Introduction
Macbeth is one of the interesting stories that has been written by William Shakespeare who is a renowned author. The full title of the book is called The Tragedy of Macbeth which explains the tragedies by William Shakespeare and it was published in the Folio of 1623. This book dramatizes some of the major damaging physical as well as the psychological related to the political ambition of the individuals seeking power for its own sake. The writing, as well as the publication of this book, clearly reflects on the author’s relationship with his sovereign. It is evident the author has used various themes to present the main ideas of the story and help his audience to understand the main events that he is talking about in different parts of the book. With that in mind, this paper discusses Honor as one of the themes that is evident in the story as well as focus on two other themes that were present.
Summary
In this book, there is a brave Scottish general that is called Macbeth who receives prophecies from three witches that eventually a day will come when he will be crowned as the kind of Scotland. Due to the ambition that Macbeth has as well as influence to action by his wife, Macbeth went ahead and murder kind Duncan after which he takes the Scottish throne by himself. After the action, Macbeth is later faced with guilt as well as paranoia. As a result of the guilt, he is forced to commit more murder with the aim of protecting himself against suspicion and enmity. Soon afterward, Macbeth becomes a tyrannical leader. This kind of leadership results in consequent civil war and blood back, which takes Macbeth and her wife into madness as well as death.
The Theme of Honor
The theme of honor mainly refers to the act of fulfilling an obligation or keeping an agreement. Also, honor can be used to show with regard to respect (Rosenberg 353). In the story, Macbeth, the theme of honor is evident whereby for society to function effectively, there is a need for the people to have loyalty to the king. Various honorable traits have been displayed by Macbeth, and as a result, he had been known as the man of character (Rosenberg 354).
Throughout various activities, Macbeth gains respect for living up to what the society expects of him. Therefore, when the current thane of Cawdor deceives Kind Duncan, Macbeth is rewarded for being loyal to the king. Therefore, King Duncan changes the title thane of Cawdor to Macbeth. However, as Macbeth starts to rise in his stature of being in a higher position within the society, he started to be taken over by over-ambition (Rosenberg 354).
After the three witches claim that Macbeth shall become the king, he goes into the world of deception. Macbeth then starts plotting to kill King Duncan. In the process of plotting to kill King Duncan, Macbeth argues that service, as well as loyalty, is a reward to its self. Since the death of Banquo, Macbeth went ahead and lied to the ghosts as he tries to reduce his feeling of being guilty of his actions of killing the king (Rosenberg 356).
On the contrary, Banquo remained loyal even after his death while Macbeth took the opposite path. Macbeth and his wife remain to be honorable members within the society as their death will not occur at any time soon. It is clear that one bad action leads to another because the misplaced ambition of Macbeth and his wife results in dangerous results (Rosenberg 356). Many politicians today can be compared to Macbeth because they enter powerful positions with honorable intentions, and after some time, they change and fall into the trap of corruption (Rosenberg 356).
Excessive Ambition Leads to Dire Consequences
Ambition is important because it drives a person in the right direction that he or she will achieve what is desired the most. However, too much ambition can have negative consequences and this theme is evident in the story, Macbeth by Shakespeare. In the story, it is clear that Macbeth had the ambition to gain power and be among the leaders in society (Hobgood 29). A time came when he finally was given a position to occupy by the King. However, as Macbeth was in that position, he started facing over-ambition.
In this case, the desire to become more powerful develops, and through the influence of his wife, Macbeth ends up killing King Duncan so that he can take the position (Hobgood 35). However, after Macbeth had killed the king and taken power full position, he was not comfortable as he was being faced with a constant feeling of guilt due to the actions (Hobgood 35).
This feeling made him commit more murder so that he could prevent people from understanding that he was the one who killed King Duncan. This situation is a clear reflection of the excessive theme ambition leads to dire consequences (Hobgood, 43). The excessive ambition that Macbeth had forced him to kill the King and the consequences he receives was the guilty feeling.
Violence Begets Violence
The theme of violence begets violence is also present in the book, Macbeth by William Shakespeare (Moschovakis 28). In many cases, when violence occurs, there is a high chance that it will result in more instances of violence. In the book, Macbeth, violence is present in a certain form. One of these forms of violence is seen when Macbeth kills King Duncan (Moschovakis 29). After Macbeth had killed King Duncan, he began feeling guilty, and though many people would find out about his actions (Moschovakis 29).
According to Moschovakis (29), this feeling of guilt made him find a way that he could protect himself and as a result, he began killing other people who suspect him to be murder. Therefore, the feeling of guilt is seen as the main factor that causes violence to result in other instances of violence.
Conclusion
Concluding, themes are important elements that have to be considered when writing a book as it will help the audience to understand the ideas that the author is communicating. Macbeth by William Shakespeare, is one of the books whereby different themes have been used by the author to express several ideas. An example of a theme that is present in the book is the theme of honor whereby different members of the society honored the King because he was superior. Also, this paper identified that the theme of honor was evident in the case whereby Macbeth and his wife exhibited honorary traits within society. Apart from the theme of honor, the paper identified that there were other themes used such as excessive ambition results in a dire consequence. This theme was evident from the ambition that Macbeth had to become the king which influen
