Macbeth Is Not A Villain...

Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers

ambition and lust for power. He is a man with an unsurpassable desire to advance himself. He himself identifies this quality while he contemplates an action that he is wholly repulsed by; “I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting Ambition which o’erleaps itself, And falls on th’ other.” This “Vaulting Ambition” is what makes Macbeth vulnerable and leads him to commit possibly the most vile deed he can imagine, setting him on a path of destruction. There is a temptation to use the fact that he could comprehend the vileness of his deed as a reason as to why we should condemn Macbeth as even worse a villain. But this is a simple view that does not take into account Macbeth’s later torment or give credit to Shakespeare’s intention to create a true – to-form tragedy. Macbeth is not a ruthless, callous villain devoid of all pity and humanity, and there are several issues in the play that serve to ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Already a member? Login

villain. These are not the reservations of a ruthless, unconcerned, killer. We are reminded of Lady Macbeth’s criticism of Macbeth’s nature when she began to contemplate the murder of Duncan on her own in scene five of Act one; “Yet do I fear thy nature. It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way.” Lady Macbeth doubts her husband’s ability to carry out the murder of Duncan on his own. It is quite obvious that she is correct to have such suspicions, for by the end of his own soliloquy he has decided against the murder. He tells Lady Macbeth; “We will proceed no further in this business: He hath honoured me of ...

Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library. Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports, and research papers in 2 minutes or less.

CITE THIS PAGE: