Thursday, November 10, 2011
The defendant is found... Guilty?
The biggest concern in Macbeth was originally whether Macbeth himself was completely guilty for the murder of King Duncan. My feelings at that point were "no" because Lady Macbeth was the sole reason for him even thinking of such actions. However, I now see the kind of scheming person Macbeth can be. He had one of his close friends, Banquo, murdered for the sake of guaranteeing his successful "ascension" into greater fortune. McBeth has become more committed to pursuing his fortold future. He has a will of his own and as a human being is not impervious to making mistakes. However, Macbeth has chosen to take fate into his own hands and disrupt a balance in nature. This has swayed me to believe he was full fledged guilty of killing King Duncan and should blame no one else but himself.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree to what you are saying Jorge. However, I do not believe he was full-fledged guilty of killing King Duncan! If we look at the story of Adam and Eve, was Eve the only guilty one of eating the forbidden fruit? No. they both had a part in it and they were both punished. In Macbeth’s situation, Lady Macbeth, in my opinion is also guilty. We cannot say Macbeth should be blamed and no one else, because even Lady Macbeth influenced him in some way.
ReplyDeleteI'll agree that She did persuade him, but ultimately he had a choice. And he picked the wrong course. McBeth chose to kill. But, you make a good point.
ReplyDeleteThat's right Jorge! He is human && is capable of making his own decisions&& CHOSE to kill Duncan, then CHOSE to have Banquobmurdered. Just because he felt more guilty about it doesn't make him less guilty. I have this friend that treats people really bad for no reason sometimes && apologizes a couple days later because they "feel so bad".. after you've apologized multiple times for the same thing, you no longer get the sympathy vote. Macbeth lost little sympathy I had left after he killed Banquo.
ReplyDeleteYou all have a point. Macbeth is human, therefore he is able to determine what's righ and wrong. Yet, thus far we've seen how easy he succumbs to his weaknesses. Lady Macbeth contributes to his weakness. She acted as the puppet master behind the whole scheme! Had she not insinuated the prospect of murdering Duncan, followed by ripping him apart as a man I'm pretty sure he would have never done it. That all plays into the pschye that influenced his decision. This incident parallels to the Charlie Manson, "Helter Skelter" murders. Now, Manson had this teenage group of followers. Naturally, being teenagers (in the 70s) there minds were easily influenced. Manson knew this and took advantage this fact, and later came up with a brutal plot to kill this Hollywood family who did HIM wrong in the past. Being young and dumb, "the family" abided to their leader's nefarious request and killed them. Mind you, Manson had no part in the actual killing. However, when they were all put on trial Manson got charged with "conspiracy to murder". Going back to Lady Macbeth. Although she may have not done the actual murdering. She's just as guilty. From the point she planted the idea in his head to when she drugged Duncan. You can be just as guilty in mind as you are in actions.
ReplyDeleteMacbeth is guilty one way or another. However he is self-righteous, proud therefore prone to fallacy. As Macbeth's ego prolifererates at the beginning of the play we see that his praise by the people as a hero combined with his wife's, Lady Macbeth, emasculation emerge conflicting ideals. Like a hurricane, when hot air from the air and cool air from the ocean come together the outcome is catastrophic. Moreover the three witches play to MacBeth's human side of greed and self-interest. Circumventing his innocence. Therefore MacBeth is not only guilty as any other character listed above as King Duncan's murderer but he is also an opportunist with a push presented by Lady MacBeth.
ReplyDeleteI can see your point but if you really think about it Macbeth was not going to do any thing until Lady Macbeth emasculated him. So maybe they both play a part in the guiltyness because Macbeth now has the choice to stop;however, he is not.
ReplyDeleteDarlene Jones
Understandable, but Macbeth, as we later see in the play, is prone by paranoia to kill those who may get in his path to eternal kingship. Banquo, Macduff and Malcolm are all of royal lineage therefore targeted by Macbeth to death. We have to agree that Macbeth is in fact the embodiment of how "the oppressed becomes the oppressor."
ReplyDelete