Lady Macbeth free essay sample

Macbeth is a tragic play written by William Shakespeare and tells the story of the seemingly brave warrior, Macbeth. However, due a prophecy created by the witches, Macbeth becomes over-ambitious and commits regicide. The rest of the story demonstrates how the crimes he committed led to his inevitable downfall. Rupert Goold directed a film adaptation of Macbeth starring Patrick Steward and Kate Fleetwood. The film adaptation used uniforms comparable to Soviet Union. However, the name of all characters and the place names are kept the same as in the play. The film adaptation of Macbeth is very dramatic, with lots of tension, suspense and gore to keep the audience attentive. One of the main characters in the play is Lady Macbeth, wife to Macbeth. She is an extremely ambitious woman who is infatuated with power and glory. In the play she is shown as a powerful and dominating character. This is also the case in the film adaptation, where is also presented as a sexual temptress. Unfortunately Macbeth is unable to resist his ambition and before he commits regicide he says, Stars, hide your fire, let not light see my black and deep desires. This soliloquy shows Macbeths internal conflict between his ambition and his morality as he is ashamed of what he is about to do, he does not wish heaven to see the stirring evil within him. The soliloquies demonstrate that Macbeths uncontrolled ambition eventually overwhelms him and that he loses the battle between good and evil. Shakespeare also uses the technique of contrasting characters to highlight the struggle between good and evil. During the first half of the play Shakespeare reveals the fact that Macbeth is evil by contrasting him with his close friend, Banquo. They are both strong leaders and victorious generals and both witness the witches prophesies; however their reactions to these prophecies contrast dramatically: Banquo is able to resist his ambition for his decedents to be kings; Macbeth is not able to resist his desire to become king. This reveals that the world is full of temptations and that man constantly struggles to resist evil. We are always only one decision away from succumbing to sin. Macduff is another character that contrasts vividly with Macbeth. This is especially notable in the way they treat each others ife. When Macduff discovers the death of King Duncan he tries to spare the harshness of his discovery from Lady Macbeth, saying O gentle Lady, Tis not for you to hear what I can speak and shows his concern for Lady Macbeth when she faints Look to the lady. However Macbeths treatment of Lady Macduff reveals the depths of degradation to which his character has fallen. This is shown when Macbeth slaughters Lady Macduff and her children during the absence of Macduff. Macbeth commands the murderers to Give the edge o the sword/ His wife, his babes, and all nfortunate souls/ That trace him in his line. His action demonstrates how far his character deteriorates into evil as he loses the sense of conscience and humanity, near the end of the play. Lastly the imagery in the dialogue reinforces the idea of evil overwhelming good as a result of Macbeths ambition to be king. One of the most effective images Shakespeare uses is blood imagery, which can be seen throughout the whole play and begins at the opening battle between the scouts and the Norwegian invaders. The wounded captains harrowing description of Macbeths