Exam (elaborations)
Macbeth (Charecter) grade 9 essay
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In Act 5 Scene 3, Macbeth is presented as possessing the same courage and bravery hero hedemonstrates in Act 1 when declares he will ‘fight till’ his ‘bones’ ‘be hack’d. Such bravery could be
seen as heroic, although the fact his confidence is based on the lies of supernatural and possible
demonic forces makes us question how truly heroic this confidence is. Regardless, he portrays his
strength by not giving up and he believes that even though he will die then at least he will die
fighting: "Yet I will try the last. Before my body I throw my warlike shield". It resembles his
honourable character we see at the start of the play ( and can possibly be seen as heroic) and so we
feel a bit of pity for and acknowledge that maybe he was just deeply mislead by the weird sisters and
Lady Macbeth to turn himself into a ruthless butcher but in the end it was his own decisions and
actions that lead him to his tragic ending.
Macbeth admits being “sick at heart” and feels he has entered the season of the “yellow leaf”, this
can refer to his change in age throughout the play but can also refer to the ‘fall’ of his own reputation
and character. Here Shakespeare demonstrates Macbeth’s final descent and abasement to the point
of nihilism. This statement suggests that he has lost the will to live - Macbeth’s life is withering away
just like an autumn leaf. The audience sees that the murders and rise to power have not brought him
happiness. Instead of ‘honour, love and obedience’ he has ‘curses’.
Shakespeare uses Act 3 to present the irony of fulfilled ambition: Macbeth sought only to become
king but being king only causes further strain, loss and change to his character. It is in Act 3 that
Macbeth has realised he has committed his soul (his “eternal jewel) to hell (to satan “the common
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