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Moral Significance of Evil in Macbeth

Moral Significance of Evil in Macbeth

Evil plays a predominant part in ‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare. Evil is evident throughout the play, albeit more obviously in Macbeth and his wife, in the witches or in other, less blatant, underlying instances.

Macbeth, I feel, is relatively unsullied at the start of the play. He seems suited to where he is, as Thane of Glamis, as illustrated by Angus towards the end of the play in Act V.2 ln 20-22 “Now does he feel his title| hang loose about himself like a giant’s robe| Upon a dwarfish thief”, comparing him to a dwarf who has stolen the clothes of a giant i.e. King Duncan. Banquo also comments on his new title in I.3 ln 54, “New honours come upon him| Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould| But with the aid of use.” It is interesting that the two both incorporate a theme of clothing in their speech. However, during his encounter with the witches, he is told of his inheritance: the Thanedom of Cawdor and King of Scotland. His thoughts at this point dismiss the witches as mad old women, but when Angus & Ross enter the stage and inform him of his appointment to Thane of Cawdor, his thoughts turn more sinister, as shown in a short speech aside of stage in I.3, “If chance may have me king, why chance may crown me without my stir”, the key word being ‘stir’ showing that he has intentions of disturbing the course of fate, be he however lays off the idea and decides that he needn’t interrupt it as it is prophesied that he will be King. However, he is not patient enough “ If it were done when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well| It were done quickly.” (I.7 ln 1-2) and resorts to murdering Duncan in II.2. From thereon, the evil in Macbeth seems to increase, as it were, scene by scene. Having murdered the king, he slays the two guards barring the threshold to Duncan’s room, Banquo and an attempt on his son, Fleance and Macduff’s family and “all my pretty little chickens and their dam”, “wife, children, servants, all.” (I.3). At first, it is a truly grave and difficult thing for Macbeth to murder Duncan, but after that it just seems to be a ‘slippery slope’, and, as Macbeth finds, “a little water clears us of this...

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