Themes in Macbeth by William Shakespeare: A Literary Analysis

In Shakespeare's Macbeth, themes play a key role in tracing the change within characters, specifically Macbeth. Shakespeare's develops the ethos of Macbeth's character through his reaction to these external factors. Shakespeare traces the decline of Macbeth through his use of themes and uses it as a medium to track the moral corruption and viciousness of a once virtuous character.

At the beginning of the drama, Macbeth is a well liked character. Having just finished suppressing multiple revolts against King Duncan, he has been granted numerous honors and titles. With the introduction of the witches and his own fate revealed however, Macbeth's ambition begins to fill his being and begins to lead him to a state of moral corruption. Not only does Macbeth believe these prophecies to be his own fate but he begins to build his own life around them by writing a letter to his wife detailing the events that have unfolded. This revelation begins Macbeth on the path that will eventually lead to his destruction.

Immediately after returning to his castle, Macbeth begins to think about how he will become king, musing on the thought of killing King Duncan. However, at this point Macbeth is caught at a crossroads. Macbeth reasons that killing Duncan would place him closer to obtaining the throne but Macbeth also understands that he has no right to kill Duncan besides the prophecies. Macbeth even decides against the murder altogether, telling his wife, "We will proceed no further in this business." (1.7.32) and teetering on the balance between what he feels is right and his own ambition.

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This demonstrates the temperance that Macbeth contains against his own ambition that is only ultimately upset by the prompting of Lady Macbeth, an outside factor. Had this crucial event never happened, the Macbeth would have never committed any of the other acts that followed and therefore his character would not have deteriorated at all. His perception of his own fate is a prime example of an outside force and Unhae langis, an author with a Phd in English Literature from USC, details that " daimon [negative influences of fate] becomes the 'active force at work within a man and revealing its nature in the Ethos of each man". At the beginning of the drama, Macbeth contains the seeds of fatal flaws but does not contain the concentration of potency that will lead to his decline.

As the drama progresses, Shakespeare continues to use external factors as a method of displaying character, along with ambition, Macbeth's fatal flaw, within him. This reality is observed in Macbeth's murder of Banquo, and his attempted murder of Fleance, Banquo's son, directly following the coronation ceremony. Macbeth no longer exhibits the temperance against his own impulses that he contained and is starting to shift to a person who can no longer reason, the definition of a vicious person. Macbeth believes that he is at the point of no return insisting that ""I am in blood Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o'er." (3.4.136-138) and that any action that he commits no longer has any weight on either his conscious or morality.

All of these actions are formed based on the notion that Banquo and Fleance are threats to his throne as stated by the witches. Another action committed by Macbeth that is caused by outside factors was the murder of Macduff's family. Macduff's decline to attend the coronation ceremony of Macbeth leads Macbeth to believe that he faces a threat and that he needs to be punished for his actions. Murdering Macduff's family only adds to the flames of insurrection that Macbeth already faces.

Macbeth's mental condition also begins to deteriorate. Whereas at the beginning, Macbeth displayed a sense of sanity, the murders on his hands take a toll on his mental condition, and he begins to go insane, seeing ghosts and feeling extreme guilt over his actions. In the middle of the play, Macbeth has already gone insane, with outside factors contributing to his decline in temperance and sanity while promoting his fatal flaw.

In the closing acts of the drama, Macbeth is again influenced by the witches. They purposely give him deceiving prophecies and lead him to believe that he is invincible. He believes that he cannot be killed and detaches himself from the situation. Macbeth's insanity is shown as he neglects the power of a ten thousand strong army that moves against him and in his insistence in wearing protective armor (contradicting his thoughts of invincibility) even though the battle is not for some time.

Even faced with the suicide of his wife, Lady Macbeth, who initially pushed him down the path he took, he replies with apathy and muses that her death would have occurred at some point. No amount of death fazes him anymore and he charges into battle knowing he will die. Coupled with this decrease in sanity however, is his increase in guilt. Macbeth regrets many of the decisions that he made earlier and wishes that he could go back and change his decisions including the murder of Macduff's family saying "My soul is too much charged with your With blood of thine already." (5.8.5-6).

Throughout the course of drama, Macbeth changes his outlook and entire being. These changes were prompted and facilitated by factors other Macbeth. Without the actions of these characters, Macbeth would have still been the glorious war hero he was at the start, never killing Duncan and starting on his path to destruction. Instead Macbeth goes insane, loses all sense of
temperance, becomes guilty and is ultimately destroyed by the actions that were incited by
others.

Works cited:

1. Shakespeare, Wiliam. "Acts1-4." Macbeth. 2.Ond ed. N.p.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.N. pag. Print. British Literature.
2. Langis, Unhae. ""Character and Daemon, Fate and Free Will in Macbeth," in Shakespeare's Macbeth: Critical Contexts Series, Ed. Boris Drenkov, Roman Books, 2013." Academia.edu. Academia, 20 Jan. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.

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