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Macbeth "Nothing is but what s not"

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Macbeth "Nothing is but what s not"
Nothing is but what is not Macbeth is faced with the burden of choosing between acting on good or evil because of the witch’s prophecy to him. They claim it is in the prophecy for Macbeth to be king; this leaves Macbeth with the difficult decision of killing the current king, because for the prophecy to become true, Duncan must die. He thinks to himself that this supernatural soliciting cannot be good nor can it be evil. If what the witch’s said is evil, then how is he Thane of Cawdor? Macbeth comes to the conclusion that because part of the prophecy has come true, it cannot be of evil. It is also decided that the prophecy cannot be good, because Duncan must be killed for the prophecy to become true. Knowing these 2 scenarios, a morally confused Macbeth ends his speculation with the line, “And nothing is but what is not” (1.3.155). Nothing is real to Macbeth right now, because it all seems too unrealistic and crazy to him, so he becomes confused and does not know how to behave. He feels his imagination is running wild and out of place. Witches have appeared out of nowhere and granted him 2 titles that he does not expect to receive. Everything around Macbeth is moving too fast for him to comprehend, and the crown is within his grasp. This knowledge is giving him a moral dilemma and we anticipate seeing what he will do with it. The fantasy of his “horrible imaginings” are having a powerful impact on his mental and physical state already. If mere fantasy is doing this to him, how will the actual murder affect him? With the line, “Nothing is but what is not” Macbeth is trying to convince himself that reality and fantasy are equal, and with this he has found a way to justify the murder of Duncan. He has convinced himself that nothing that exists has any meaning, his thoughts and speculations are consuming his mind, affecting his ability to act. Now, the only things that matter to Macbeth are the things that don’t really exist yet. He is confused between the real world and the world of dreams; his realities are being shaken and he has been poisoned with a confused mind. The main idea from “And nothing is but what is not” is that the things perceived as real may actually be fantasy, and fantasies may become reality.

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