening scene where the captain
describes Macbeth and Banquo wading in blood on the battlefield, to the endless references to the bloodstained hands
of Macbeth and his wife.

Visions and hallucinations recur throughout the play and serve as reminders of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s joint
culpability for the growing body count. When he is about to kill Duncan, Macbeth sees a dagger floating in the air.
Worried by the witches’ prophecy that Banquo’s heirs instead of Macbeth’s own progeny will be kings, Macbeth
arranges the death of Banquo, though Banquo’s son Fleance escapes. Later, Banquo’s ghost haunts Macbeth reminding
him that he murdered his former friend. The seemingly hardheaded Lady Macbeth also eventually gives way to visions,
she believes that her hands are stained with blood that cannot be washed away by any amount of water. The Macbeths
read their hallucinations as supernatural signs of their guilt.

The witches assure Macbeth that he will be safe until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane and that no one “of woman
born” shall harm him. Learning that Macduff is joining Malcolm’s army, Macbeth orders the slaughter of Macduff’s wife
and children. When the army, using branches from Birnam Wood as camouflage, advances on Dunsinane, Macbeth sees
the prophecy being fulfilled: Birnam Wood has indeed come to Dunsinane. Lady Macbeth kills herself, being tormented
by guilt; Macbeth is killed in battle by Macduff, who was “from his mother’s womb untimely ripped” by cesarean section
and in that quibbling sense was not “of woman born.” The problem, the play suggests, is that once one decides to use
violence to further one’s quest for power, it is difficult to stop. There are always potential threats to the throne—
Banquo, Fleance, Macduff—and it is always tempting to use violent means to dispose of them.

As in other Shakespearean tragedies, Macbeth’s grotesque murder spree is accompanied by a number of unnatural
occurrences in the natural realm. From the thunder and lightning that accompany the witches’ appearances to the
terrible storms that rage on the night of Duncan’s murder, these violations of the natural order reflect corruption in the
moral and political orders.

In Macbeth, pathetic fallacy is exhibited in Duncan's

murder scene.  Explain.
In Macbeth, pathetic fallacy is exhibited in Duncan's murder scene.  Explain.
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Expert Answers
MWESTWOOD  | CERTIFIED EDUCATOR

A literary device, pathetic fallacy attributes human emotions to inanimate objects of nature in
order to reflect and enhance the mood of a literary piece. In Macbeth  the weather is an object of
nature that reflects the atmosphere of certain scenes.

As one example of pathetic fallacy, the ominous mood of Macbeth and Banquo's encounter is

certainly reflected with natural occurrences. In Act I, Scene 3, there is thunder as the
witches appear; then, Macbeth enters the area where the witches are. He remarks, "So foul and
fair a day I have not seen" (1.3.38).

In Act II, Scene 3, pathetic fallacy is employed in order to enhance the sinister aura of the scene.
Lennox speaks to Macbeth:

The night has been unruly. Where we lay,

Our chimneys were blown down and, as they say,
Lamentings heard i’ th’ air, strange screams of death
....Some say the Earth
Was feverous and did shake. (2.3.28-36)

Pathetic fallacy is especially exemplified with the description of the night weather as being
disturbed and "unruly"; in addition, the wind is described as being violent enough to knock down
chimneys. Cries of grief--"Lamentings"--are supposedly heard, and the ground shakes as though
it has a fever. Another example of pathetic fallacy in this act occurs as Ross talks with an "old
man" outside Macbeth's castle in Scene 4. The elderly man remarks that never has he witnessed
a night such as this one when "...darkness does the face of earth entomb" (2.4.8).

Indeed, pathetic fallacy contributes greatly to the atmosphere, mood, and tone of the tragedy
entitled Macbeth.