| In Act 5 Essay, Research Paper
`Macbeth has, with the aid of
his wife, committed the murder of Duncan and he has claimed the throne of
Scotland for himself.? During his reign
as king Macbeth has created a tyranny in Scotland.? He has continuously been dragged further and further into the
world of evil, visiting the witches during his reign.? He is suspicious of everyone and has spies in the homes of the
thanes of the country; he became so paranoid that he had his best friend,
Banquo, murdered because he knew of the witches? prophecies.? Macbeth and his wife have grown further
apart, he is no longer dependant on her for piece of mind and it is not she
that he turns too.? We have already
learnt that Macbeth is suffering from insomnia and nightmares when he does
sleep, suggesting that despite his outward appearance of strength he is feeling
the repercussions of his actions.?
Macbeth is so detached from people now, and so cold and calculated; that
he had the wife of Macduff and his children brutally murdered for no other
reason than that he could.? It is this
act of pure brutality that sends the audiences estimation of Macbeth to rock
bottom, and it is by the beginning of Act 5 that the audience will feel some
kind of hatred towards Macbeth because he has become so heartless.? Their murders were motiveless and cannot be
justified in any way.? However the play
is a tragedy, and so there needs to be a sense of loss created, that because of
his bad judgements Macbeth has ruined his life. In order to achieve this
Shakespeare creates some kind of sympathy for him, so that there is a sense
that yes Macbeth should have died, it is what he deserved, but that it is
tragic, it should and could have been avoided.Throughout the play it has been
Lady Macbeth who is the stronger of the two partners, she was the initiator of
the murder of Duncan and it is her who helps Macbeth with his instant guilt and
the problems he has initially due to the crime.? In Act 5 Scene 1 we see that she is not as strong as we thought,
he conscience is catching up with her.?
The scene is a visual enactment of her conscience, she is sleepwalking
and in her dreams she re-enacts the murder, she dreams of her and her husband
killing Duncan.? ?Yet here?s a spot?
this shows that she is feeling guilty and repaying the murder over and over
again in her dreams, the spot is blood on her hand.? When Macbeth murdered Duncan he didn?t take the daggers with him,
and she had to go back to put them at the scene of the crime.? In doing so she got blood on her hand, but
dismissed it as being nothing and as being easily washed away.? However we see here that it was more to Lady
Macbeth and it is playing on her mind, it is as if although she has washed the
blood away it is still there.? The
audience should be able to see how distressed Lady Macbeth is at this point,
that despite her appearance of calm and composed she is going mad inside.? The way that this will be acted should
convey this idea; Lady Macbeth is finding it difficult to hold onto her sanity
and keep strong and together.However we can see that Lady
Macbeth had a strong relationship with her husband, as she is feeling guilty
for his actions that didn?t involve any interference from her.? ?The Thane of Fife had a wife: where is
she now?? her she is referring to the murder of Lady Macduff and her
children.? The audience can see that she
feels her husbands? guilt, she had nothing to do with the murder of Lady
Macduff yet she has this playing on her mind. She is also feeling the
consequences of the murder of Banquo ?Banquo?s buried; he cannot come out
on?s grave.?? Although the actions
that Macbeth took after the murder of Duncan had no contribution from her she
feels as if it is her fault.? This is an
indication that Lady Macbeth feels responsible for the way things have turned
out, she was the one who pressurised Macbeth into the murder of Duncan and so
consequently feels as if what has happened to herself, Macbeth and Scotland is
her fault.In seeing how everything is
effecting Lady Macbeth, it helps to create sympathy for her and Macbeth, this
is because we can see her suffering and link it to that of her husband.? This is aided by the fact that Lady Macbeth
uses language similar to what Macbeth used after her had murdered Duncan.? ?All the perfumes of Arabia will not
sweeten this little hand? when they had committed the murder Macbeth said
that all the water in the ocean would wash the blood from his hands.? Lady Macbeth is saying that a lot of perfume
would not take the stench of blood away from her hand.? Due to the fact that Lady Macbeth uses
language that is similar to that of Macbeth allows the audience to link Macbeth
with her suffering.? Lady Macbeth has
crumbled, we see now how weak and vulnerable she is, she has always been the
strong one but she is now acting like Macbeth was.? Lady Macbeth is afraid of everything, the audience can in some
way sympathise with Lady Macbeth because her suffering is clear.? The sleepwalking is a way of Shakespeare
physically showing the effect of her conscience and how everything is effecting
her.? Lady Macbeth is not sleeping and
when she does she has these sleepwalking sessions and nightmares, this
associates with Macbeth, as we already know that he is suffering from sleepless
nights and terrible dreams too.? The
physical enactment of Lady Macbeth?s conscience allows Shakespeare to create
sympathy for Macbeth because the audience knows, despite the fact that he has
not shown recently, that Macbeth is feeling the same as his wife.? The audience has always seen Lady Macbeth as
the strong person in the relationship, she is the one who kept Macbeth going
and tried to decrease his pain and suffering.?
She has never let anything bother her, but now we see how things have
truely effected her.? The implications
of this are that if Lady Macbeth is suffering so greatly Macbeth must be
suffering so much more as he is the one who has always shown the remorse for
the murder of Duncan.? Also he has done
far much more than Lady Macbeth has he committed the murder of Duncan and
ordered the deaths of Banquo, Lady Macduff and Lady Macduff?s children.Shakespeare uses the suffering
of Lady Macbeth to have the knock on effect of making the audience think about
Macbeth and how he is being effected by the situation that he is in.? When the doctor has seen Lady Macbeth he
tells Macbeth of what he thinks is medically wrong with her.? The doctor has already said that he cannot
do anything of Lady Macbeth ?This disease is beyond my practice? what is
wrong with Lady Macbeth is too serious for him to deal with. All he can suggest
is that Lady Macbeth should not be exposed to anything that she may use to kill
herself with.? When the doctor tells
Macbeth if the situation Lady Macbeth is in Macbeth doesn?t seem too
bothered.? He makes some little enquires
about his wife but they are more related to his own suffering then hers.? ?Cure her of that? it appears that
Macbeth is worried about his wife but he is also making enquires about himself.
We know that there used to be love in the relationship between Macbeth and his
wife so it is fair for the audience to presume that there is some concern for
his wife there but it is mainly for himself.?
He wants to be free from the way he is feeling and as his wife is
feeling the same as him and so if she can be cured he too can be.? ?Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow,
Raze out the written troubles of the brain? Macbeth wants the doctor to
make the memories he has disappear.?
From this initial reaction the audience can see that Macbeth is too
suffering, just as we saw his wife do so.?
He wants the cause of suffering to be removed from the mind of himself
and Lady Macbeth, he has had enough and is clutching onto the hope that the
doctor will be able to make him better.?
He is looking for way out.?
However the doctor explains to Macbeth that there is nothing he can do
for Lady Macbeth ad so consequently for him.?
At the news of this Macbeth is angered and lashes out at the doctor ?Throw
physic to the dogs; I?ll have none of it? Macbeth is infuriated by the fact
that the doctor hasn?t got a miracle cure for his guilty conscience.? Macbeth says that the doctor is useless and wants
nothing to do with his advice.? The hope
that Macbeth had, that the doctor would help, has been taken away from him with
the diagnosis of the doctor.? Although he is at first angry,
his temperament changes into sadness.? ?The
water of my land, find her disease? because Macbeth realises that he cannot
be cured he looks at his country and the state she is in.? His tyranny across the land has left a shell
of what the country used to be and it as at this point that Macbeth realises
what he has done to the land that he loved so much and fought for against all
the odds.? He wants the doctor to bring
the country back to health.? This is the
first time that the audience has seen Macbeth think about what he has done to
the country and how his actions have effected her.? We see the loyalty for his country that Macbeth had at the
beginning of the play.? He comes to the
conclusion that he has not got what he wanted.?
He has been reduced to going through his daily life, all the tedious
tasks he thought would make him happy, and he also has to put up with his guilt
and regret also with a country in turmoil. ?He wants to get the country back on track and being the solider
that he is Macbeth feels that the best way for him to do this is to get rid of
the English, which are threatening him.?
?Would scour these English hence? Hear?st thou of them?? Macbeth
is ready to take his country into war because of the threat of the English, who
are helping the Thanes of Scotland who are grouping together against Macbeth
and the way he is running the country.?
This helps to create sympathy for Macbeth because this is the first time
that we have seen him take a look at his actions and how they have effected his
country.? By seeing this different side
to Macbeth the audience can some way remember the Macbeth at the beginning of
the play who was loyal to his country and fought to the best of his ability for
it and for his king.? This helps to
crate a felling of waste, because the Macbeth at the start of the play has
gone, he has changed into the horrible ruler that Scotland has now.Lady Macbeth is so consumed
with guilt that in Scene 5 she commits suicide.? Macbeth reacts to the news of the death of his wife in a cold and
unfeeling manner.? ?I have almost
forgotten the taste of fears? when he hears the screams of a woman, not
knowing who it is, he shows no reaction.?
We can see that Macbeth has become so used to horror and death that he
can no longer be shocked.? It is as if
it is a common occurrence for him.? His
senses have become chilled; he has lost all emotion.? This illustrates that Macbeth has actually suffered because of
what he has done and he has become detached form everything and nothing will
stir him, not even the screams of a Lady.?
This makes us think that Macbeth is now just a shell, he feels nothing
and so really has no life.? He goes
about doing the things that he has to but he is not there emotionally.? When Macbeth learns that the screams where
those of his wife he is not upset at all ?She should have died here after?.? He simply says that Lady Macbeth would have
died anyway and it is best that she is out of life, it is the easiest and best
option for her.? It almost seems that
Macbeth cannot feel sad because he is envious of her death.? She no longer has to live with the guilt and
suffering but he does, it is not that easy for him to get out of it he has to
live with his conscience everyday and he cannot feel sad at her death because
she has been set free.? There is
monotony in his speech, ?To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow?.? Macbeth is summing up his life, it is a
repetition and he doesn?t get a break.?
His life is the same all the time, he has no escape from what he has
done.? Macbeth has given up on life to
him it is meaningless.? ?The way to
dusty death.? Out, out, brief candle!?
Macbeth sees life as just being something to fill the gaps in and that
everything leads to death.? Life is
short and at this moment in time he can see no meaning to it ?Signifying
nothing? he is empty of his soul and wonders what the point in life
is.? He sees those who expect something
out of life as being fools.? Macbeth is
showing here that he greatly regrets his actions and has to live with what he
has done everyday of his life and there is no escape from himself, it is
getting him down greatly.? The audience
can clearly see that Macbeth is severely depressed.? This aids the creation of sympathy because the audience is now in
touch with how he is feeling and just how badly his actions have effected
him.? It doesn?t take away the fact that
what he has done is unforgivable but it does help the audience to see Macbeth
in a different light.? We can see how
much he is suffering and it has made him anxious, alone, depressed and
afraid.? It is not until now that it
becomes apparent that Macbeth has reached the point of desperation and life has
lost all meaning for him.? He is in such
desperation that he has come to envy the dead.?
His guilt is tearing him up inside leaving only a fraction of the man
that used to be.? Macbeth deeply regrets
what he has done and we can see that the way he has acted, the things he has
done have turned Macbeth into a manic-depressive.Shakespeare makes the audience
feel closer to Macbeth through his soliloquies.? It is the only way in which the audience can get inside his head
and so understand what he is going through.?
When Macbeth is alone he lets his defences down and so allows himself to
become vulnerable and open to the audience.?
?I have liv?d long enough: my way of life is fall?n into the sere?
Macbeth feels that he has lived long enough and his life is now a wreck.? This is the first time that the audience
sees how much Macbeth is suffering.? He
just wants out, he cannot cope any more.?
Shakespeare uses imagery to convey the feelings and attitudes of
Macbeth.? ?Yellow leaf? Macbeth
has, in himself, come to the autumn of his life and it will soon be over. ?He is accepting that he is near the end of
his life and sees life now as more of a tedious task rather than something to
be enjoyed and embraced.? ?As honour,
love, obedience, troops of friends, I must not look to have?.? Macbeth knows that people hate him, he has
noting left any more, no honour, no love, no obedience and no friends.? His only left with hatred and guilt, he has
nothing any more.? He feels as if he has
betrayed his own life, he has nothing left any more.? This is a heartrending show of emotion from Macbeth; he has given
up on life.? Macbeth has accepted
eternal damnation.? He is showing an
almost regret for what he has done.?
Macbeth would end it all but he has to carry on ?which the poor heart
would fain deny, and dare not? although suicide seems like the perfect way
out for Macbeth.? However he cannot take
this option because it is not in his nature to just give up on things, although
this is what he has done privately to the rest of the people he doesn?t want to
be seen that way.? He has become
desperate and his mental state of mind is unstable, he is showing just how
things are getting to him.? From the way
Macbeth talks we can see that he is becoming more and more fed up with life,
his guilt is so overwhelming that he just cannot see himself living any
more.? This helps to create some kind of
sympathy because we see that Macbeth is so consumed by what he has done and the
repercussions of his actions that he cannot see anyway out, he contemplates
suicide, as this is the only way out he can see.However in public Macbeth is a
completely different person.? He is
almost split in two, the private and public ?faces? of him.? Around people Macbeth keeps up this pretence
of being confident and he puts on a brave face.? He wants to get on with everything, ?Till famine and the ague
eat them up; were they not forc?d with that should be ours? Macbeth wants
to get rid of the English from Scotland and so allow the country to go back to
what it was like before.? He feels that
if he can get rid of the English then he will be able to put things right.? In front of people Macbeth is full of
confidence and he wants to get out into battle and make things better.? None of the other people know what Macbeth
is going through because he feels he has to keep it all bottled up on the
inside.? This is because he is paranoid
that someone will find out that it was he that murdered Duncan and all the
other bad things he has done during his reign.?
This can in some way aid a feeling of sympathy for Macbeth because the
audience knows what he is like inside and that he is falling apart, everything
he wanted has gone and there is nothing he can do about it.? Yet he has to put on this show of being
composed and not having anything wrong with him.? This must be a hard thing for Macbeth to do because of the way he
is feeling inside.It can be noticed that the
temper of Macbeth has become a lot worse.?
He is a lot more irritable and snappy ?Go prick thy face, and
over-red thy fear, thou lily-lier?d boy?.?
Macbeth turns on people for no apparent reason, when a servant tells
Macbeth about the soldiers that are n the way to the castle Macbeth calls him a
coward, he implies that the servant has ever been in battle and so would become
soaked with blood quickly.? He is attacking
the boy?s masculinity and has done so for no reason.? Macbeth?s irritability shows that he is finding it difficult for
him to carry on.? Macbeth is finding it
increasingly more difficult to carry on living a double life. His irritability
could be seen as a further indication of his depression and so it shows how he
is handling things and how they are getting on top of him.? Macbeth is keeping everything private and to
himself.? The audience seeing Macbeth in
both his public and private persona allows us to be more in touch with the
effect of everything and the audience can see more than the other characters in
the play can see and so see the effect of keeping up his false face.The witches still have a strong
hold on Macbeth, they have had this throughout the course of the play but it
has become stronger the longer Macbeth has been suffering.? The witches bring a feeling of relief for
Macbeth; they give him hope and confidence through the things that they have
told him.? They showed him apparitions
the second time he went to see them and gave him a further two prophecies which
established a sense of confidence and determination in Macbeth, which is partly
the reason why he will not committee suicide and give up on life.? The confidence that they gave him was false,
but it succeeded in doing both what he wanted and what the witches wanted.? It made Macbeth feel better about himself
and safer in life and it did what the witches wanted by dragging Macbeth
further into the world of evil, which is what they wanted.? They convinced Macbeth that no person could
kill him, the two prophecies that the witches gave him boost his confidence ?Bring
me no more reports; let them fly all: till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane?.? When told of the enclosing army Macbeth
comforts himself with the prophecy of the witches, he holds tight onto what
they told him, he believes that he cannot be defeated until the wood moves
towards the castle.? There is a sense of
arrogance to the way that Macbeth sees things ?I cannot taint with fear?
despite being an intelligent man and having the knowledge of how the initial
prophecies tricked him, Macbeth still holds strong to what the witches told
him.? It is as if all that Macbeth has
left n his life is the witches and the false confidence that they give
him.? However the audience soon becomes
aware that the witches have tricked Macbeth with regards to their prophecy
about the moving wood because in the following scene we soon become aware of
the fact that the marching soldiers will camouflage themselves with twigs and
leaves. ?thereby shall we shadow the numbers of our host, and make discovery
err in report of us?.? The watchers
at the castle will not know how many men there are in the army marching towards
them because they will be hidden from the eye.?
This illustrates that the witches have tricked Macbeth because the
confidence that he has with regards to the army is shattered, he has put his
trust in a lie.When Macbeth learns of the wood
walking towards him he is initially shocked, ?Liar and slave!? Macbeth
does understandably not believe what he has been told.? The messenger carries on explaining about
the wood more until it sinks into Macbeth.?
?If thou speak?st false, upon the next tree shalt thou hang alive?if
thy speech be sooth, I care not if thou dost for me as much? Macbeth reacts
rather unfairly to the servant by telling him he will be hung if he is lying to
Macbeth, but that he should hang him if he is telling the truth.? This is a realisation that Macbeth is going
to die, he now realises that this is not something he can avoid.? The audience can feel sorry for Macbeth
because he put all his hopes on the witches that has turned out to be no more
than trickery.? However this will also
remind the audience of his association with evil, at the time Shakespeare wrote
the play people believed strongly in witches and the paranormal.? They would see the witches as agents of the
devil who wanted to pull people into their world of evil.? The witches have succeeded in doing this by
manipulating Macbeth and distorting the truth for their own needs.? They have pulled Macbeth further and further
into evil and he is at the point where he has committed motiveless and brutal
crimes, the murder of Lady Macduff and family, they have sentenced Macbeth to
eternal damnation, which the audience would feel is what the witches wanted.The way in which Macbeth deals
with the situation he finds himself in is commendable, ?At least we?ll die
with harness on our back? he is not just going to go out with a whimper; he
is going to put up a fight and defend himself and his country.? This will in some sense help Macbeth to gain
back a little self-respect and like himself a little bit more.? His reaction helps to create pity for him
because it is the first time since the murder of Duncan that we can see a
glimpse of the real Macbeth (the one at the beginning of the play).? He is showing his loyalty to his country and
the solider that we saw who would not give up and went into battle against all
the odds.? He will not give up until the
end.? We then beginning to remember that
Macbeth was a good person but was pulled into evil by the witches and what they
told him.? This creates a feeling of
sadness, as we know that Macbeth could have been something great.? We see this through his honour and loyalty
even in certain death.Despite Macbeth being able to
see, and knowing that the witches have tricked him, with regards to one of the
prophecies they told him, yet he still believes that he cannot be killed.? ?What?s he that was not born of
woman?? Such a one am I to fear, or
none? the only shred of hope that he has is the final prophecy of the
witches, even though he already knows that they have betrayed him already.? He is at such a loss, and doesn?t know what
to do that he will hold onto any kind of hope.?
Even if it is from someone who has already tricked and betrayed him and
so he knows he should not be placing his trust in.? Everything in his life has gone and he has lost his dignity,
self-respect, the respect of others, his friends and family and everything he
was living for.? If Macbeth doesn?t hold
onto the sayings of the witches he will have noting left, he will have lost
absolutely everything.? Macbeth still
has an air of confidence about him.?
When Siward confronts him he goes into the situation by trying to scare ?Thou?lt
be afraid to hear it? Macbeth tells him that if he discloses his name to
him he will be afraid.? This shows his
confidence at the face of death because he is still influenced by the witches,
right up until the end.? Macbeth kills
Siward, which conveys the idea that nobody can harm Macbeth and it increases
his belief in the witches and the prophecies they gave him.? ?Weapons laugh to scorn, brandish?d by
man that?s born of woman? he is once again full of confidence, which is
boosted by him defeating Siward.?
Although Macbeth has killed someone the audience has their sympathy for
Macbeth come into play because we realise that it is only a matter or time
until the witches? final prophecy crumbles around Macbeth and this is too taken
away from him.? When we see Macbeth alone he
refuses to kill himself, ?Why should I play the Roman fool, and die on my
own sword?? Macbeth will not die of his own hand.? If it comes to him having to die he will do so with more dignity
and honour than suicide would give.? The
audience can here see that Macbeth is the man that he used to be, he will not
end his own life because of what he is facing.?
He is going to go into battle with whoever comes his way and do as much
as he can to defend himself and his castle.?
Macbeth reminds the audience that inside him is the solider who would do
all in his power to defend his king and country.? Macduff decides that for his own sanity he must be the one to
kill Macbeth, to avenge the murder of his family, otherwise it will haunt him
for the rest of his life, but when he confronts Macbeth he doesn?t get the
reaction that he wanted.? Macbeth
refuses to fight Macduff ?of all men I have avoided thee: but get thee back,
my soul is too much charged with blood of thine already?.? Macbeth shows here recognition of what he
has done, he will not fight Macduff because he already has a heavy soul.? Macbeth doesn?t want to kill any more and he
has had enough.? He makes reference to
the murders of the family of Macduff saying that he has enough of the blood of
his family on his hands and he will not have any more.? Macbeth says that he has shed enough of
Macduff?s blood through the murders of his family.? This will aid the audiences? pity for Macbeth because this is the
first time that Macbeth has showed remorse for the murders of Lady Macduff and
her children.? This was the most brutal
thing that Macbeth did and although seeing his remorse does not change that it
makes the audience soften a little in regards to their murders because we
didn?t know until now how he felt about it.Macduff will not except that
Macbeth will not fight him, he wants to avenge the murder of his family and so
pushes Macbeth into fighting him.?
Macbeth initially has the upper hand in the fight, partly because of the
confidence that he has through the witches? prophecy.? ?I bear a charmed life, which must not yield to one of woman
born? the confidence Macbeth has is due to him believing he cannot be
killed by a man born of a woman. ?He
brags about this whilst fighting with Macduff and uses it as a weapon to try
and shatter the confidence of Macduff.?
However the opposite happens, Macduff replies by telling him that he was
not born of a woman ?Tell thee Macduff was from his mother?s womb untimely
ripp?d?.? Macduff was born by
caesarean section and so was technically not born, the witches have tricked
Macbeth again.? Macduff therefore can
kill Macbeth and so all his confidence was because of noting.? Macbeth is understandably shocked.? He has had all that he put his trust in
ripped away from him in a second.? He
reacts by blaming the witches ?Accursed be that tongue that tells me so, for
it hath cow?d my better part of man: and be these juggling fiends no more
believed?.? He curses the witches
because he now realises that he has put all his hope into something that is
false and unstable.? Macbeth now
realises the extent of the witches trickery and what it has done to him, to his
life.? He loses all confidence and stops
fighting ?I?ll not fight thee? Macbeth backs away from Macduff and
refuses to fight him.? This shows that
all Macbeth had was that false prophecies of the witches which gave him the
confidence and will to do things.?
Macbeth is reduced to nothing ?Then yield thee, coward? he is not
even half of the man that he used to be, without the reassurance of the witches
Macbeth is nothing, he has nothing.? It
is like this is all that he was going on for, because he had the reassurance
that he would be safe.? The audience
will feel sorry for Macbeth by his reaction because we know that the prophecies
of the witches was all that Macbeth had, he has lost everything and we see how
it effects him.? He is at a loss and the
audience can sympathise a little because we have seen all that Macbeth has been
through, his pain and fear as well as his brutality, and we realise that it was
only the witches that kept him going.?
When someone has lost everything, all that they lived for, it is only
human for us to feel some sympathy for them.However once Macbeth is free of
the witches it is as if he sees things more clearly.? ?To kiss the ground before young Malcom?s feet, and to be
baited with the rabble?s curse?Yet I will try the last? he refuses to live
so that he can bow down before Malcolm; Macbeth has done so much in his life
that the thought of this is ridiculous.?
He will not give up and submit to Macduff he going to go out with a bang
he will go out fighting.? For the first
time since his encounter with them Macbeth is free from the witches.? He is not burdened with the things that they
have told him, he is once again his own person.? Macbeth has nobody left, his wife his dead, and he is free of the
witches, now he is not being manipulated or persuaded by anyone.? His actions are once again his own and we
see much more clearly the Macbeth from the start of the play, this is aided by
him wanted to go out fighting and refusing to give up in the face of almost
certain death.?? This will create sympathy
because the audience knows how much Macbeth has been dependant on other people,
he murdered Duncan because of his wife and everything after that he either did
out f fear because of what the witches told him.? This is the first time that Macbeth has been dependant on himself
and not other people and so the choices that he makes now are because of him
and no one else.Macbeth and Macduff go off
stage to fight and the audience is introduced to the father of Siward.? He is being told of the death of his son, although
we know that it was Macbeth that killed Siward we cannot help but see the
situation in Macbeth?s shoes and not those of Siward.? The conversation is about honour in death, ?Why then God?s
solider be he? Siward says that because his son was not stabbed in the back
he is proud because it means he went out fighting like a true solider.? It shows that his son was not a coward and
didn?t give up in the face of death, he is a solider of God.? We refer this to Macbeth because we know
that this is exactly what Macbeth has done.?
He has gone into battle against all the odds and not given up.? The last glimpse that we had of Macbeth was
of him being noble and like the Macbeth he used to be.? This aids a feeling of pity for him because
he has done the right thing for the first time in a while and we see that
without the pressure of other parties he is a good man.? This adds to the sense of loss and waste,
the situation that he is in could have easily been avoided.? Macduff kills Macbeth and then
everything seems to go back to the way it should be ?We will perform in
measure, time and place? now that Macbeth is dead everything can get back
to the right order.? Malcolm is the
rightful heir to the throne, as he is the son of Duncan and because of the divine
right of kings it is he who should be the king of Scotland.? With everything back how it should be the
country is a better place and order has been restored.? The land will be better now and everything
will be as it should be.? However there
is the reflection on Macbeth himself ?Of this dead butcher and his
fiend-like queen? Macbeth and his wife created havoc throughout the country
and without him the country is a far better place.? The play is left with a sense of relief, that because of the
divine right of kings all is good again.?
However there is a sense of waste created as well, that things didn?t
have to turn out like they have done, yes Macbeth deserved to die but it is a
pity that he has.? Through Act 5 Shakespeare
builds up pity and sympathy for Macbeth because of the way in which Macbeth is
coping with his life.? He creates a
feeling of waste and loss for Macbeth.?
The audience have been reintroduced to the real Macbeth slightly towards
the end of Act 5 which reminds us that he was not always bad and he only ended
up in the situation he was in because of mistakes that he made and stupid
judgements.? The audience sees how
Macbeth has been wrapped up in the world of evil and hence how this has led to
his eventual downfall.? Although it is a
hard task for Shakespeare to create sympathy for Macbeth, especially with the
audience last seeing him associated with the murder of Lady Macduff, before Act
5.? He does succeed in doing so, through
the use of Lady Macbeth, soliloquies and other dramatic techniques.
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