Summary of Macbeth

Macbeth was faced with a considerable amount of bad influences and riddles about his future in William Shakespear's "Macbeth" which caused him to make gruesome decisions and would change his entire life in a short amount of time. Even though he was pushed or tricked into doing so, Macbeth was still responsible for the fate he created for himself.

Since the beginning of the play, Macbeth confronts three witches in which tell him of his good fortune in the future. He is with his best friend Banquo and they are told by these old women that each of them will become higher-ups in royalty. Macbeth is said to become King of Cawdor and Banquo will not. However, Banquo will become "Lesser than Macbeth but greater." and "Not so happy, yet much happier." He will not take the throne but his children will. Both Macbeth and Banquo are in disbelief by the encounter with these witches. This is where Macbeth's preoccupation with the technicalities of the witches words begins. The first thing he says to Banquo is "Your children shall be kings." in which Banquo responds "You shall be king."

It is important to understand that Macbeth is of good nature, honest and looked

up to by many. He is skilled on the battlefield and has defended his country with dignity and valor so there is no question why Macbeth is seen as such a good man. However, Macbeth undergoes a gradual but major twist of the mind after just the first confrontation with the witches in which turns him into a heartless murderer. The question is why Macbeth is to blame for this becoming of him.

Macbeth does not change his morals instantly. It takes many different influences

and not just the three witches but even his own wife, Lady Macbeth. "In Macbeth, both the title character and Lady Macbeth undergo a role reversal of sorts by the end of the play. In a world wherefair is foul and the natural order is subverted, Macbeth becomes completely confident in his grab for power, while Lady Macbeth wanders the castle corridors at night bemoaning her unclean hands following the murderDuncan and his guards." (Thomson n. pag.) At this point, Macbeth is still holding on to the morals he had from the start. He is thane of Cawdor, has many friends and is happy with the life he has. When Lady Macbeth urges Macbeth to kill king Duncan, he questions the act and wonders how it will effect them, but inside he wants to be king and eventually kills Duncan. This where the words of the witches has impacted him and completely warped Macbeth's good-hearted nature.

We can infer by Macbeth's hallucinations and borderline psychodramatic

soliloquies that he may have a mental instability which may be why his morals did

not