Personal Context
Through life people change, due to the influences of the people around them, their location and their frame of mind. Throughout Macbeth and in particular Act V, Scene 5, Macbeth’s personal voice shines and his true identity is born. At the beginning of the play, the audience is introduced to a noble, charming and loyal husband and solider. After the murder of Duncan, Macbeth see’s power in a way he never saw it. Macbeth changes his views on life, deciding that he should be king and live to the witches’ prophecies “All Hail Macbeth! Thou shalt be King hereafter”. Macbeth’s identity changes over the play due to his position in the Kingdom. When Macbeth became King, he wanted control, power and he wanted to stop anyone who would come between these and himself. Macbeth could be regarded as mentally ill, psychotic even but during Act V, Scene 5, Macbeth begins to ‘crack’ from a once solid stone into a million little pebbles as he begins to recall the memories and feelings of fear as illustrated in the quote “I have forgotten the taste of fears”.
In this scene we discover the other dark side of Macbeth, and how he how his love has changed over the play. At the beginning of the play Macbeth is star struck, in love and posed by the power of love but when he hears of Lady Macbeth’s death, he only comments “She should have died hereafter”. This quote reveals that Macbeth has not only changed his way of thinking over the play but also the way his soul, body and heart feels. Macbeth could be regarded as inhuman as he showed no sympathy, grief or sadness over his wife death but rather his focus was on the war and to kill Malcolm. Would a husband show grief at a time of such sadness? Wouldn’t you drop everything and grieve you loss? Macbeth did neither.
Act V, Scene 5 is an iconic scene during the play as the audience views Macbeth in a completely new way. During this scene we finally are amongst Macbeth’s thoughts as he begins to act differently and throw accusations at anyone because of his new threat, because for once in Macbeth’s life, he was touchable and not protected anymore. Another of the witches’ prophecies given to Macbeth was “Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill shall come against him” (Act IV, Scene 1, lines 98-102). Macbeth is on edge as the massager reports to him that the woods have begun to move “I looked toward Birnam, and anon methought the wood began to move”. Macbeth ponders the thoughts and begins to threaten the messenger’s life as he is furious. Macbeth threatens to take the messengers life “If thou speak’st false, upon the next tree shall thou hang alive. Till famine cling thee”. This quote symbolises how fearful Macbeth is off Malcolm as he knows that he has the potential to kill him. For the first time during the entire play, Macbeth fears for his life as he begins to feel the feelings of guilt, fear and horror.
For Macbeth, his emotions change throughout the play, alongside his eyes bloodshot with power and his hands drenched in blood but through the mental illness, psychotic attacks and murders, Macbeth is revealed as an iconic individual who was poisoned with power, lost with lust and blinded with the beauty of his wife. Macbeth was a tragic Hero who caused his own death, but felt it was the only way to end the horror show in his mind.
In this scene we discover the other dark side of Macbeth, and how he how his love has changed over the play. At the beginning of the play Macbeth is star struck, in love and posed by the power of love but when he hears of Lady Macbeth’s death, he only comments “She should have died hereafter”. This quote reveals that Macbeth has not only changed his way of thinking over the play but also the way his soul, body and heart feels. Macbeth could be regarded as inhuman as he showed no sympathy, grief or sadness over his wife death but rather his focus was on the war and to kill Malcolm. Would a husband show grief at a time of such sadness? Wouldn’t you drop everything and grieve you loss? Macbeth did neither.
Act V, Scene 5 is an iconic scene during the play as the audience views Macbeth in a completely new way. During this scene we finally are amongst Macbeth’s thoughts as he begins to act differently and throw accusations at anyone because of his new threat, because for once in Macbeth’s life, he was touchable and not protected anymore. Another of the witches’ prophecies given to Macbeth was “Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill shall come against him” (Act IV, Scene 1, lines 98-102). Macbeth is on edge as the massager reports to him that the woods have begun to move “I looked toward Birnam, and anon methought the wood began to move”. Macbeth ponders the thoughts and begins to threaten the messenger’s life as he is furious. Macbeth threatens to take the messengers life “If thou speak’st false, upon the next tree shall thou hang alive. Till famine cling thee”. This quote symbolises how fearful Macbeth is off Malcolm as he knows that he has the potential to kill him. For the first time during the entire play, Macbeth fears for his life as he begins to feel the feelings of guilt, fear and horror.
For Macbeth, his emotions change throughout the play, alongside his eyes bloodshot with power and his hands drenched in blood but through the mental illness, psychotic attacks and murders, Macbeth is revealed as an iconic individual who was poisoned with power, lost with lust and blinded with the beauty of his wife. Macbeth was a tragic Hero who caused his own death, but felt it was the only way to end the horror show in his mind.