The Role of Violence in Shakespeare's Macbeth (Essay Sample)

Macbeth, written by the literary master Shakespeare, is a story full of tragedy, ambition, and suspense. However, a larger theme of violence encompasses and controls the story and its characters. Violence, playing an important role in the play, depicts Macbeth's degradation from an honorable soldier and thane into an evil and selfish king. As Derek Cohen says in Macbeth's Rites of Violence, “There is no peace in the play. Lurking behind every scene, every dialogue, every fantastic appearance or event, is the spectre of violence with death following in its wake.” (Cohen), Macbeth is wholly centered around violence playing an insurmountable role in the determination of Macbeth's morality. When the Three Witches, speaking in trochaic tetrameter, give paradox in the line “Fair is foul, and foul is fair: / Hover through the fog and filthy air” (Shakespeare 1.1.12-13), they give us the most prominent theme in Macbeth. Paradox, and the “fair is foul” theme, is used throughout multiple events in the play, yet is most present in the role of violence. As Macbeth gradually yields to more violence, he changes from an honorable, honest man who fought for a greater good into a corrupt, evil king who fights for his own gain. Violence throughout Macbeth is viewed as valiant, honorable, and rewarding at the start of the play. However, the honor in violence begins to distort as the play carries on, shifting to selfish and cruel intentions. Throughout Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the role of violence emphasizes the shifts in Macbeth’s moral compass and coincides with the theme “fair is foul, and fair is foul” by first being viewed as honorable, representing pathetic fallacy, and ending as a representation of evil. 

At the start of the play, the role of violence is one of valor and honor, however this is distinctly different from its role of evil towards the end of Macbeth. When Macbeth returns from the first battle, he is greeted with congratulations and honor. He is rewarded for being a courageous and valiant soldier with a new thane title. The people of Scotland express pride and gratitude for Macbeth's violence in battle and reward him for being ruthless on the battlefront. Macbeth’s friends bare him the great news of his successes: “The king hath happily received, Macbeth, / The news of thy success, and when he reads / Thy personal venture in the rebels’ sight, / His wonders and his praises do contend / Which thine or his” (Shakespeare 1.3.87-91).  At this point, Macbeth uses violence for the greater good of defending his country. In Shakespeare for Students: Critical Interpretations of Shakespeare’s Plays and Poetry states: “Macbeth encounters three witches who predict that he will become King of Scotland; these prophecies begin the process of awakening his personal ambition for power” (pg. 440). Macbeth's view of violence drastically alters towards the end of the play from one of honor and loyalty, to one of selfishness and treachery, and this change is depicted with the help of pathetic fallacy in Macbeth's surroundings. 

Violence is reflected with pathetic fallacy and continuously present throughout the course of Macbeth in the weather, animals, and other characters. As Macbeth progresses, violence increases, and Macbeth grows eviler with each scene. Actkinson states in Enter Three Witches that “As Macbeth ascends to the throne, the court descends to violence and murder”. (Actkinson), further illustrating that Macbeth's increase in power corresponds to an increase in violence in Scotland. Macbeth's submission to violence and commitment increasingly heinous murders following the introduction of the three witches has an apparent negative effect on the weather and depicts a manifestation of evil in Scotland. As Macbeth's morals slip, the weather becomes stormy, and animals begin to act distressed, notably during the murder of King Duncan when Lady Macbeth says, “I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry” (2.2.15). Violence throughout the play also constitutes a disarray of the environment in Scotland and presents a grim, formidable mood with destruction: “The night has been unruly. Where we lay, / Our chimneys were blown down and, as they say, / Lamentings heard i’ th’ air, strange screams of death / .... Some say the Earth / Was feverous and did shake.” (Shakespeare 2.3.28-36). Shakespeare uses pathetic fallacy to attribute human qualities and emotions to nature, and violence encompasses a larger theme in Macbeth by affecting Scotland negatively. As Macbeth progressively turns to violence, Scotland's environment experiences stormy weather, disturbed animals, and desecrate natural disasters. Because the damaging violence in Macbeth corresponds heavily to pathetic fallacy in weather and animals, this shows that violence is necessary to the progress of the play and essential in explaining the turn and fall of Macbeth into total violence and evil. 

While violence in the beginning of Macbeth was viewed as gratifying, the violent nature of Macbeth is gradually warped into a pure evil as he begins to maltreat his people and country. Cohen states that “Macbeth's use of violence is the measure of his depravity. It sinks ever lower in its use of lies, subterfuge and subornation, acts that are necessary to his survival as monarch.” This quote highlights the depletion of Macbeth’s morals as the violence intensifies and escalates throughout the play. Macbeth's morality by the end of the play is completely degraded. He once experienced doubt and hesitation before killing Duncan and had to be persuaded by Lady Macbeth to continue. However, by the end of the play, Macbeth experienced no hesitation or doubt in killing others. Undoubtedly, Macbeth’s forced murder soon harbored into an obsessive need for secured power: “While Lady Macbeth did provoke and shame Macbeth to kill Duncan, he is the one who voluntarily carried out the deed and continued to kill anyone who posed a threat to his position” (Tawakoli). Brutality demonstrates that violence is not as it always seems, following the “fair is foul” theme, in the sense that it can be used in valor, but also in ruthlessness and cruelty. In the same way, Macbeth’s lack of mercy at the beginning of the play was seen positively as he was aiding his country in war, but then manifested into selfish and greedy violence at the expense of his country’s well-being. As Macbeth’s greed for power is continually threatened, he turns to more evil behaviors. It is evident that Macbeth has wholly turned to supernatural evil when he professes, “Seyton! - I am sick at heart,/ When I behold - Seyton, I say! - this push/ Will cheer me ever or disseat me now,” (Shakespeare 5.3.19-21).  The allusion in this quote emphasized the effect of intensifying violence in Macbeth and how it has shifted his logic into a distorted logic. It is evident that he has turned to evil as Seyton is an allusion to the real Satan. It is evident that Macbeth has now fully turned to diabolic manners. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth used violence in a brave and loyal sense to protect his country, however at the end of the play, Macbeth used violence in a selfish and cruel way to protect his throne at the expense of others. 

Throughout Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the role of violence is used to emphasize the shifts in Macbeth’s moral compass and mindset towards his priorities. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is very uncertain about committing to the violence due to his extreme valor but at the end of the play, violence is the only thing he turns to. As violence intensifies in Macbeth, Macbeth sinks lower into a state of pure evil, completely demolishing the once noble, honest character he was. Because Macbeth is driven by the desire for power, he feels that violence is the only option he has to keep his power and so, he experiences a vocation to be a selfish, evil king surrounded with violence. Violence also corresponds with the Three Witches’ alliteration of  “Fair is foul, and foul is fair: / Hover through the fog and filthy air.” (Shakespeare 1.1.12-13) in the sense that violence is not what it first appeared to be. Macbeth was first rewarded for his valiant battle in Act 1, however, as he grew in power, his violent acts escalated into evil and had unfortunate consequences including the loss of Macbeth's life. Violence in Macbeth shifts from being perceived as honorable to corrupt, and plays a large role by degrading Macbeth's morals and altering Macbeth from an honorable man to a corrupt king.