Macbeth
Discuss how Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband into killing king Duncan in act 1 scene 7
Act 1, Scene 7, Shakespeare lets the audience know exactly what type of person Macbeth is, but also how he easily he can be drawn into committing a evil act. This scene starts of with another soliloquy, but this time from the man itself, Macbeth. His soliloquy starts off with him really worried. “If it were done when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well it were done quickly”. On this note, he starts off with; the audiences think that he has already been convinced enough from Lady Macbeth to carry out the evil act, as he is saying the work should be done quickly before Duncan leaves. Later on though in the soliloquy, Macbeth starts to rethink whether he has made the right decision to continue or shall he stop the act. The main reason for him to go against his wife’s is due to the consequences after his death and also during this life, how he will be punished to death. A quote to suggest this is when Shakespeare writes, “We’d jump the life to come.” What Shakespeare means here is that Macbeth is thinking about his afterlife. He is telling us that Macbeth doesn’t want to risk his afterlife by killing the king, because regicide, according to Victorians, had very dangerous penalties. “We still have judgement here that we but teach Bloody instructions, which bring taught, return To plague th’inventor”. This quote tells us that not only is Macbeth worried about the afterlife, but also is worried about his own death. In the Victorian times they used to believe that if someone does something bad, for example a murder, the same action will be done on him/her and that’s exactly what was stopping Macbeth. From these previous two quotes the audience also gets to know Macbeth better. What he said suggests that he is a very selfish person as all he thinks about is what would happen to him. Despite him having a bit of selfishness in his personality, Shakespeare also lets us know the
Act 1, Scene 7, Shakespeare lets the audience know exactly what type of person Macbeth is, but also how he easily he can be drawn into committing a evil act. This scene starts of with another soliloquy, but this time from the man itself, Macbeth. His soliloquy starts off with him really worried. “If it were done when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well it were done quickly”. On this note, he starts off with; the audiences think that he has already been convinced enough from Lady Macbeth to carry out the evil act, as he is saying the work should be done quickly before Duncan leaves. Later on though in the soliloquy, Macbeth starts to rethink whether he has made the right decision to continue or shall he stop the act. The main reason for him to go against his wife’s is due to the consequences after his death and also during this life, how he will be punished to death. A quote to suggest this is when Shakespeare writes, “We’d jump the life to come.” What Shakespeare means here is that Macbeth is thinking about his afterlife. He is telling us that Macbeth doesn’t want to risk his afterlife by killing the king, because regicide, according to Victorians, had very dangerous penalties. “We still have judgement here that we but teach Bloody instructions, which bring taught, return To plague th’inventor”. This quote tells us that not only is Macbeth worried about the afterlife, but also is worried about his own death. In the Victorian times they used to believe that if someone does something bad, for example a murder, the same action will be done on him/her and that’s exactly what was stopping Macbeth. From these previous two quotes the audience also gets to know Macbeth better. What he said suggests that he is a very selfish person as all he thinks about is what would happen to him. Despite him having a bit of selfishness in his personality, Shakespeare also lets us know the