Preview

How Does Fear Take Control In Macbeth

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
200 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Does Fear Take Control In Macbeth
In Macbeth we see fear take control of Macbeth and is ultimately the reason for his great fall. We witness Macbeth’s initial fear in talking to the witches as he realises they know his deepest desire of becoming king and his desire for total power. From there Macbeth is also faced with the fear of losing his wife, Lady Macbeth due to her superior attitude towards him, Lady Macbeth uses Macbeth fear of her dislike towards Macbeth to drive Macbeth to kill Duncan . Lady Macbeth is the force that drives Macbeth to kill Duncan , even though Macbeth is scared to do it “ I am Afraid to think what I have done” but the fear of losing his wife is greater then the fear of killing the king.Lady Macbeth also has a fear of Macbeth not being able to Kill

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The play Macbeth by William Shakespeare is believed to have been written between 1603 and 1607, and is most commonly dated 1606. The tragedy is about a man named Macbeth who is told by three witches that he is going to become king. He does everything in his power to make the prophecies come true and he ends up killing the king, his best friend and his friend’s wife and children. When he is told that no one born naturally by a woman can kill him he felt invincible until someone macduff who wasn’t born naturally from a woman killed him. I will be focusing on how he portrays fear throughout the play in his soliloquys, a soliloquy is a device used in plays to show the characters inner…

    • 1715 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shakespeare’s Macbeth tells the tragic tale of Macbeth as he kills and murders people in his blind fear. After hearing a prophecy telling him that he would become king, Macbeth goes into a trance state, trying to figure out what he should do. He ends up following his blind ambition and murdering many people. In Shakespeare’s play, it could be said from the way that he acts that Macbeth is afraid of fear, as he is scared of meaningless things, and he always second questions himself when he becomes afraid. Shakespeare uses many different language techniques to outline Macbeth’s fear.…

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    We are usually held accountable for the actions that we decide to take. Several times we are influenced to make those decisions which, usually are influenced by someone else. The outcomes of these actions might turn out positive or against us and destruct us entirely. Macbeth takes many decisions over the course of the book. Some might define them as good and many might see them as atrocious. The Thane of Glamis(Macbeth) encounters the three witches one day; they informed Macbeth that he will have an exceptional future, a future where he can be king. Macbeth’s greed and ambition strike him and take over as soon as he hears present king; King Duncan is granting the throne to Malcolm, his son. Not knowing how else to proceed, he sends a letter to his passionate wife about his encounter with the witches. Lady Macbeth- the very determined character that she is, manipulates Macbeth into taking the throne of king by killing all who comes in the middle.…

    • 1802 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Paranoia In Macbeth

    • 546 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The knowing of one’s future could not be as good as it seems. Shakespeare wrote Macbeth as a patronage to King James I. He uses Banquo, which is an ancestor of King James, as a hero in the play. In Macbeth, a play by William Shakespeare, he uses Lady Macbeth’s prominent traits of mischievous, paranoia, and guilt-ridden to convey how knowing one’s future can make them go against his morals.…

    • 546 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Once Macbeth had learned about the prophecies coming true he had sent a letter to his wife Lady Macbeth, reading this Lady Macbeth had her own plans of becoming the queen, she had encouraged Macbeth to commit evil deeds such as killing King Duncan, the current king of Scotland who had come to visit Macbeth in his castle. She had used tactics such as questioning his courage as a man, you can see this when she states “What beast was't then That made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man (I, IV, 47)”. Lady Macbeth In this quote is basically saying Macbeth is chickening out. This is another important reason because Macbeth had to make a very important decision which is one of the common traits of a tragic hero. Additionally, if it wasn’t for Lady Macbeth telling him to assassinate King Duncan his ambition to be king wouldn’t be as bad, you can tell this because he greatly regretted killing the king, his guilt is shown when he says “One cried, “God bless us!” and “Amen” the other, As they had seen me with these hangman’s hand. List’ning their fear I could not say “Amen,” When they did say “God bless us! (II, ii, 29-32)”. All in all, the influence of Lady Macbeth was another factor to Macbeth being a tragic…

    • 871 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Use Of Fear In Macbeth

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages

    However, after Duncan’s death in Act II.I, Macbeth’s use of fear becomes more personal and revolves around how he could secure the throne, pushing him into uncontrollable ruthlessness and recklessness. He is “bound in /To saucy doubts and fears (III. IV)”, unable to rest until he removes all possible obstacles in his path to maintain his hold on the crown. This fear stems from having people find out of the murder and, mirroring his sentiments before Act II.I, from losing his current status of thane of two areas, then King of Scotland. Until the very end, Macbeth’s actions show his insecurities, tightly revolving around his greed. He tries to do anything to keep the throne, and in the end, even almost gives up the fight because Macduff “cow’d…

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The idea of “loss of control” is highlighted through one of the main protagonists, Lady Macbeth. Shakespeare presents lady Macbeth as having lost control over her body and mind. Her character has completely changed from the strong leader she previously was. Lady Macbeth has been driven mad by guilt and fear and so she begins to sleepwalk. Sleep walking in the Jacobean era would’ve been deemed as a form of insanity; almost a disability. People would’ve just viewed and commented on it without treating it. This is evident when the doctor and gentlewoman say, “her eyes are open but her sense is shut”. In her sleep, she’s trying to wash away a spot of blood which is a metaphor for the guilt she has for Duncan’s murder. Her language especially reflects…

    • 176 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare portrays Macbeth as a very heroic character who doesn’t seem to be afraid of anything. He is described as a warrior who stabbed a man in the stomach, cut him from there to the throat, and cut his head off and stuck it on a post. The type of man that would do something like this definitely does not seem like the type of man who would be nervous to become king. Even if the only way he was going to become king was by murdering the man who is currently king, and in this specific case it would be King Duncan of Scotland. Personally, I believe that Macbeth’s imagination both prompts him to commit and crime and also makes it hard for him to commit the crime because he over thinks things, he listens to his wife too much, and he desires power too much.…

    • 593 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the play, Macbeth, it was fear that was the main motivating factor that influenced the outcome of the play. In Macbeth fear is used to by Macbeth to become king. After Macbeth killed Duncan it was fear of an “own known Person” like in paragraph two that had drove Macbeths sons Malcom and Donalbain running away with their tails tucked in-between their legs. Without fear Duncan’s sons would have stayed in the kingdom and found out who truly killed their father. In the end, it was fear of others that Macbeth felt that caused him to become paranode and loose his thrones. Fear makes everyone crumble and obey. If a leader like Macbeth was only loved, then others would have overthrown him from the very beginning of the…

    • 733 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Macbeth: Controlling idea

    • 331 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Glory built on selfish acts is shame and guilt. In William Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth” the main character Macbeth comes in between an indecisive situation. In the song Best Thing I never had by Beyonce she says “What goes around comes back around”. Here she expresses the term “karma”. Karma is like cause and effect, if you wish someone bad, later on what you wished to someone else could happen to you. This quote relates to Macbeth case because, if he decides to kill king Duncan he will feel fulfillment but he will have guilt in the back of his mind. Also, as the story develops Macbeth could go insane thinking about his malicious act. In the soliloquy he talks about seeing this dagger. He said “ A dagger of the mind, a false creation, proceeding from the neat-oppressed brain? I see thee yet in form as palpable as this which now I draw”( act2, scene 1, page 2). In this quote Macbeth is imagining/hallucinating the crime in which he is thinking about committing. Macbeth doesn’t look at it as a crime. He just wants to reach and gain absolute power the wrong way. If he is already thinking about killing, he would do anything outside the law to get what he wants. Through the soliloquy he shows a lot of ambition. He doesn’t know if the crime is real but, he is striving to reach his goal of being the new king. Macbeth doesn’t care about losing his reputation on being brave and honorable. So, as the play develops Macbeth is going to feel guilt and confusion. The guilt he is going to possess is going to make him vulnerable and at some point in the play he is going to speak out the truth. Overall, victory doesn’t feel the same when you do false play to try and get something. At some point you will speak out the truth and confess to your crime.…

    • 331 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth

    • 527 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Fear can affect an individual’s decision – at times it has a positive effect, and other times a negative impact. Shakespeare uses one of his characters to demonstrate how an individual’s fearlessness can have such dreadful consequences. Lady Macbeth begins the play as a very strong-willed woman who exhibits stereotypically male characteristics. She is extremely power hungry and is willing to harm anyone standing in her path to royalty, but unlike Macbeth she does not get stronger as the play progresses. Rather she shifts into the conventional role of a woman, exhibiting signs of fear and weakness. When Lady Macbeth was first introduced in, she appeared to be a typical nobleman’s wife of…

    • 527 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fear In Macbeth

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages

    What need I fear of thee? But yet I’ll make assurance double sure, And take a bond of fate. Thou shalt not live, That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies, And sleep in spite of thunder” (Shakespeare, IV.i.85-89). In the beginning of the play, Macbeth feared the three witches, not trusting any word they spoke, but now he seeks out information and advice from them. This shows how when he slipped to immorality he lost himself and his beliefs, willing to believe anything that supports his victory. From a psychological view, it was stated that “The evil he has desperately embraced continues to madden or to wither his inmost heart” (AFJ, pg.188 par1). Macbeth's greed led to his downfall, falling deeper and deeper into immorality only to better himself, when in the end it only did the opposite for him. Catching a glimpse of an opportunity to increase his power, he snatched at it immediately unknowing of how he would never be able to recover from the darkness and wrongdoing. In conclusion, the greed of Macbeth led to his downfall morally and mentally as a whole, costing him not only the lives of his friends and wife, but also his…

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Anxiety In Macbeth

    • 1482 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Anxiety We all have a powerful source that helps us solve problems, create imaginative Admirations and to get through everyday life, but what happens when this source turns against us? Imagine a woman who could not sleep, but when she did she would walk and scream in her sleep showing that she has no rest even in sleep. This is from a play called Macbeth and that woman was Lady Macbeth, trapped from fear itself not knowing that she will die soon from this vicious monster that’s finds her in her dreams. This sounds like a horror story about a fictional monster attacking a poor defenseless woman, but what if this ravenous monster is real and people are being taken over and are struggling with it to this very day.…

    • 1482 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Humans are always thought to be evil or moral, when in reality every human has two sides. William Shakespeare frequently wrote about people with two sides. In Macbeth, alone, there are many characters with an evil and moral side including the main character, Macbeth. Long before psychology became the study of human behavior, Shakespeare created a very realistic character, Macbeth, a man who struggles with inner conflict and moral dilemmas. William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 and died on April 23, 1616. Aside from Macbeth, he wrote over 154 sonnets throughout his lifetime. The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare is a play in which the main character, an ambitious solider named Macbeth, goes on a journey within his inner self. He first starts out as a moral person, but then he ends up as a tyrant with no moral boundaries at all, towards the end of the play. The story takes place in Scotland, where Macbeth kills King Duncan with the help of his wife, Lady Macbeth. He soon becomes King of Scotland and begins his downward spiral into becoming a tyrant. Many innocent characters are killed, including Banquo, Macbeth’s best friend, and Macduff’s family. Throughout the play, many characters rise to the top, including Macduff, who ultimately kills Macbeth. Also included in this play is King Duncan’s son, Malcolm, who later becomes the King of Scotland after the death of Macbeth. Ultimately, Lady Macbeth commits suicide because of the guilt she feels that is caused by the sins she committed and Macbeth is killed in the final battle where he dies completely alone.…

    • 1419 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    You first see Lady Macbeth portray her power when she successfully plots Duncan’s death, manipulates her husband by questioning his manhood, and takes action on her goal to become Queen of Scotland. Once she discovers that Macbeth has been told the crown is in his future, she immediately begins to scheme and plot, showing her true evil. You are immediately aware that she wants Macbeth to become King so she can become Queen of Scotland when she says, “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be what thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature; it is too full o' the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great; Art not without ambition but without the illness should attend it......” (I. V. 345-375). The thought of becoming Queen pushes her and causes her to act outrageously. Macbeth is slightly doubtful of her plan to kill the King, however Lady Macbeth overwhelms him with comments that question his courage and by saying that his love is worth nothing if he refuses to go through with the plan. She says “screw your courage to the sticking-place”…

    • 846 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays