Macbeth Is To Blame In William Shakespeare's Play

FIND A GOOD TITLE Often labeled one of Shakespeare’s most lethal and sinister plays, Macbeth is a drama so praiseworthy that is able to perfectly absorb and embody the greatest fears of its time period, and then instill them back into its audience, frightening them even greater than they were before. Above all, Shakespeare valued a good story, and the witches, traitors, and deceit that was prevalent throughout the play all served to captivate the audience and touch on topics that everyone would be aware of. By opening his play so such a wide audience, Shakespeare was able to impact everyone from the royals to the peasants. Within the plethora of independent battles in the play itself, there is one recurring clash in particular that serves
As King Duncan is brought into the military camp to discuss his troops’ progress in the battles with the Irish attackers, he is greeted by a heavily wounded captain, who is eager to describe the spoils of war. Without wasting a breath, he reveres the glorious Macbeth, who “disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel, / which smoked with bloody execution, / Like Valor’s minion, carved out his passage” (9). The awe and admiration that the captain has for Macbeth can be attributed to his relentlessness on the battlefield. The fervor with which he delineates Macbeth can be compared to no other, and his invigorating speech continues to be seen throughout the rest of the scene. In fact, it seems the news of Macbeth’s victory is so contagious that the zeal the captain is feeling spreads to the rest of the characters as well. The comparison that was made to Valor’s minion served to expose Macbeth’s extreme bravery, as valor is bravery in itself, and the fact that Macbeth was its follower could not have been a higher compliment. Perhaps the highest praise that the captain had endowed upon Macbeth though, came through his comment about the blood. The comment about the bloody execution itself is so powerful, in fact, that is able to simultaneously arouse the involvement of all the senses in the reader. It becomes almost impossible to suppress images of Macbeth on the battlefield—the “smoked” and humid air
When Duncan travels to Macbeth’s estate in Inverness, he consequently—quite literally—places his fate in Macbeth’s hands. The treason becomes apparent when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth deliberate their future. She says that he can become king simply by murdering Duncan, and scoffs at his indecisiveness. After the deed is done, it becomes truly apparent to Macbeth the horrors of his actions, and he cries out in despair: “will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood/ Clean from my hand?” (59). At this point, the betrayal that was hinted at from the very beginning of the play comes to fruition. It becomes almost effortless for the reader to share in the franticness felt by Macbeth, as he is consumed by a myriad feelings that overtake him and leave him utterly flummoxed—at least for a short period of time. Within his panic, he comes to the conclusion that he has so much blood on his hands that not even the great Neptune—the sea god in Roman mythology—would be able so gather enough water to remove the evidence from his hands. Now, symbol that has so faithfully represented honor is completely turned around to represent never-ending guilt. However, in this case, the fright turns out to be nothing more than a temporary scare. His behavior, although incorrigible, is one that allows him to be very easily influenced by