Butcher and His Fiend Like Queen in William Shakespeares Macbeth Essay

Butcher and His Fiend Like Queen in William Shakespeare's Macbeth I do agree with this judgement of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, but only in some aspects of the play by William Shakespeare. There are many arguments for this judgement; these will be discussed in this essay. In act one scene two Macbeth is portrayed as a heartless, merciless and brutal warrior. We get this impression of Macbeth from the report that is given to King Duncan by the captain; "For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name) Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel, which smok'd with bloody execution" this quote explains how Macbeth is a brave warrior in the face of battle and is not scared of any man. Throughout this play Macbeth has a wild ambition for power. Macbeth craves the power so much he will kill for the title of the king. Killing the king in the time of William Shakespeare is regarded as the worst crime possible. Macbeths craving for power is surfaced after he meets three evil witches in Act one scene three; who prophesise he is to be Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor and to be king there after. "All hail Macbeth, hail to thee Thane of Glamis. All hail Macbeth, hail to thee Thane of Cawdor. All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter." After hearing this Macbeth is shocked to hear this news as being Thane of Cawdor is a huge title to his ears, let alone being King. As the witches quickly move away Macbeth is curious to know more and what these creatures are speaking of: "Stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more" Macbeth wants their statements to be true and therefore tries to find out more information about what he could be in the future.... ... greedy temperaments cost them their lives, they both are never happy again because they committed the worst possible crime in Scotland, just to be king and queen for a short period of time. Therefore the description of Macbeth as a butcher is false. Butchers are heartless mean men who kill with no regret. Macbeth regrets his actions and therefore he suffers for the rest of his life. Lady Macbeth is even weaker than Macbeth in the final acts; she commits suicide whereas Macbeth faces his fate. Lady Macbeth makes out she is a strong figure and makes Macbeth look up to her with her harsh words and persuasive techniques, she is "fiend like" as she manages slyly to persuade Macbeth to commit the murder. Although Lady Macbeth does not kill Duncan she cannot handle the pressure like Macbeth and they are never happy again.