He dramatises the “sorry sight” (Act 2, Scene 2) of the blood on his hands as something “great Neptune’s oceans” cannot wash away, begins to hear voices and acts erratically, killing Duncan’s two guards without consulting his wife. After the murder he instantly acknowledges that he will likely never sleep again. Even prior to the act he hallucinates, “Is this a dagger I see before me.” (Act 2, Scene 1) and struggles to control his guilty thoughts. Macbeth immediately regrets killing King Duncan. With this Macbeth is convinced to murder Duncan, though it is not clear which tactic of Lady Macbeth’s had the biggest impact on his decision. Lady Macbeth challenges his love and his manhood, informs him that this act will make him “so much more the man” (Act 1, Scene 7) and even stirs up memories of their loss of a child. We witness his weaknesses: pride, ego and an immense love for his wife. The idea of murdering King Duncan comes from Lady Macbeth and when faced with the actuality of it, Macbeth realises that he has “no spur to prick the sides of (his) intent” (Act 1, Scene 7), and that “vaulting ambition” is not a good enough motive for murder. On hearing of Malcolm’s ascension to be next in line for the throne, Macbeth lets the audience know of his “black and deep desires” (Act 1, Scene 4), and in his letter to Lady Macbeth we learn that he is not only “rapt in the wonder of it” (Act 1, Scene 5) but also “burned in desire.” (Act 1, Scene 5) We observe ambition in Macbeth, but his thoughts don’t transfer into actual plans. However, we do see evidence that Macbeth is ambitious. She states that he is “too full of the milk of human kindness” to act maliciously, and that he could stare “the ornament of life” (Act 1, Scene 7) meaning the crown, in the face and still not seize it. Many believe Lady Macbeth’s insights into Macbeth’s character to be more trustworthy than that of other characters in the play, as she knows him intimately. In a comparison of the two characters, Thomas Whately says that unlike Richard III, Macbeth’s instincts are naturally ‘social, humane and family orientated’. Unlike another of Shakespeare’s villains, Richard III, who seeks power for power itself, Macbeth initially desires power only to gain regard and respect from his colleagues. In the second half of the play he is driven by violent matter-of-factness, as soon as a bloody thought comes into his head he acts on it, “Be it thought and done” (Act 4, Scene 1). Macbeth spends the first half of the play in moral contemplation, recoiling at the very thought of wrongdoing. William Richardson stated in 1743 that Macbeth begins the play as ‘valiant, dutiful to his sovereign, mild, gentle and ambitious without guilt’, and ends his journey as ‘false, disloyal, barbarous and vindictive’. Even as early as the 1700’s, critics were writing about Macbeth’s extraordinary change in character. By Act 5 the audience are left in bewilderment, questioning whether they are observing the same man that was described in Act 1 as “brave”, “honourable” and “too full of the milk of human kindness” (Act 1, Scene 5). Macbeth is a character that undergoes a dramatic transformation as the result of ambition and the pursuit of power. It is important to note that Macbeth’s drive to usurp the crown is shared with the audience after we hear the witches’ prophecies and therefore it is not clear whether he would have taken the same path if he hadn’t encountered the witches on the blasted heath. When Macbeth receives the witches prophecies he does “start and seem to fear” (Act 1, Scene 3) them but his instinct is to dismiss things that are dark and threatening. Macbeth first appears in Act 1, Scene 3 accompanied by his friend and comrade, Banquo, who clearly holds him in high regard. Before we meet Macbeth, we hear a report of him from a wounded captain, “For brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name.” (Act 1, Scene 2), who details his prowess in battle. Macbeth is a general in the Scottish army and commences the play as the Thane of Glamis, a lord of the Scottish Court. Let not light see my black and deep desires.
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