投稿類別：英文寫作類
篇名：
Why Did Macbeth Always Make the Wrong Choices?
作者：
林侑柔 國立竹北高中。高三 11 班
指導老師：
辛麗玲老師
Introduction
Macbeth is one of the greatest tragedy written by William Shakespeare. He was
described as a great soldier at first but end up a rebel. He believed in prophecy, yet it
is the prophecy that brought an end to his life. Audience usually puts the tragedy flaw
on Macbeth, but I beg to differ.
I want to study Macbeth because I am interested in the reason why Macbeth
murdered Duncan, Banquo and Macduff’s family. Although readers may think the
tragic flaw of Macbeth is his thirst for power, I do not think Macbeth committed all
the murders just for authority. As the play goes on, we witness Macbeth gradually
losing control over his destiny. My argument is that he was actually a pawn, being
manipulated. In fact, some characters in the play controlled him to get what they
wanted, such as his wife and the three witches. Furthermore, Macbeth always went to
other characters like Lady Macbeth and the witches before he murdered in order to
believe that he was powerful and brave enough. For example, he murdered Duncan to
prove to his wife that he was brave enough and that he could do all the other men did
not dare to. Thus, had it not been for Lady Macbeth, Macbeth might haven’t killed
Duncan.
As I read the play, I can’t help but notice that the three cases of murder had a
great influence on Macbeth. He became the King for killing Duncan. He was going
crazy for murdering Banquo. And last, he built his biggest enemy due to murdering
Macduff’s family. The three deeds changed Macbeth’s life. Yet, I wonder whether
Macbeth truly wanted to conduct those murders or other characters planned this
tragedy.
Content
I. Who is the dagger?
In Act.II, Macbeth says, “Is this a dagger which I see before me, /
The handle toward my hand?” What or who is the dagger that trigger the
murder?
In the beginning of the play, Macbeth was described by an injured
captain in the beginning as “cannons overcharged with double cracks”
(1.2.37) and a great loyal soldier, who fought bravely for King Duncan. If
he had ambitions of taking the crown, why didn’t he betray King Duncan
and cooperate with Norway? Instead, he waited until King Duncan went
to his castle. Either cooperating with Norway or murdering Duncan
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makes him a rebel. Moreover, after doing the bloody deed, he still
regretted and held an uncertain attitude about the whole thing. Thus, there
must be an important key, not Macbeth’s ambition that leads to the
tragedy.
1. Lady Macbeth
Lady Macbeth had the motivation to make the bloody deed of
murdering Duncan happen. She was more ambitious than Macbeth.
She wanted to be a queen to have the power and own the property of
royalty. At Act I Scene5, She murmured after she received Macbeth’s
letter. “What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature: / It is too full
o’th’milk of human kindness/ To catch the nearest way.”(1.5.2) She
pointed out the easiest way for Macbeth to be the King, which means
he had to discard his human kindness. And then she said, “That I may
pour my spirits in thine ear/ All that impedes thee from the golden
round/ Which Fate and metaphysical aid doth seem/ To have thee
crowned withal.”(1.5.13) She was the one that convinced Macbeth to
do the dirty work by sneering at his weak personality. Thus, it’s
evident that she put the dagger in Macbeth’s hand. Not wanting to be
despised by his wife, Macbeth killed Duncan to prove that he’s a
“man” as he said, “I dare do all that may become a man; / Who dares
do more, is none.” (1.7.46)
However, Lady Macbeth was not the starter of Macbeth’s ambition.
It’s Macbeth that sent her a letter to tell her about the prophecy. If
Macbeth hadn’t been fascinated by the idea of being the King, he
wouldn’t have told his wife about it. Therefore, Macbeth might just
tell Lady Macbeth to persuade him to murder Duncan because he
knew he wouldn’t dare to if Lady Macbeth hadn’t talked to his ears.
2. The three witches
They showed up out of nowhere and told Macbeth that he would
be the King, which was most likely to be the key to his ambition.
Macbeth was intrigued by their prophecy, and that’s the reason why
he came to find them to look for more in Act IV. However, they told
Macbeth the result instead of the means, so there were probably other
uneasy methods that could make Macbeth the King. Moreover, they
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only told Macbeth part of the truths, which made Macbeth lose his
mind to murder Duncan. If they hadn’t told Macbeth anything,
Macbeth might not have become a betrayer. After all, He dared not
kill the King with his own sane mind. It might be the three witches
who put a dagger in his mind to control him for sake of his “destiny”.
They sensed that he was too weak to do this on his own and that he
was loyal to his King and country.
Another suspicion about them is that the talk between Macbeth
and them wasn’t a coincidence. It was planned as if they wanted the
whole thing to happen, for the fact that they arranged the meeting
with Macbeth “when the hurly-burly’s done; / When the battle’s lost
and won.” (1.1.3)
They hailed Macbeth with three titles not only because they
wanted to show their ability to predict the future but also because they
wanted to plant trust of them in Macbeth. With the trust, the three
witches could influence Macbeth.
3. Hecate
Hecate is a Greek goddess of witchcraft, who is also known as
“Queen of Ghosts”. Shakespeare used Hecate as the mistress of the
three witches. Hecate appeared in two scenes. One is Act 3, scene 5,
and the other is Act 4, scene 1.
In Act 3, scene 5, Hecate talked to the three witches, which made
the audience know that there was someone above of the witches. She
said, “And I, the mistress of your charms, /The close contriver of all
harms, /Was never called to bear my part, /Or show the glory of our
art?” (3.5.6) meaning that she was the one who made decisions of all
the evil things. The witches didn’t invite her to join in their plot, so
she could not show off her magic power. For that, she told them to
make up to her. “I am for the air. This night I’ll spend/ Unto a dismal
and a fatal end.”(3.5.20) It indicated that she had already planned a
horrible end for Macbeth.
If the theory of the witches wanting to mess up with Macbeth
was true, Hecate surely had something to do with the whole thing.
She told the three witches to make things right, but actually it got
worse for Macbeth. The three witches weren’t dumb; they just did
what Hecate ordered. Hecate’s words confused readers but were clear
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to the witches. Her words might mean that they shouldn’t interfere in
Macbeth’s thought, but it was more likely to indicate that the time
that Macbeth gained ambitions shouldn’t have come. It’s wrong to
make the universe go faster than it should be. However, the solution
to the problem isn’t to slow things down but to speed up everything
as if the universe wants to rip out Macbeth. Just like her last line, “As
by the strength of their illusion/ Shall draw him on to his confusion.”
(3.5.28) The fact that Macbeth became the King might all be illusion,
and his power was only a flash in the pan.
II. Why did Macbeth kill Banquo?
As the story told, Macbeth killed Banquo in fear that his
offspring would be the King. However, Macbeth didn't have a
child, which left a question why he killed Banquo, since no
offspring of his would be harmed by the counterpart from
Banquo.
1. Banquo’s ambition
The action of killing Banquo seems not only unnecessary but
also unwise because it raised Banquo’s anger. At Banquo’s last
breath, he told his son, Fleance, to take revenge on Macbeth. The
reason why Macbeth did that only could be that he was afraid
that Banquo would steal his crown as he stole Duncan’s. Banquo
was just like him, having great reputation and a great soldier;
Macbeth might be scared of the possibility that Banquo wanted
to challenge his destiny that the three witches told him, “Thou
shalt get kings, though thou be none.”(1.3.67) Macbeth might
think that Banquo wanted to be King on his own, not just his
offspring.
2. In order to erase the suspicion about him
Banquo and other thanes had been suspecting that the
murderer of Duncan was Macbeth, and it´s reasonable that
Banquo suspected about Macbeth because they both heard what
the witches said. He could easily connect the prophecy with the
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murder. Macbeth didn´t want to be thought of as a rebel, so he
arranged Banquo´s murder to erase the suspicion.
III. Why did Macbeth kill Macduff’s family?
During the talk between Macduff and Malcolm, They
described Scotland ruled by Macbeth, “each new morn / New
widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows / Strike Heaven on
the face, that is resounds / As if it felt with Scotland and yelled
out / Like syllable of dolor.” (4.3.4) From the content, Macduff
wanted to convince Malcolm to take back the crown from
Macbeth. However, Malcolm didn’t give his word until Macduff
knew that his family got killed by Macbeth. Some scholars said
that Malcolm was testing Macduff about his loyalty. Malcolm
wouldn’t dare to fight against Macbeth on his own; especially he
didn’t have much military forces. Thus, when he knew about the
death of Macduff’s family, he knew that Macduff would team up
with himself.
If Macbeth hadn’t killed Macduff’s family, Malcolm would
not have trusted Macduff and cooperated with him. Why did
Macbeth kill Macduff’s family to build an enemy for him and
bring his own end?
1. The three witches and the apparition
When Macbeth met up with the witches again, they called
their masters, the first apparition with a helmeted head, who told
Macbeth, “Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth! Beware Macduff; /
Beware the Thane of Fife.” (4.1.69) According to this, there’s
another possibility that Macduff kept his mouths shut, but
Macbeth was confused by the apparition’s warning. It was the
words and riddles that convinced him to kill Macduff and his
family. Macbeth thought that the apparition told him to kill
Macduff. The apparition, instead, meant that if Macbeth killed
Macduff’s family, He should beware Macduff. Moreover,
Macbeth did not kill Macduff but his family. He might think that
Macduff would be too devastated and weak to revolt.
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2. In order to get rid of suspicion
In Act 2, scene 4, Ross asked Macduff, “Is’t known who did
this more that bloody deed?” And Macduff answered, “Those
that Macbeth hath slain.” Macduff had known that Macbeth did
the bloody deed from the beginning, but he couldn´t say a word
because Macbeth had been made ruler by acclaiming and also
because he himself was loyal and innocent. If anyone should
find out it was Macbeth who killed Duncan, He wouldn’t be the
King but be put behind bars. Macbeth might be aware of
Macduff´s guessing; thus, he killed Macduff’s family to warn
him: If he hadn’t shut his mouth, the next to get killed is him.
Conclusion
Macbeth died as a tyrant and a rebel, but it was only what the other characters
thought of him and planned for him. Lady Macbeth wanted him to be powerful and
win the crown. The witches just played Macbeth with some riddles and made him
desire authority and Hecate created another scheme just in order to perform her magic.
They manipulate his mind with only a few words. In a contrast, even if the witches
told Macduff that his offspring would be the king, he remained unmoved; he thought
that those wards were insane and didn’t pay much attention to it. Everyone had their
expectation for Macbeth, resulting in the tragedy. Macbeth was just a pawn or a
puppet for other characters. The three murders are the evidence that he had been
manipulated.
After doing the research, I think that Macbeth isn’t a villain in the play although
he looked like one; he was in fact a man that didn’t think twice before making a
decision and know much about other’s thought. That’s why other characters could
easily seduce him to do things like murder Duncan. They knew that Macbeth
wouldn’t be able to control himself and that he was too weak to hold his sense.
Although Macbeth tried so hard to prove to the others that he was a “man,” he still
failed.
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References
William Shakespeare. (2005). Macbeth. London: Wordsworth Editions.
Wikipedia. 2016.10.16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hecate
Sparknotes: No fear Shakespeare. 2016.10.08 http://nfs.sparknotes.com/macbeth/
查爾斯蘭姆。(1995)。馬克白。台北市：格林文化和台灣麥克
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