Macbeth Essay

 It is very easy to control somebody's mind and make them believe what people are saying. Pressure from a peer or spouse can influence people to do things that they themselves would never do. It makes people consider doing things that could put themselves in danger or in harms way. Throughout the play, Macbeth is being controlled by the witches, his wife and his mental problems. The witches use small truths to make him believe their lie, his wife uses his need to please her against him, and he makes himself have mixed emotions and he makes himself feel guilty for his actions. Macbeth is not in control of his actions and that is what leads to his downfall and loss of power.

 Macbeth is a prime target for being controlled by guilt because he allows it to eat away at his mind and make him weak. Macbeth is mentally unstable and cannot stop the guilt from controlling him. The definition of guilt is a feeling of remorse that an individual has after committing a crime or offense.  Some of the effects that guilt has on people are lashing out at others, seeking power and perfection, blaming others for the actions that have been done, and withdrawing from the real world. Macbeth suffers from some of these affects of guilt as he seeks power and perfection. For example, after Macbeth killed Duncan he feels guilty and gets the murderers to kill Banquo because he wants, and needs, all the power that he can get. Macbeth is also lashing out at others because he does not get what he wants. When the murderer returns and tells Macbeth that Fleance has escaped, Macbeth gets angry and has a fit again. Macbeth suffers from bipolar disease, which makes him mentally unstable and unable to control his own emotions. Bipolar disease can be caused by a lack of sleep, which Macbeth suffers from after the death of Duncan. Some common symptoms that Macbeth suffers from are little need for sleep, poor judgement, feeling guilty, and thoughts of death or suicide. Macbeth displays all of these symptoms before the battle for the throne.

Lady Macbeth is using her sexuality to control Macbeth because woman of her time period were given no power and were completely controlled by men. Woman of the early eighteen hundreds sole purpose was to find a husband, reproduce, and then spend the rest of her life serving her husband. If a woman was single she would have been pitied by the community. Lady Macbeth uses her sexuality by controlling Macbeth, she has no power over men and can not be given power, so she is using Macbeth to get herself the power she wants. Lady Macbeth is using her tears and sadness against Macbeth because she knows that Macbeth loves her and does not want her to be pitied by the people of the castle for being single. Lady Macbeth is using the fact that men of the eighteen hundreds felt that they needed to protect their manhood and not have it threatened. Men in the eighteen hundreds were expected to provide for their household and provide a roof over the families head as well. Men were supposed to be protectors and provide their families with the protection they needed against harsh weather and natural disasters. When Lady Macbeth asks Macbeth if he is man, she is threatening his manhood. She is able to control Macbeth by threatening his manhood because he needs to protect that as he is supposed to be the strong one of the family and he is not supposed to be weak or "girly". Lady Macbeth knows that Macbeth needs to protect his manhood, which is why she uses it to control him.

Finally, the witches and apparitions are used in controlling Macbeth leading to his downfall from power. When Macbeth goes to visit the witches they tell him about the past, present, and future. This is the witches way of using Macbeth's mental instability against him. He was thane of Glamis, he is now thane of Cawdoor and Glamis, and he will be king. The witches know that Macbeth's mind is weak and will be driven by the fact that they told him he would be king, so he becomes obsessed with the knowledge that he will be king.

The prophecies that the witches show Macbeth are a good factor is controlling him because they give him the knowledge that he needs to help him go into the battle with confidence. The first prophecy was used to control Macbeth because he is warned that Macduff is going to come take the throne. This makes Macbeth become fearful and want to defend his throne and the power that he already has. The second prophecy was used to control Macbeth because it makes him believe that no man born of woman can kill  him. This gives Macbeth the faith that he will not be killed if he goes to battle and the knowledge that he will never die. The third prophecy was used to control Macbeth because it tells him that the forest is going to come to his castle. This gives Macbeth faith in not being attacked because he does not believe that the forest is going to come and attack his castle. These prophecies that the witches show Macbeth make him believe that he is going to win the upcoming battle,which they know he will not, and give him the knowledge that he can never be killed by anyone. 

Macbeth can not be held responsible for his own actions because he was being controlled by the witches and the apparitions that they show him, his wife, and his weakened mind. His weaken mind was controlling him by making him have a bipolar disease and making him feel guilty for his actions that he could not control, his wife controls him by using his need to protect his manhood and her won sexuality, and finally, the witches controlled him by giving him small truths to make him believe that he would one day be king and they used the prophesies to make Macbeth believe that he can not be killed. Macbeth would not have done many of the actions that he did if he did not have these forces controlling him and making him do things he did not want to do.