Essay Four

INTRODUCTION

Shakespeare’s Macbeth stands as one of literature’s great tragedies and reveals much about the human condition. Many of Macbeth’s characters are displayed with incredible and tragic internal conflicts and the full extent the text represents the notion of “the human heart in conflict with itself”¹ can be broken down into three major characters. Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Macduff are key to breaking down the impact of the statement and their internal conflicts are what drive the themes and tragedy of the play.

PARAGRAPH 1

The most obvious example of a character whose heart is in conflict with themselves is the titular character himself.² Macbeth’s tale is one of unrelenting ambition and the consequences brought on by such a flaw. Though some interpret Macbeth as merely a villain with very little redeeming qualities, this does not do justice to the complexity and depth of Shakespeare’s writing. Rather, Macbeth can be analysed as a more conflicted character, reflecting his struggle between the play’s two major themes of guilt and ambition. An example of this struggle is within the end of the first act and much of the second act, as Macbeth struggles with even the thought of murdering Duncan to take power. For a character whose central fault is ambition, this early portrayal of Macbeth displays very little of that fault and rather seems like a good man struggling with the morality of doing a bad thing for a position he was seemingly destined for. His declaration that he is “his kinsman and his subject... who should against his murderer shut the door not bear the knife myself”³ is an example of Macbeth’s heart struggling with his ambition.⁴ Yet he falters and kills Duncan, with Shakespeare displaying that a side in the struggle of the heart will win. It is does not end here however, as though later it seems Macbeth defeats his guilt and lets his ambition override his morality, there are still hints of the conflict. Right after he murders Duncan and has a moment alone, he wonders if “ all great Neptune’s ocean” could “wash this blood clean from [his] hand.”⁵ Thus, Shakespeare through the use of metaphorical blood as a motif of guilt, highlights this conflict between guilt and ambition that manifests itself in Macbeth.

2. Using Macbeth as the primary focus for a character analysis is ideal, and to some extent will be expected by assessors.

3. Quotes are crucial to any good essay, and you should include a decent amount in every paragraph to help establish your points.

4. Linking your discussion back to the prompt throughout your body paragraphs helps to maintain a sense of relevance.

5. Note that this quote has been modified with the less important information omitted or paraphrased so that the quote better fits into the essay, though still effectively gets the message across.

PARAGRAPH 2

Likewise, Shakespeare also uses Macbeth’s downfall to comment on the way guilt causes conflict within the mind and create emotional turmoil for those suffering it. This can even be seen in characters who are only indirectly responsible for the text’s tragic outcome, such as Macbeth’s foil, Macduff. The two men share many internal conflicts, and reflect to the audience their similarities as well as differences. Though both suffer from guilt, there a few key differences between them and their respective conflicts. Macbeth for one renounces his guilt and ignores the conflict in his heart in order to pursue his ambition, whereas Macduff uses the guilt of leaving his family to die to motivate him to avenge them and to kill Macbeth, announcing “bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself within my sword’s length set him.” The second difference is Macbeth’s conflict of heart is one done out of selfish desire whereas Macduff’s is much more complex. Hence, Macduff’s struggle between loyalty to his country over loyalty to his family is a deep and complex one, one that truly tests the values he holds closest to his heart. When Macduff wails “bleed, bleed poor Scotland” in conversations with Malcolm in Act 4, audiences are makde to confront the fact that Macduff cares so deeply about his country that he is willing to commit treason in order to save it, yet his choice leads to the deaths of his family. This epitomises the notion of an inner conflict and compromising of one’s own values, and Shakespeare highlights his struggle between family and country to breed both tragedy and a compelling narrative.⁶

PARAGRAPH 3

The most tragic struggle however is that of Lady Macbeth, as the conflict of her ambition and desire is destroyed by the guilt weighing upon her actions to achieve them.⁷ It appears that Lady Macbeth goes through various conflicts of the heart throughout the text before he final and tragic battle with one key example being her struggle of her gender identity made evident in her infamous command for spirits to “unsex” her. This highlights Lady Macbeth’s desire to renounce her femininity in order to act upon Macbeth’s prophecy, and represents a very complex but human struggle. Rather than holding her back though, Shakespeare depicts Lady Macbeth as having the capacity to ignore gender limitations in her patriarchal society, having her devise and execute a plan to murder Duncan. Yet tragically, or perhaps justifiably depending on the audience’s perspective, one conflict of heart breeds another as the guilt of her role in Duncan’s murder and Macbeth’s bloody reign seems to crush her, rendering her into a state of sleep-deprived insanity towards the end of the text, unable to rectify “what’s done [that] cannot be undone.”⁸

7. This is a highly effective topic sentence that clearly outlines out focus for this paragraph, as well as how this argument builds upon the others we have made so far in this essay.

8. This sentence is an excellent summation of Lady Macbeth’s significance in the play, and how her character changes from the start to the end.

CONCLUSION

To this end, Macbeth’s characters represent a veritable spectrum of emotions expected from the human heart in conflict with itself. Whether its Macbeth’s struggle between morality and ambition, Macduff’s between family and country, or Lady Macbeth’s with gender, guilt, and desire, it is clear Shakespeare has created characters representative of Faulkner’s grand idea of the tragic form.⁹