Macbeth Insanity

One of the better well known plays from Shakespeare, Macbeth, deals with a plot to kill a king to become king but in end, evil over-powers any good intentions that were lingering about. Macbeth's uncontrollable hunger for power caused him to make sinister decisions that descended him into madness and despair. This theme of the play causes some to think that Shakespeare saw evil as stronger than the forces of good for several reasons; Macbeth kills a king due to lust of power, Macbeth also kills again to keep himself in the throne, and Macbeth eventually goes insane with many inner conflicts due to evil.

Macbeth is traveling with another General of King Duncan's army, Banquo, and they wander upon the Weird Sisters, the sisters of fate per se. As they do, they tell Macbeth three prophecies that Macbeth is unsure of the truth behind them. They are that he will be Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and King of Ireland. He was already Thane of Glamis, and soon after his encounter with the witches, he is informed that he is now Thane of Cawdor. He then believes the witches statements to be true and he believes that he will be king soon after. He writes a letter to his wife explaining everything and she plans on killing the current king. The king in invited to Macbeth's house and is murdered in this sleep by Macbeth. This is the first instant of evil seen in Macbeth. "I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise?"(I,ii,14). Macbeth's was not yet concerned with the death of the king, just wondering if anyone heard and this point to insanity. Though he does have inner conflicts about killing the king, the power of evil still overpowered his good intentions.

The next step into evil and insanity for Macbeth was his killing of Banquo to ensure that he will reign as king. He sent three murderers to kill Banquo and his son, as the weird sisters told Banquo that his son would be a king. His son escaped from the ambush and this showed that Macbeth has slipped further into insanity and that Banquo's son will soon be a king. Macbeth has become yet more hungry to power that his lust drives him to evil which shows that Shakespeare believed that the powers of evil overcome the powers of good.

Macbeth is eventually accused of killing the king and fears of his death. He goes to the Weird Sisters again to see if he shall reign as king and they tell him that as long as the woods surrounding his castle are away from his walls he shall not have to worry, and that no man born of woman can harm him. Macbeth takes these literally and that turns out to be a grave mistake for him as Macduff gets an army to come kill the king. They hide under tree branches that they cut down for camouflage. So in term, the trees are coming to the walls of the castle. In Macbeth's final battle with Macduff, he learns that Macduff was "from his mother's womb untimely ripped"(V,viii,15). Before this battle, Macbeth