Empathy In Macbeth

Question: Macbeth fails as a play because we are unable to empathise with the protagonist.
Introduction:

Body: * Firstly, we must define Macbeth as the ‘tragic hero’ of the play. It is the protagonist in a tragedy who possesses a tragic flaw eventually leading to their downfall. Aristotle’s view of the effect of tragedy was to arouse empathy for the ‘tragic hero’ and then to purge it from the audience, at the end an audience can be drained of all emotion. Macbeth parallels all of the characteristics of a ‘tragic hero’ because he is a very important character in the play, his persona is given a ‘tragic flaw’ i.e. Macbeth’s ambition and he is a respected noble who’s error in judgement leads to his death. * If the audience did not feel some empathy for Macbeth the play would not succeed as a tragedy, because a tragedy depends upon that engagement of the audience with the hero. He is so courageous at the beginning, yet becomes so fearful at the end. The composer, Shakespeare, manipulates our feelings for Macbeth by depicting women as part of the source of his downfall: the witches on the one hand and his wife on the other. Macbeth says to
Lady Macbeth when she presses and presses him to commit the murder of Duncan,

"I dare do all that may become a man. / Who dares do more is none" in an attempt to silence his wife (1.7.51-52), but he cannot silence her and as a result loses the manhood he desperately wants to preserve. In these moments the responders’ negative feelings transfer to Lady Macbeth, giving Macbeth empathy. * By giving Macbeth him a desirable trait/quality the composer creates empathy or Macbeth. Philosophers believed that the audience must feel empathy for the tragic hero otherwise it would not succeed as a good tragedy because the audience is unable to empathise with the protagonist. Macbeth’s courage reappears just before his death when he says: “I’ll fight till from my bones my flesh be hacked. / Give me my armour.” (5.3.32-33).

He says this even though he realises that he will die. Furthermore, Macbeth causes pain and suffering to innocent people fulfilling the very definition of a tragic hero. Empathy is evoked in the responders for Macbeth because he is not guided by his own conscience but rather external influences such as the meta-physical and Lady Macbeth. * After the battle and execution of the traitorous Thane of Cawdor, the Captain describes him as a “brave” soldier who “well deserves that name”. (1.2.16) * King Duncan agrees with the Captain’s opinion of Macbeth adding that he is a “worthy gentleman”.

* The persona of Macbeth is portrayed as a brave and loyal solider who fights for king and country. However, his weakness is his ambition.

* When Macbeth hears of the witches’ prophesy the thought of killing his king is abhorrent to him: “…Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair/ And make my seated heart knock at my ribs…” (1. 3. 134-135) and “…Present fears/ Are less than horrible imaginings.” 1, 3, 136-137

* The play allows the audience to see that Macbeth is very reluctant to take any action towards him becoming king but with the witches’ prophesy and Lady Macbeth’s urging, cajoling, insulting and threatening he is under a lot of pressure to act accordingly. * Macbeth had not even decided to murder the king however his wife and the witches were too persuasive for him to act out of intuition, so he succumbed to their combined pressures. Even though Macbeth murders people who arouse suspicion and rules Scotland as a tyrant Shakespeare paints his character as lost with everything out of control. He is deeply troubled and ultimately his conscience does not guide his actions and is tormented by his bloody deeds. * Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost and is deeply shaken by his encounter revealing his guilt at the banquet: “Thou canst not say I did it; never shake/ Thy gory locks at me!” * His guilty conscience tortures him. When he becomes king, Macbeth does not even get to enjoy the life of a King because he is so tormented by guilt, ghosts and illusions created by his mind. He becoming king only brings him pain and suffering. This is why we feel so much sorrow and can empathise with his situation. He never has the chance to enjoy the fruits of his labour. In the end Macbeth loses everything and more tragically loses interest in life itself:

“… Better be with the dead
Whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace,
Than on the torture of the mind to lie
In restless ecstasy. Duncan is in his grave.
After life’s fitful fever, he sleeps well.” (3. 2. 19-23) * He even envies the peace of death that Duncan enjoys. Lady Macbeth kills herself and it does not even matter anymore to Macbeth. The irony of it was that he had everything that he’d ever wanted yet his life had becoming meaningless.
“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
… It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.” 5,5 23-26

* The crux of the problem was the witches.
Without the prophecies he would not have killed his king, he would not have ordered the murder of Banquo and Macduff’s family and he would not have thought he was invincible and gone into battle only to get him killed. It is not Macbeth’s actions that made him what he became but rather the actions of those around him i.e. Lady Macbeth. Throughout the whole play we are constantly reminded that Macbeth never made any decision alone to do the things that he did. It is always the interference of external elements that causes all these detrimental events to occur. Readers feel the deepest sympathy for Macbeth who commits one horrific crime after another at the urgings of others when he would have been content to just being the Thane of Cawdor – and illustrious title in
itself.
“We will proceed no further in this business…” 1, 1, 31 * But most sad of all Macbeth is primarily the victim of his own ambition. * Another reason Shakespeare gives for us to feel empathy for Macbeth is the fact that they cannot have children. Macbeth says to Lady Macbeth:
“Bring forth men-children only,
…Nothing but males…” (1. 7. 72-74) * This shows how much Macbeth wants an heir. Yet Lady Macbeth is unable to give him any. This might be because of Lady Macbeth’s demand that the spirits “unsex” her so she is able to kill Duncan. Readers feel sorry for Macbeth about this because it is through no fault of his that he will not have any children. * Although Macbeth is certainly a villainous, evil man based solely on his actions, a fuller examination of his character's portrayal leads to a more sympathetic view of him. The play does not portray Macbeth simply as a cold-blooded murderer, but rather as a tortured soul attempting to deal with the atrocities surrounding him. The main reason why readers would feel sorry for Macbeth would be that everything that had happened wasn’t really his fault. Lady Macbeth even kills herself because she couldn’t handle the guilt anymore – this is very sad for Macbeth, as they were very close in the play. Readers also feel sorry for him in that he lost the only person he trusted and was close to. * At the conclusion of the play the Macbeth blow yet is dealt to Macbeth. The witches had informed him that ‘no man born of woman’ could kill him. He was lulled into a false sense of security so feels confident in going out to battle. What he does not know and does not find out until right before his death is that Macduff was born by Caesarean section – in Elizabethan times this was not considered natural, therefore not ‘born to a woman’. Readers can pity this man who had once been a loyal and trusted soldier serving his liege but instead became a “tyrant” and “butcher” who with his “fiend-like queen” committed regicide and other horrific murders to become king but end up lose everything he had.

Conclusion: