How evil is presented throughout the play Essay Example for Free

How evil is presented throughout the play Essay Show how Shakespeares sense of theatre supports the presentation of evil in Macbeth. Shakespeare was born in 1564 at Stratford upon Avon, he was an English poet and playwright. He wrote 38 plays 154 sonnets. He began his successful career in London as an actor and a writer, and later became known as what many say to be the greatest writer in the English language. One of his most successful plays is Macbeth it was written at the time king James I was on the throne at the time that the Gunpowder Plot that took place in 1605, and plotted against king James I and tried to blow up the houses of parliament. This is quite significant to the play as it links to people plotting against the king, as Macbeth does. In the end Guy Fawks is burnt, and at the end of the play Macbeth is also murdered. Shakespeare received patronage from the current monarchy if they were pleased with the play he had produced, so he made it appeal to the king or Queen he was writing it for. He did this when he wrote Macbeth, as he Put witches in the play and also based the play around witches and portrayed them as personifying evil this would have appealed to King James I as he wrote a book about witches called Demonology in this book he confirmed his conspiracy about witches being evil supernatural beings that made bad things happen. Shakespeare set the play in the 12th century when it was the17th century so that he could twist the facts of what happened to get across what he wanted to say, about the plot of the witches. Shakespeare tried to make things relevant in the play to King James I. He did this at the start of the play where he used Thunder and Lightening, before the three witches came on this would have appealed to King James I as he expressed very strongly that witches conjured up storms in the book he wrote. Another thing that portrayed evil at the start of the play is that the chant that the witches do ;Fair is foul and foul is fair, this shows that evil is about good being bad and bad being good. This links to Macbeth because when he first talks, he says so fair and foul a day I have not seen. He is echoing the words of the witches, and this alerts the audience and makes them think he is connected to them or of the same nature (also evil). Also when the witches say when the hurlyburlys done, when the battles lost and won it makes you curious to think that they may know what is to happen in the future. It also gives you the feeling that the witches are peculiar and supernatural if they can make predictions with such certainty. Shakespeare is also trying to show the power the witches have to make evil happen, that their presence or their words can effect people make them think evil and then become evil, as Macbeth does throughout the play. Macbeth as a victim of supernatural conspiracy as its the witches who put the essence of treason in his mind.This is shown when Banquo asks Macbeth Good sir, why do you start and seem to fear. This shows Macbeth is not innately good because seeing the evil of the witches made him fear and a noble man was not to let evil get to him, like Banquo didnt. This also shows he is susceptible to evil. He also started to have evil thoughts that even started to scare himself he says I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my hair, and make my seated heart knock at my ribs. Macbeth knows it is a sin against God to Murder or even hurt the Lords anointed King. At the start of the play he was honourable and favoured greatly by Duncan who gave him the titles Thane of Cawdor and Thane of Glamis for winning the battle and defeating the king of Norway, but Macbeth above all was a man of action and wanted to know how he could make the prediction of the witches come true and so he didnt let his evil thoughts get in the way .He says in act 1 scene 4 Stars hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires, he wants the stars to stay dark so that he can hide his murderous thoughts. Also dark is associated with bad and evil and light with good and noble. He doesnt want a starry night so that he can hide his evil thoughts in the darkness away from the light. Macbeth had lots of imagination but he lacked a strong will, when lady Macbeth allures him into Duncans murder he went along with the plans although deep down he knew it was morally the wrong thing to do., on the other hand lady Macbeth had a strong will persuading and brainwashing Macbeth, but has no imagination, she is the one who persuades him to commit the ghastly deed but is the one who goes mad. Another aspect of Macbeths imagination is when he sees daggers and apparitions before he goes to kill Duncan. Macbeth even Hallucinates when he sees the ghost of Banquo. When Macbeth goes to see the witches they make him feel invincible, they tell him no man of woman born can touch him hearing this he goes and kills all of MacDuffs family (his innocent wife and children) that is because he has descended to evil, he has reached the depths of evil and because evil never triumphs the audience knows he is going be caught, this is when he finds out that the witches tricked him but he does die a noble death because he is brave. Lady Macbeth is portrayed as an evil person in the play but also the source of all the evil from Macbeth. She personifies evil to Macbeth making him do wrong and she guides him into all that he does. This play is written to relate to the biblical story of Adam and Eve where God allows them to eat the fruit from all the trees except the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. A serpent persuades Eve to eat from that tree; she does so but also persuades Adam to eat from it. This relates to the story of Macbeth because Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to do evil. This is another thing that would have appealed to king James I as he was a religious man who strongly believed in what the bible said. When lady Macbeth reads the letter he has been sent by Macbeth she gets excited and starts having fantastical thoughts, yet she thinks her husband is too kind to do such a thing when she says It is too full o th milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way. She knows she will have to persuade him and she knows just how she will do this that I may pour my spirits in thine ear, and chastise with the valour of my tongue. She is saying she will use her language of persuasion and guide him into the evil to do what she wants him to do. She is the one who induces him and leads him to do it, at first he is reluctant but then she wins him over by saying that he should do it for the love of her, she also challenges his masculinity by doing this so in the end after arguing a won battle because lady Macbeth isnt backing down, Macbeth finally goes to murder Duncan. Later she entices him by saying that the blame of the murder could be put on the kings guards, so their crime wont be discovered. Throughout the play Macbeth goes from noble and good with people referring to him as noble Macbeth and valiant cousin to evil led by the witches. Macbeth was a victim of an evil plot with the witches tricking him and leading him to evil and sin, but the blame can not be put entirely on the witches because although they lead him he was the one who choose to kill Duncan witch was the start of all the bad things that came from it. Macbeth comes to die a noble death, because of his bravery and of this and then the rightful order has been restored and the rightful king is on the throne. This makes stronger the belief that people have that the king is the lords anointed and nobody can do anything about it. The play justifies the position of James I as he is a noble and righteous king . Shakespeare ended the play this was to show that no good comes from witches and from evil and it is a lot better to be noble as you will get a better outcome, Banquo was noble and his son became the king in the end.