In Act 1, sc. 2, the Captain describes Macbeth's victory in battle as being brave and noble. Duncan is so impressed with the good, worthy Macbeth that he gives him the title of Thane of Cawdor and graces Macbeth with a personal visit to his home. As soon as Macbeth hears that he has been named the new Thane of Cawdor which the witches had predicted, though, his mind turns to thoughts of being king "...the imperial theme,". By the next scene, he is asking for darkness to hide his ambition of becoming king and what it would take to become king. In Act 1, sc. 5, when Macbeth returns to his home and his wife, we see that he is a man capable of being manipulated by his wife as she tells him later in the act that if he wants her to see him as a man, then he will kill Duncan. In Act 2, sc. 1, he already has a guilty conscience as evidenced by the imaginary dagger. He can't say "Amen" when he has killed Duncan because he has cut off all connection to God and his guilt is supreme. In Act 3, sc. 1, Macbeth has become paranoid and desperate when he convinces the murderers to kill Banquo because he fears Banquo suspects him of Duncan's murder. In Act 4, sc. 2, the killing of Macduff's wife and children show him as cold blooded. He is sad and resolute in Act 5 as he prepares to meet his opponents. He shows some remorse when he tells Macduff he doesn't want to fight him because he's killed enough of Macduff's family already.
No comments:
Post a Comment