Introduction
In Shakespeare's play-Macbeth, the primary objective of the main character is to become the king. He tries by all means to gain as much power as possible, a situation that eventually leads to his death. Upon hearing the witches' prophecy that he would be the next king after Duncan, he becomes too obsessed with fulfilling the prophecy. In Macbeth, the whole play revolves around the theme of power. There are three different kinds of leaders. One of them is King Duncan, who is perceived as weak but very generous. Macbeth is another strong king but eventually turns out to be arrogant and dictator. However, Malcolm seems to combine good characters of the two kinds and strikes a healthy balance. The three leaders are all focused on ruling the country. Malcolm lists the qualities of a good leader as he tests the loyalty if Macduff.
The play depicts King Macbeth as being greed for power. He fails to accept the Banquo descendants to be future kings. He even sets out to have Banquo and Fleance murdered. He cannot share his wife's power as he makes selective decisions and does not even care when Lady Macbeth dies. More so, while Macbeth was al general, he murdered Kind Duncan to get power and become the next king. King Duncan names Macbeth the thane of Cawdor as a reward. This situation happens after betrayal by the original thane who joined forces with Norway. Macbeth expresses a high level of loyalty to Duncan. In act 1, scene 5, he says, "our duties are to your throne and state children and servants" (Williams, 1982). This line reveals the loyalty and patriotism of Macbeth to the king.
The greed for power in character Macbeth is so high that he can ruin any person’s life. It is ironic that he initially pledged a lot of loyalty to King Duncan, but he murdered and replaced him. Upon hearing the witches' prophecy that he will become the next king, Macbeth seems loyal to Duncan initially. A real-life example of the irony experienced in the play is the Scott Morrison scenario. He claimed that he supported Malcolm Turnbull fully as prime minister, but unfortunately, he replaced him the next day. Putting Turnbull as King Duncan and Morrison as Macbeth, the two scenarios seem very similar. While Macbeth was a soldier, and Duncan was a king, the bond and loyalty were very high from Macbeth's side.
Similar to the way Morrison was requesting whether it was a good idea to replace Turnbull as prime minister, Macbeth was confused about the idea of eliminating the king through murdering him. For example, in Act 1, scene 3, Macbeth says, "thus supernatural soliciting cannot be ill, cannot be good” (Williams, 1982). This means he was confused about the action he was planning to undertake. He can see the good similarity in the two scenarios because Macbeth supported King Duncan so much, the same way Morrison supported Turnbull. But the loyalty shifted, and in each scenario, there was elimination and replacement of Turnbull and Duncan. Of course, just the way Macbeth felt guilt upon killing the king, it must be clear that Morrison suffered the same fate.
Macbeth is a play depicting an ancient king from Scotland who ended up becoming evil to pursue power. Macbeth beliefs that the best way to seize the throne is through committing murder. According to the play, Macbeth is a ruthless warrior who can kill anybody to gain loyalty and serve the country. More so, he is loyal and dedicated to his wife. Macbeth is influenced, to al great extent, by his wife, Lady Macbeth. The lady is also ruthless and robust. She plots the killing of Duncan at the beginning of the play. The text was authored at around 1606 by William Shakespeare. The play-Macbeth emerged during the reign of King James1 and Queen Elizabeth.
Techniques
Shakespeare utilizes various literary techniques to make the play more appealing. Some of the methods used are imagery, irony, and symbolism. Verbal irony is being used to a large extent in the play. In this case, a character says something while meaning the opposite. For instance, Macbeth says to Banquo, "tonight we hold a solemn supper, sir; and I will request your presence” (Williams, 1982). One can then discover that Banquo is already murdered by Macbeth, meaning he cannot make it to the banquet. The play also uses situation iron when Macduff converses with Malcolm discussing the tragedies. He fails to understand that his family has been slain. He ironically comments about widows while he is not aware that even himself, he is a widow.
Symbolism
Symbolism is also used in the Macbeth play. One of the predominant symbols used is blood. The emblem is utilized as one of the effective ways to describe the theme of the text. Blood is used to mean bravery, treachery, treason, and guilt. The captain says, "For brave Macbeth well he deserve that name, disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel, which smoked with blood execution" (Williams, 1982). One can observe that after this, blood changes to the representation of treason and betrayal. Lady Macbeth asks the spirit to remove from her the compassion, making her remorseless because of the actions she would undertake after that.
Imagery
Imagery is also used widely in the Macbeth play. Imagery is mainly used to create a mental image or picture of what is happening within the play. Clothing imagery is presented in many instances. For instance, Ross tells Macbeth that he has been named Thane of Cawdor, then Macbeth says, "The than of Cawdor lives. Why do you dress me in/Borrowed robes?” (Williams, 1982).Macbeth tells Ross that the title is like new clothes to him. Clothing imagery is also utilized when Macbeth tells his wife that he has second thoughts of murdering King Duncan. He says the people’s opinions would be worn now in their newest gloss (Williams, 1982). The imagery used in the play captures the attention of the viewers. The use of techniques also helps in idealizing the characters in the play.
