Macbeth - Assignment #4 - Blog

Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, is a very interesting play. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of reading this play throughout. I would describe my overall experience in reading Macbeth as simply outstanding and exciting. I am a lover of historical stories that are built around the characters rather than on the events. I also feel excited to read plays and novels that depict struggles and battles for the kingship. Macbeth, the tragedy of characters offers all of these. My favorite character in the play is Macbeth himself. I really feel that Macbeth is a good human being who turned evil for he was pushed to the edge of his strength and tolerance. Throughout the play, the actions, the thoughts, and the interesting soliloquies of Macbeth kept me stuck to the play. Though he committed some serious crimes, I see him as a human being who was lured by the ambition and deceived by the destiny.

 As we know that destiny plays a role in everyone's life, it did so in this case. I feel that most of the actions, feelings, outcomes, and consequences were determined by destiny. Macbeth believed in the words of the witches. The prophecies really turned out to be true but the punishment was waiting for Macbeth. Lady Macbeth also fell as a victim of destiny when this strong lady eventually turned mad and insane. Destiny is present throughout the play. It was destined that Banquo's children will become the kings. Macbeth killed Banquo to prove this prophecy wrong. But no one can deceive destiny. It was destined for Macbeth to become the king and ultimately lose the crown to Banquo's child. The escape of Duncan's son, the absence of Macduff in the castle -- these incidents contributed to the destined events. Moreover, destiny played a great prank with Macbeth when he came to know that Macduff was not literally born from his mother, rather he was ripped off from the womb.

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are the two most exciting characters of this play. The contrast between these two characters is evident from the transformation of their personalities. At the beginning of the play, it was Lady Macbeth who pushed Macbeth hard to kill Duncan. But, Macbeth was feeling that killing Duncan would be an act of cowardice, immorality, and extreme guilt. This sense of thinking changed and the roles reversed during the course of the play. Toward the end of the play, we see that Lady Macbeth has gone insane because she derived a sense of guilt and repentance from her previous actions. On the other hand, Macbeth has now become a man who can do anything to remain in the power. He no longer thinks about justice and morality, but his thoughts are circled around the crown.

But, there was one setting in the play that made me uneasy and it was the killing of Macduff's family. According to me, this is the most tragic and heartbreaking part of the play. Macbeth was feeling threatened by the existence and power of Macduff. But there was no logic behind killing his wife and children. His wife was not involved in the struggle for the crown and the children did not even know or realize what exactly was going on. It was an act of brutality and savagery that cannot be defended by any means.

If I am given a chance to make changes in the play, I would surely like to do one thing. I would keep Banquo alive. According to me, Banquo is one of the strongest and admirable characters in the play. He is also a valiant warrior and loyal servant to the king. I would like to see if he does a similar thing like Macbeth to actualize the prophecy of the witches about his children becoming the kings of Scotland. It will also provide an opportunity to place Banquo against Macbeth in a fair challenge and fight to determine the better fighter and the suitable person for the kingship. Thus, the outcome will be fair, appropriate, ethically correct, and circumstantially acceptable.