This extract taken from Shakespeare’s play Macbeth expresses the emotions of the protagonist Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth as Macbeth prepares to murder Banquo. It conveys the differences in the peace of mind of both characters. Macbeth expresses frustration at his strong feelings of righteousness which clash with his guilt and do not let him enjoy the fruits of being King. Lady Macbeth on the other hand shows her “unsexed” character in front of her husband as she tries to bring up her husband’s spirits without any conflicting feelings in her conscience. Macbeth’s shattered peace of mind is displayed as he hides his plan of murdering Banquo from his wife, too afraid of increasing his conflicting feelings. His conclusion to the extract shows how according to him, the only way to relax his frustration would be to purify the titles of King and Queen so as to evade suspicion.

The situation surrounding the characters shows how all three prophecies hailed by the witches have come true for Macbeth – his titles of Thane of Glamis, Thane of C

awdor and now the King of Scotland. In the previous Act, Macbeth had followed on his wife’s advice and murdered Duncan. This sinful act of regicide had had a significant impact on his conscience, peace of mind and his righteousness. This shakiness comes to haunt him once more when deep dark thoughts of murdering Banquo arise in his mind. Banquo’s strong suspicions of Macbeth’s foul play have almost forced Macbeth to take the extreme step of hiring murderers to end Banquo’s life. Macbeth’s jealousy of Banquo’s “dauntless temper of mind” and wisdom makes Macbeth feel as if “his genius is being rebuked”. The witches’ prophecies for Banquo hail him as a bearer of a line of Kings while placing a “fruitless crown” and “barren sceptre” in Macbeth’s grip; hence to end Banquo’s reign of glory, Macbeth feels that killing him and his son would put Macbeth and his sons in the line of Kings of Scotland. This extract shows Macbeth coming to terms with his conscience struggling between good and evil and his wife’s efforts to bring him to terms with what has happened.

Therefore, these thoughts of Macbeth echo

Some topics in this essay:
Lady Macbeth, Act Macbeth, Duncan Macbeth, Macbeth Macbeth, III Scene, King Queen, Kings Scotland, peace mind, lady macbeth, King Scotland, line kings, husband tries bring, conflicting feelings, tries bring, husband tries, macbeth expresses, murdering banquo,