Professor Warren
AP Lang Lit
11/02/2013
Final Rough Draft In the Tragedy of Macbeth written by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare uses the character of Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, to portray the progression of corrupt characteristics of human greed and ambition; such as his thirst for power, to be Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth is already a Thane, but once the Witches reveal to him and Banquo of a promising prophecy that revealed him becoming Thane and King of Cawdor, Macbeth soon falls into human folly.
Macbeth shows some guilt in Act II, Scene I where Macbeth demonstrates conspiratorial desires. "Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee:--" this depicts Macbeth contemplating murder and his inner battle between himself and his thirst for power. This excerpt also demonstrates that Macbeth did at one point have a sense of humanity. His contemplation proves this statement.
Later in the play, Shakespeare depicts Macbeth incrementing in greed, "For them the gracious Duncan have I murder'd;... To make them kings, the seeds of Banquo kings! Rather than so, come fate into the list." here it is implied that Macbeth wants more power, and won't stop at anything to get what he wants, even if it means to kill Banquo so that he won't be able to become king either. “The seeds of Banquo” is a metaphor revealed in the witches prophecy, are the Banquo children promised to be kings. But because Macbeth won’t take anything less than the crown, he implies that neither Banquo’s children will see the day of royalty.
In Act V, Scene v, after everything: killing Duncan, Banquo and the death of his wife known as Lady Macbeth, Lord Macbeth has accepted his cruel nature. "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" is repetition and has almost a wistful tone, which demonstrates a loss of purpose. In this excerpt, Shakespeare gives Macbeth a sense of bitterness due to all of his consequences when he uses words like, "petty", "lighted fools", "dusty", "poor", "struts" and "frets" of alliteration to convey his utter anguished defeat.
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