english crit essay

• Initially Macbeth is conflicted by the prophecies - they both excite him and horrify him emotionally and physically. This implies the initial corruption of the previously 'noble Macbeth' as he begins to be tempted towards sacraliege and killing a God-appointed King. Here we see the beginnings of Macbeth's inner conflict as he equivocates between remaining a loyal servant and seizing power for himself.
• This helps the audience understand the beginning of Macbeth's moral degeneration, foreshadowing his fall from grace to real, horrific sin.
• Here the dagger is a symbol of his growing ambition and temptation. His hallucinations are symptomatic of his waning mental stability, as ambition takes hold. In this solilioquy, Macbeth reveals his continued inner conflict as he equvicaotes between acting and not acting, further highlighting the turmoil caused in him by his own ambition and that sparked by the witches.
• This conveys to the audience the extent to which Macbeth's previous loyalty to the King ebbing away and ambition becoming his driving force.
• Here we see Macbeth shaking and terrified by the appearance of his murdered friend. Further highlighting his poor mental state and the detrimental effects of the inner conflict going on inside of him. He is both driven for power yet extremely guilty about his crimes.
• Previously described as 'brave' and 'worthy' he is a frail, former shadow of the warrior we meet in the exposition. Here his characterisation shows the audience a manifestation of his guilt and inner conflict caused by this and his uncontrolled, 'vaulting ambition'.
• Here Shakespeare presents Macbeth's most devastating, morally depraved act yet. Lady Macduff and her children symbolise purity and innocence, therefore Macbeth's bloody destruction of these characters shows his complete degeneration from 'worthy gentleman' to violent murderer as he resorts to killing a woman and her children.
• This helps the audience understand his madness and ambition, running his inner battle and completely driving his morality.
• Determined, deranged and desperate, Macbeth is hopelessly clinging to power. No longer 'valiant' or respected, he is a pitiful 'tyrant' who is despised by all around him. His inner pursuit of power is his only driving force now and his ambition plagues him, to the point that he is completely unrecognizable from his past 'honoured' self.
• Here we see him pathetically refuse to give up power, dying on the battlefield by the hand of Macduff, symbolic of politcal innocence in the text. The denouement of the text makes clear to the audience the consequences of Macbeth's hamarita of 'vaulting ambition' and the inner conflict this ignites in him.