State of Mind Affects Macbeth Essay - 1083 Words

In court, a criminal will commonly make the statement that they were in the wrong state of mind when they committed the crime, to lessen their punishment. In fact, a person’s state of mind can affect their actions, and the actions of others towards them. Authors commonly use a persons state of mind to embellish actions of a character or to better explain changes in the character. William Shakespeare uses state of mind to assist in the degeneration of the protagonist Macbeth in the tragedy Macbeth. Macbeth is a brave, loyal and strong Scottish general in the Middle Ages, more specifically the eleventh century, who despite his power on the battlefield was swayed easily to the tragic life of a murderer by the three predictions of three†¦show more content†¦In other words, Duncan is Macbeth’s king and his guest, therefore Macbeth should be preventing murderers from reaching Duncan instead of murdering Duncan himself. At this point in the play Macbeth’s state of mind is confused, his hunger for power wants him to murder Duncan but his conscious goes against it. The fact that his couscous still goes against murder means the degeneration of his character has not begun, yet in the rising action this loyalty disappears. With Duncan on his way to Inverness Macbeth’s wife persuades Macbeth to follow through with the murder so that he can be King and live a wonderful life. It is at this point in the story that Macbeth under goes his start into his character degeneration. In a second soliloquy, after Macbeth has just been convinced by his wife to follow through with the murder, he see an imaginary dagger covered with blood. He feels that this is a sign that he should go through with the murdering of Duncan. His thirst for power then drives him to pull out his own dagger; â€Å"I see thee yet, in form as palpable As this which now I draw. Thou marshallst me the way that I was going, And such an instrument I was to use†(II, I, 40-4 3). Macbeth’ state of mind in this soliloquy has changed from the last soliloquy a great deal, reflecting his start into degeneration. Macbeth has gone from confused and indecisive to crazed and power hungry. After committing the murder of Duncan Macbeth isShow MoreRelatedMacbeth Essay1283 Words   |  6 PagesThe tragic hero Macbeth loses everything he has including his sanity in the classic Shakespeare play Macbeth. The crimes he commits are not Macbeth’s fault because of the other factors that affect his actions. The witches and Lady Macbeth are responsible for the crimes since they influence Macbeth in several ways throughout the play. Macbeth becomes caught up in all the manipulating words and his actions are not his fault. Macbeth is not guilty for the crimes in the play Macbeth. 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