Macbeth by William Shakespeare - Essay Example

Analysis of soliloquies in the play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare Macbeth is one of the greatest works that wasever written by Shakespeare. The story line has characters such as King Duncan who ruled over Scotland and Macbeth was his soldier general. Macbeth had a wife, by the name of Lady Macbeth. The story also depicted three (3) witches who used to provide prophesies of what would happen in Scotland. Lady Macbeth was a very ambitious woman as compared to Macbeth. When the three (3) witches approach Macbeth, they told him that they had foreseen that he would be the next King of Scotland. Macbeth was filled with ambition to become the next King as prophesied. However, his wife was the most ambitious about Macbeth becoming King. She propagated for the death of the King so that her husband would take over the throne. With her manipulative tactics, Macbeth murdered the King. And he became the ruler of Scotland. With that brief introduction, there are a number of famous soliloquies spoken by Lady Macbeth in the play. Therefore, this analysis will focus on the following extract: “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: what thou wouldst highly; That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false; And yet wouldst wrongly win: thou'ldst have, great Glamis; That which cries 'Thus thou must do, if thou have it; And that which rather thou dost fear to do.” (The Tragedy of Macbeth, “SCENE V. Inverness. Macbeth's castle”) The above extract was uttered by Lady Macbeth while she was in the castle reading a letter that was from Macbeth. The contents of the letter were that Macbeth had met with the three witches after his victorious battle and they prophesied to him that he would be the next King of Scotland and she would be the queen. Despite that prophesy, Lady Macbeth has fears that her husband may not be ready to take up the duties aligned to the crown. She utters, “It is too full o' the milk of human kindness”. This is a statement directly to her husband that she sees in him too much kindness, sincerity, pureness, goodness and compassion which could hinder his prominence. She goes ahead to question his morality and his desire for power. That is how “urgently” he would want to be King “Thane of Cawdor” (Shakespeare Online, “Macbeth: ACT I SCENE V”). In some instances, Lady Macbeth seems to “poke” Macbeth to do something about the situation that they are in. At one point she tells Macbeth that he does not have ambition “Art not without ambition, but without”. She goes ahead to add that Macbeth wants power but he is not working and/ or doing something to earn it; he is just being too good and/ or fearful and he wants it done by other people. “Thus thou must do, if thou have it; and that which rather thou dost fear to do”. The ultimate note that Lady Macbeth utters is that it is fate for Macbeth to become the King due to the reason that the witches said so – the witches are never wrong. These utterances are what led to the action for the death of the King and the rise and fall of Macbeth as the King of Scotland. There are a number of central messages that the play depicts for its readers. These include ambition, crime, love and desire for power. Ambition is portrayed through the character, Lady Macbeth. It is without doubt that she is the most strategic and ambitious character that the play has shed focus on. She managed to alienate Macbeth from his “milk of human kindness”. Additionally, she fuelled her husband to think of all possible ways that he could implement so as to become the King. As a result, they plotted the murder of the King and her husband took over the throne. The after math of this event was that Lady Macbeth became a murderous being where she lacked the “milk of human kindness”. In their quest for personal gain and ambition, they committed crime by murdering King Duncan so as to overtake the throne and become King and Queen of Scotland. Desire for power is another message that has been portrayed in the play. Both Macbeth and his wife desired for power over Scotland. However, the desire for Lady Macbeth was evidently untamed as compared to that of her husband. Another message vividly portrayed in the play is that of love. Love can make people commit crimes that they did not intend to commit. Macbeth was involved in the murder of the King. This was in a bid to reveal to his wife that he would do anything for her to become his second to the throne – Queen of Scotland. There are a number of lessons that we can learn from the play. One of the main lessons is that desire for power can lead to misery. Macbeth was full of the “milk of human kindness” but his wife was not. She desired power far much greater than her husband did. When applied in real life situations, we could be having a partner who would do anything to get what they desire. At times, their desire would drag us to lose our morality at the expense of other people just like the way Macbeth became the King at the expense of the death of King Duncan. Sticking to our morals is essential; this is because after Macbeth became the ruler of Scotland, all did not go as planned. There were rumours that he and his wife were responsible for the death of the King. Apparently, anybody who spread such news was dealt with accordingly by Lady Macbeth. Her actions led to her losing her human nature “milk of human kindness” and it finally lead to an undeserving ending. It is worthy to note that crime committed is always punished in the end no matter how long it would take. Additionally, we should never commit crimes related to love. That is; losing our happiness at the expense of others. Truly, Macbeth was not happy after he committed the murder of the King in the name of love for his wife. Works cited Shakespeare Online. Macbeth: ACT I SCENE V. Web. Retrieved from: http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/macbeth_1_5.html The Tragedy of Macbeth. SCENE V. Inverness. Macbeth's castle. Web. Retrieved from: http://shakespeare.mit.edu/macbeth/macbeth.1.5.html Read More