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Now you can see that Macbeth is both a victim and a villain. His wife, his power-thirsty ambition , his deteriorating mind, and the Witches lead him down a path of destruction and villanous ways. If Macbeth only chose to ignore the Witches prophecies and apparations, then perhaps he wouldn't have made the transformation from victim, to villain, to dead. The truth is, Macbeth did start out as a victim, but once he got a taste of power, he couldn't stop, he loved it, and would do anything to ensure he would always have it.
Now, just before Macbeth's downfall (his death), his wife begins to lose her mind and then she kills herself! Macbeth is obviously traumatized by this, and his spirit really gets crushed. He decides that he isn't going to have the things he has worked so hard to get, such a his friends and his glory. At this point, Macbeth has almost become a victim again, deciding that he will not succeed. However, he still holds onto some of his villanous traits, and does fight for his life when the time comes. In the end, Macbeth is killed by Macduff and his villanous reign comes to an end.
Another reason supporting Macbeth as a villain is that he decides he is going to send an army over to the Thane of Fife's (Macduff's) castle while he's away, to slaughter his wife, children and anything else unfortunate enough to be caught inside the castle walls. He does this because Macbeth suspects that he's an enemy, especially after seeing the 4 apparitions. So why did Macbeth send an army to kill everyone except Macduff? Because Macbeth is a cold hearted villain at this point, who cares about nothing more than his rise to the top.
Now that we have established that Macbeth is certainly a victim, lets discuss why Macbeth is also a villain! Well, although Macbeth's wife played a large role in manipulating him, ambition, and insanity led him to kill Duncan. Not only does he kill Duncan but he does other dispicable things that he can most certainly be held accountable for. For instance, he puts a hit out on Banquo and his young son Fleance! Banquo is Macbeth's best friend! Macbeth's ambition turns him into a dangerous villain. He is so convinced of the witches prophecies that he decides that Fleance is too much of a threat to have around, concerned that he is going to steal the throne from him! Fleance is an innocent little boy, and probably doesn't have any concern with the prophecies, much like his father. Although Macbeth's crime is fueled by his insanity, he could have taken other precautions to ensure that he keeps his place as king, rather than killing his best friend and attempting to kill his best friend's child.
Macbeth has completed his transformtion into a cold hearted villain.
So, why else is Macbeth a victim in this situation? Well, Macbeth is very ambitious. His ambition leads him to kill the current king, and his cousin, although there are other factors driving him to complete this task, his ambition plays a large role. Since Macbeth can not control his ambition, to some extent, it's not his fault he did crazy things to get to the top.
Another factor contributing to Macbeth's innocent victim side is that Macbeth is crazy. Plain and simple. He even admits to himself that he imagines a floating dagger! In today's world, that kind of person would be able to deal with that problem by taking medication.. or get locked up in an insane asylum. But poor Macbeth didn't have that option, and so he listened to his insane mind, and did unthinkable, horrible things.
More arguments to come!
As you all know, the purpose of this blog is to explore the idea of whether Macbeth is a villain or a victim. Well, in my opinion, Macbeth is both. In the beginning of the play, a series of events leads me to believe that Macbeth is a victim. However, as the play goes on, Macbeth becomes a dangerous, power craving monster of his own ambition and therfore he becomes a villain. Throughout these blogs, I will dicuss my evidence on both sides, and I will convince you that Macbeth starts out as a victim but by the end of the play he has become a dangerous villain.
Read on!
The first piece of evidence that leads me to believe that Macbeth is indeed a victim, is the Witches prophecies! Macbeth and his good friend, Banquo, encounter some Witches who tell him:
- Macbeth is Thane of Glamis.
- Macbeth is Thane of Cawdor.
- Macbeth will be King.
- Banquo's children will be Kings.
The 3rd prophecy leaves Macbeth wondering about how he could become king, and since the first two came true, maybe the third one could too! Macbeth is hesitant, however, because the only way to become King is to kill the current king, who happens to be Macbeth's cousin. Macbeth contemplates over killing Duncan, knowing that he is a beloved king and that all of Scotland would mourn his death, he is his cousin, and killing King Duncan in Macbeth's house makes him look suspicious.
Well, poor Macbeth could have made the right decision if it weren't for his wife who is quite determined to become Queen. So, Lady Macbeth manipulated her husband into killing his cousin, and blackmailed some innocent chamberlains. This is where the deterioration of Macbeth's mind starts.
So as you can see, Macbeth is completely a victim in this crime, a victim to his evil wife's villanous ways.
More to come,
Keep reading!
