Shakespeare’s Macbeth tells the story of a protagonist whose lust for power leads him to murder and destruction, and explores whether he is a sympathetic character in a human conflict or simply an unforgivable murderer.
Can Macbeth be forgiven?
As one of the Four Great Tragedies of Shakespeare, Macbeth can be described as a blood-soaked world. It’s a tragic tale in which many people lose their lives over the course of the play, and in the end, even the main character dies. The play is set in dark medieval Scotland, where a lord, Macbeth, and his wife commit murder to gain power, leading to their destruction.
The main character, whose lust for power drives everything he does, ends his life with a miserable death. Shakespeare may have intended this story to convey a lesson of cause and effect. However, in modern times, classic literature has been interpreted in many different ways. We tend to take modern meanings and interpretations from the work itself rather than the author”s intentions. Macbeth, for example, has many interpretations, especially those that give room for sympathy and understanding to Macbeth’s struggle with his lust for power and his troubled conscience. There is also a view that Macbeth’s behavior is driven by the witches’ prophecy and his wife’s urging, and that she is trying to protect him. There is also a view that Macbeth’s behavior is driven by the witches’ prophecy and his wife’s urging. Of course, no reader will agree that Macbeth’s actions are justified. However, many people feel compassion for Macbeth, sympathize with him, and even try to protect him in the face of his human conflicts and circumstances. His struggle between the dichotomy of good and evil makes us see him as more than just a murderer, but as the protagonist of a tragedy that demonstrates the nobility of humanity.
However, this interpretation of Macbeth is overly generous. In the modern world, where stealing a loaf of bread out of hunger is condemned, there is no reason to be lenient with Macbeth, who commits a series of murders for his own power. Although the circumstances around him may have driven him to murder, the core problem is Macbeth himself, and there is no room for sympathy for him.
Murder is unforgivable, no matter the motive!
The play details Macbeth’s psychological transformation before he kills the king. After Macbeth kills the king at the urging of his wife, he suffers from anxiety and foresees that he will never sleep well again. Macbeth’s human conflict over this murder, and the anxiety and guilt he feels afterward, may lead audiences to feel compassion and sympathy for him.
However, if you think about it, who doesn’t feel conflicted, anxious, and guilty about killing, but that doesn’t make us sympathize with the killer. That’s because killing itself is inhumane.
All human beings are torn between good and evil. We can’t help but feel this way when we do things that are considered evil by universal standards, from minor public disorder to theft to murder. Even Macbeth’s seemingly strong wife committed suicide because she was overwhelmed with guilt. However, it would be overly generous to sympathize with a character who committed the most inhuman of murders because he felt human conflicts and insecurities. If you think about the victims and their families who suffered as a result of those murders, would you say the word sympathy in front of them? I’m willing to bet that no sane person would.
In the play, Macbeth takes the lives of many people, including the king, two of his guards, Banquo, and Macduff’s family. Whether Macbeth proves his nobility of character or his guilt, he can never be forgiven. Macbeth can never be forgiven because he can never make up for the loss of so many lives, and he is even more infuriating because he did it for personal lust and power, not for any just cause.
It all starts with Macbeth’s own desire!
Macbeth’s first prophecy of becoming a lord was fulfilled by the witches, and it was his wife who encouraged him to hesitate before killing the king. In this respect, there seems to be room to assign blame for the murder.
However, this is not the case when you consider the underlying trigger. It all started with Macbeth’s own desires. When he first hears the witches’ prophecy, it“s understandable that he”s tempted. Temptation can sway anyone, but not everyone betrays their superiors. Considering the many loyal subjects we know of, being able to be swayed doesn’t excuse Macbeth’s betrayal: he had a lust for power from the start. The witches’ prophecies merely confirmed it. While the first prophecy came true by chance, the second prophecy of becoming king was of Macbeth’s own making. Macbeth writes a letter to his wife, makes a plan, and even goes so far as to kill the king himself. Of course, Macbeth is conflicted in between, but in the end, he acts on his will, and it pays off. It was such an elaborate plan that he may have already decided everything in his mind, he just lacked the courage to execute it.
After becoming king, Macbeth is unable to control his desires and greed. Macbeth crosses the line and goes on a rampage, slaughtering Macduff’s family and ruling as a tyrant. He is not surprised by the death of his wife, who commits suicide out of guilt, but instead focuses on Macduff’s army, which threatens his power. This could be seen as a premonition of his wife’s death. However, it shows that Macbeth’s desire for power and lust is strong enough to trivialize his wife’s death.
If Macbeth had no desire for power at all, he would have listened to the witches’ prophecies, and if his loyalty to the king was greater than his desire for power, he would have chosen loyalty to the king in the face of conflict. He would not have sent a letter to his wife about the witches’ prophecy, and thus would not have had a wife to encourage him to commit murder. Even if his wife had known about the witches’ prophecy, she would have abandoned the plan early on if she had known that Macbeth was not greedy for power. Everything stems from Macbeth’s own excessive desire, and no one else can be blamed for it.
There is no room for sympathy for Macbeth!
Most people live by their conscience and morals. Even if they are tempted, they rarely cross the line. This is not because they lack courage, but because they have a conscience and convictions that keep them in check.
Macbeth, however, does not. Macbeth’s desire, amplified by the witches’ prophecy, crosses a line that shouldn’t be crossed, and he ends up killing. Of course, Macbeth struggles with his emotions before the murder and is wracked with guilt afterward, but the outcome is irreversible. He continues to kill to relieve his guilt and insecurity, which ultimately leads to his destruction. Rather than feeling sympathy for Macbeth in this context, it’s more natural to learn a lesson of cause and effect from his story. Macbeth is nothing more than a murderer blinded by ambition and power. His only desire was to gain power through the extreme means of murder. He lacked the courage to stand up for his conscience and beliefs. If he had the courage to stand up for his conscience and beliefs, he would not have met a miserable end.
We should take a lesson from Macbeth’s story. There are still many witchy voices in the world. However, it’s important that we don’t let their prophecies sway us, and that we stay on our own path. Through Macbeth, who is left with nothing but lust and murder, we should realize the importance of living by our own convictions and conscience. Today, we should ask ourselves if we too are being led down the path of destruction by the witches’ voices.
