Macbeth is a play in which William Shakespeare uses different moods to portray Macbeth’s character development throughout the play. Macbeth starts off as a proud, ambitious man who is loyal to his king, Duncan. However through the use of deception and manipulation Macbeth acts on his intentions of being king himself. Macduff helps Macbeth realize these treasonous thoughts are wrong by telling Macbeth that he has “borne [Macbeth] on [his] back a thousand times”. Throughout the play Macduff tries to persuade Macbeth not to betray anyone because it would be morally incorrect to do so.
These repeated attempts by Macduff fail though because Macbeth more determined with each attempt made. Macbeth’s ambition is fuelled by his wife, who pushes Macbeth into killing King Duncan. Macduff also helps Macbeth realize these evil thoughts are incorrect after Macduff discovers that Macbeth has killed King Duncan and tells him “I will fight till from my bones my flesh be hack’d”, which makes Macbeth more fearful of Macduff each time he speaks about fighting him in a battle. After Banquo learns of Macbeth’s murdering of King Duncan while asleep, Macbeth develops a fear towards Banquo because he believes Banouo will kill him.
As the play progresses Macbeth becomes more bloodthirsty and brutal with his actions. He kills anyone who believes that his actions were evil and Macbeth continues to kill more people as the play goes on. Macduff and Macbeth begin to fight each other at Macduff’s castle. Macbeth dies after he is slain by Macduff, who says “Lay on Macduff, And damned be him that first cries hold enough”. When Macbeth meets the three witches they are the catalyst for change because they give Macbeth ambition which drives him into killing Duncan. They mislead Macbeth into thinking he will become king but this isn’t the case.
The three witches create chaos among characters throughout the story by making different characters go mad because of what they say or do in response to their prophecies. Their prophecies create an air of confusion for Macbeth because Macbeth doesn’t know if prophecies are true or not. Macduff is manipulated by the three witches into believing Macbeth killed King Duncan when Macduff discovers Macbeth’s daggers in Macbeth’s castle before their fight starts. They also mislead Macduff which causes him to become more angry towards Macbeth and his actions, further fueling Macduff to fight Macheth.
When Duncan first meets the three witches he listens to them because they seem “so much” like other women that it lets Duncan mistakenly believe they might be honest with their words. The first two times Banquo speaks with the three witches they Banquo that he will not be king and Macbeth will be, but Macbeth doesn’t believe them. Macduff is manipulated by the three witches into believing Macbeth killed King Duncan when Macduff discovers Macbeth’s daggers in Macbeth’s castle before their fight starts.
The three witches mislead Macduff which causes him to become more angry towards Macbeth and his actions, further fueling Macduff to fight Macheth. The mood of each scene throughout the play can be described as fearful or pessimistic most of the time because no matter what character does, blood is constantly being shed throughout the play. Each scene changes with different characters’ moods shifting from pessimistic to fearful or vice versa. As for example during Macbeth and Macduff’s fight Macduff is full of anger and Macbeth has a pessimistic mood because Macbeth believes Macduff will kill him.
When Macduff tells Macbeth he will “never [lay] hands” on Macduff, Macbeth changed to fearful when he says “That hand shall burn in never”. The mood in the scene then changes when Macduff says to Macbeth that “this is a bitter day as any [Macbeth] yet hath tasted”. At this point during their fight both characters have pessimistic views but only one character can actually change because they can see things either rationally or irrationally. For example if Macduff believed in the prophecies Macbeth made Macduff more fearful and Macduff wouldn’t want to fight Macbeth.
Macbeth would be able to change Macduff’s mood then because he has control over Macduff’s thoughts by convincing him that Macbeth shouldn’t kill Macduff. In William Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth”, the main characters’ mood changes throughout the story as a result of their encounters with other characters or themselves. Each time a character meets someone they have a reaction to them, but if something occurs during this meeting it can change their reaction towards the person they’ve just met.
For example when Macbeth first sees witches he is afraid of them because they give him prophecies about his future. Macbeth’s encounters with witches change when Macbeth learns if he becomes king or not in the prophecy. Macbeth is no longer afraid of them because Macduff has heard Macbeth will become king and Macduff wants to kill Macbeth, but Macbeth kills Macduff instead. Another example would be when Lady Macduff sees her son being killed she decides to commit suicide because it seemed like there was no other option.
Mood is created by use of language in Macbeth. The mood changes throughout the play depending on who says what lines during their conversation or whether they are alone at that time or not. For instance the mood changes after the three witches have given Macbeth prophecies about Macbeth becoming king and Macbeth killing Macduff. Macbeth is happy after the witches say Macbeth will become king whereas Macduff is angry because Macduff wants to kill Macbeth before Macbeth can become king.
Another example would be during Macduff’s fight with Macbeth, the mood changes between fearful and pessimistic depending on what each character says or thinks at that time throughout their conversation. For instance during parts of their conversation Macduff believes he will kill Macbeth but also believes there are many ways for him to die. When Lady Macduff sees her son being killed she decides to commit suicide because it seemed like there was no other option. The mood changes in Macbeth as a result of Macduff’s anger towards Macbeth and Macbeth’s happiness as a result of the three witches prophecy.
Mood can be affected by how characters speak to one another, depending on what they say during their conversation. For example Macduff was angry when he first spoke to Macbeth because Macbeth had killed Macduff’s family members and Macduff wanted revenge. When Macduff and Macbeth fought, the mood changed from fearful to pessimistic depending on what each character said or thought at that time throughout their conversation. Another example would be after Lady Macduff sees her son being killed she decides to commit suicide because it seemed like there was no other option.
