Sunday, May 11, 2014

In Macbeth, who dies as a result of Macbeth's actions?

The short answer to this question is that everyone who dies in Macbeth does so as a direct or an indirect result of the main character's actions.  The deaths begin in Act II when Macbeth himself murders Duncan as he sleeps.  After killing the king, Macbeth also kills “those of [Duncan’s] chamber” (at least two more) out of what he explains is his grief and fury.  Macbeth then dispatches murderers to kill Banquo, Fleance, Lady Macduff, and her children.  Fleance is the only one who escapes, a very important point considering the witches prophesy.  We learn in Act V that “the Queen, my lord, is dead.”  Therefore, Lady Macbeth has died as well, most likely by suicide as a result of her guilt, her paranoia, or both.  Lady Macbeth would certainly not have been in this desperate mental state if she hadn’t convinced Macbeth to go through with his original wicked deed:  the murder of Duncan.  Macbeth then personally kills Young Siward, the Earl of Northumberland’s son, and laughs that “thou wast born of woman.”  Most importantly, Macbeth dies at the hand of Macduff, his final battle cry being, “Though Birnam Wood be come to Dunsinane, And thou opposed, being of no woman born, Yet I will try the last.”  That puts the number at ten (at the very least) who die directly or indirectly as a result of Macbeth’s actions, proving Macbeth to be a true tragedy in every sense of the word.

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