Macbeth and Lady Macbeth developing Shakespeares Themes
Uploaded by matty on Nov 11, 2007
How does Shakespeare use the characters of Macbeth and
Lady Macbeth to develop his themes?
In the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth embody the main themes of the play. Macbeth is set in Scotland and follows the rise and fall of a tragic hero. The major themes of the play are ambition and its corrupting effects, the importance of loyalty and honour, good versus evil and the power of fate. Shakespeare presents these themes through the actions of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and their results: the corrupting effects of ambition by the slow and fatal downfall of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, the importance of loyalty and honour through the couple’s absolute lack of both and the disastrous results that this entails and the couple’s battle between good and evil when they are trying to make important decisions. Shakespeare also uses the witches’ prophecy about Macbeth and his fortune to show how significant fate is and how it has the power to shape peoples lives.
The corrupting power of ambition is arguably the most important and most prominent theme in Macbeth, and is expressed most powerfully through the play’s two main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is portrayed as a courageous Scottish general who is not naturally inclined to commit evil deeds. He does have a great desire for power and importance, however, and lets these desires twist and warp his original personality. When Macbeth is first confronted with the choice to gain more power by killing and lose his honour and loyalty, or to be content with the power that he had, he is uncertain of what he should do and faces a battle between his ambition and his conscience. The battle results in Macbeth pursuing his ambition, going against his first instinct and his original personality: “I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself And falls on th' other,” (Act I, Scene vii, Line 25). As the play progresses Macbeth’s character continues to change and becomes less like the courageous hero that we first meet and more like a greedy, deceitful tyrant. After he orders the death of Banquo, he starts to be plagued by fits of guilt and regret. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand is initially portrayed as...