Order and Disorder in Macbeth
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth’s visions and hallucinations play a significant role and contribute to the development of his character. In the play Macbeth, a man is driven to murder his king and his companions after receiving a fairly ambiguous prophecy told by three witches. Although the witches triggered the series of events that later aid Macbeth’s descent into complete insanity, Macbeth is portrayed from the very beginning as a fierce and violent soldier. As the play goes on, several internal conflicts inside of Macbeth become clear. After he performs several bloody tasks, the madness inside of Macbeth is unmistakably visible to everyone around him. As a result of this insanity, he sees visions and hallucinations. Each time Macbeth hallucinates, he plunges further into insanity that is essentially caused by misguided ambition, dread and guilt. Macbeth has three key hallucinations that play a considerably important role in the development of his character: a dagger, the ghost of Banquo, and four apparitions while visiting the prophesying witches.
Macbeth’s first hallucination and sign of madness comes directly before his wife and he murder King Duncan. After hearing from the witches that he will become the king and conversing with his wife about this, the two of them decide they must kill Duncan. From the beginning of the play, we see Macbeth is a loyal warrior, albeit a vicious one with no trouble killing. It is in the first scene that Macbeth’s brutality is illustrated. An army captain reported:
“For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name),
Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel,
Which smoked with bloody execution,
Like valor’s minion, carved out his passage
Till he faced the slave;
Which ne’er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him,
Till he unseamed him from the nave to th’ chops,
And fixed his head upon our battlements.”
(1.2.17-25)
Macbeth is a skilled killer and this is displayed through the captain’s words, but now Macbeth is going
Macbeth’s first hallucination and sign of madness comes directly before his wife and he murder King Duncan. After hearing from the witches that he will become the king and conversing with his wife about this, the two of them decide they must kill Duncan. From the beginning of the play, we see Macbeth is a loyal warrior, albeit a vicious one with no trouble killing. It is in the first scene that Macbeth’s brutality is illustrated. An army captain reported:
“For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name),
Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel,
Which smoked with bloody execution,
Like valor’s minion, carved out his passage
Till he faced the slave;
Which ne’er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him,
Till he unseamed him from the nave to th’ chops,
And fixed his head upon our battlements.”
(1.2.17-25)
Macbeth is a skilled killer and this is displayed through the captain’s words, but now Macbeth is going