Macbeth Timed-Essay Prompt

Macbeth Timed-Essay Prompt
A.P. English Literature and Composition

Fate is defined as “the force of predetermined events” (Encarta Dictionary). In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the protagonist, Macbeth, is blinded by the empowering consequences of fated events, leading him to drive unlawful action forward in the play. Thus, his reactions, action, and interactions with other characters, such as his antagonist wife, Lady Macbeth, heavily influence this characterization.
In Act I of Macbeth, three witches approach Macbeth and deliver an oracle foreshadowing him as thane of Cawdor and, eventually, king. Given that he was a soldier under the King of Scotland, Macbeth does not hesitant to tell his wife of this serendipitous news. Once Lady Macbeth hears the news, she denounces her husband as “too full o’th’ milk of human kindness” (Shakespeare I.V.15) and declares that she is the resilient key for him to achieving greatness. Lady Macbeth’s reactions start a chain reaction by manipulating Macbeth to commit to this prophecy as he hungers for power and advancement.
Shakespeare utilizes Lady Macbeth as a bad conscience to depict the raw, megalomaniac inner savage every man feels. Not only does Macbeth’s interaction with Lady Macbeth encourage him to act upon the oracle by killing Duncan, King of Scotland, but it influences him to go mad and kill everyone that may stand in his way to keep the crown. Therefore, Shakespeare uses Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s characterization to clarify man’s perception of fate by illustrating that fate reveals the true nature of humans: animalistic, tyrannical creatures that stop at nothing to achieve dominance.
Killing Duncan, destroying the innocence, and descending into paranoia; all products of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s characterization and desperation for authority. Through Lady Macbeth’s incentives to strengthen Macbeth, she ultimately loses her sanity and commits suicide. In comparison, Macbeth’s heavy conscience drives him to paranoia, causing everyone to turn against him. Hence, forced ambitions, encouraged by the slanderous prophecies of the three witches, push the ill-fated couple to atrocious actions throughout the play. Shakespeare clarifies, through the actions of the couple, that once one decides to further one’s quest for power through violence, it is hard to stop. Not only does the fated oracles enhance the action of the play but unveils this perception of fate through the ruthless examples of the protagonist and antagonist in tragic Macbeth.
- Chloe Acebo