How does evil operate, according to Shakespeare in Macbeth?

Answer 1

♥Omg I LOVE Shakespeare questions.
Macbeth is an awesome play. It's my favourite tied along with Hamlet!!♥

Evil, operating in and through the characters is essentially this: A spoken idea of what is simply an already existing unconscious thought, and an ambition; leads to a lust for power which leads to cold blooded murder; This act of violencebrings about the laws of Karma, thusly bringing the tragedy that is the story of Macbeth.

It operates by chain of reaction: From the words of the witches, to Macbeth to his wife (Lady Macbeth) who become co-conspiraters in the murderous rampage of the multiple homicides of Duncan, Banquo and the others, to the psychological ramifications consisting of the destruction of both Macbeth and His wife eventually leading to both of their deaths.

The idea first comes with Opening Act 1, and the three weird sisters (witches); who begin with the statement, " Fair is Foul, and Foul is Fair....." in the context of both the following events bringing both good and evil. You could parallel that to the old cliché... "All is fair in love in war," which basically means, it is considered acceptable conduct, to do what ever it takes despite how desperate and cunning and divisive and act to win the love of the person you seek. In paralleling that to the story of Macbeth, it is not the 'love' aspect, but the 'war' issue. The 'war' at hand here is an inward struggle for the desire for the throne, which is carried out into action.

It is the throne of Scotland that becomes the object of lust, and the desire of both Macbeth and His Lady.
In Act 1 Sc 3 where Macbeth meets with them (the witches) they ‘prophecy’ about his future kingship, calling (or hailing) him "Thane of Glamis, Cawdor and King that shalt be hereafter." They are basically informing him of his future stake and claim to the throne. He in turn ponders over these things and writes a letter to his wife, ( Act 1 Sc 5) informing her of what these witches told him, in their prognostication about his being King.

Understanding the character of Lady Macbeth is essential to understanding the unfolding of the play itself; Lady Macbeth is truly the manipulative, wicked one in all of this, as it is her lust for power that leads her to tempt, and coerce Macbeth into murdering the King. (Duncan). It is her passion for the Crown and the desire for immediate results as opposed to "due process" which leads her to a lustful, cold-hearted deliberation over how she, can influence her husband to commit murder so that they would be granted immediate political influence (i.e, the crown of Scotland). The most revealing look we get into her psyche and her character is in Act 1 Sc 5, where she receives the letter from her husband.
In Act 1 Sc V, she reads the letter he wrote her; and begins to contemplate the possibilities of herself being queen, which is the real motive behind her desire for her husband to king.
She also muses over his "character flaws" which she sees as being too kind, and patient; i.e., "Yet I do fear thy nature; It is too full O the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way." (a1 s5 li17-19)
Then she goes on to say, basically (to put it in laymen’s terms), That her husband doesn't have the gumption, i.e, courage, i.e., "balls" lol to gain the crown in a manner that would be quick, divisive, morally wrong, and yet clever.{As she does not want to wait the proper timing for her husband to be King, but wants immediate results in regards to their Rule}

She says: "Thou wouldst be great, Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it. She goes onto say, "What thou wouldst highly, that thou wouldst holily; wouldst not play false, yet wouldst wrongly win. (a1 s5 li19-24)
This part of her speech is where she is continuing to basically state what she sees as his ‘flaws’. To REPHRASE speech (mine): i.e., “You would be great (i.e, KING). You have ambition, but not the balls to find an easier way or a shortcut.”
REPHRASE speech (mine): You'd be willing to do it the right way, the holy way and wait your turn; BUT would you also be willing to be deceitful and take drastic measures in order to get it?"

Then She goes on to debate the pros and cons in the ways in which to conquer the throne. i.e. the rest of the speech in that scene.
She goes onto say, in the following lines, 23-26 of the same act:
"Thou'dst have, Great Glamis, that which cries, "Thus thou must do" if thou have it. And that which rather thou dost fear to do than wishest should be undone."

She here is essentially stating that she is going to make certain that he is King by whichever means possible. REPHRASE (mine): You're going to be KING honey, and you're going to take whatever measures possible that need to be taken in order to get it, even if you really don't want to do it. LOL You’re going to do it baby, do it for me now. Just as I say. ROFL.

Okay so then, in the following lines, of that same soliloquy she goes onto say about how she is going to influence her husband to take those "necessary steps" in order to gain the throne. i.e., Li26-31 "Hie thee hither, that I may pour my spirits in thine ear and chastise thee with the valour of my tongue all that impedes thee from the golden round, which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem to have thee crowned with all.

Okay, here our Lady Macbeth is basically musing over her part in this now unfolding scheme, and what can she do to influence her husband to do something drastic and conniving in order to get the Crown (throne of Scotland) the fastest way, which Fate seems to have appointed him. She is thinking aloud her mischievous and wicked thoughts about this issue: i.e, Li 23-31 "Thou'dst have, Great Glamis, that which cries, "Thus thou must do" if thou have it. And that which rather thou dost fear to do than wishest should be undone.Hie thee hither, that I may pour my spirits in thine ear and chastise thee with the valour of my tongue all that impedes thee from the golden round, which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem to have thee crowned withall.”

REPHRASE: speech (mine) "i.e, “You are going to be King, and that's that. Now, when you come home, what can I say to you to make you want this as bad as I do? Let me talk to you, on this for a while, about what I think should be done. What can I say to you, that would be clever enough to influence your thoughts so that they are in agreement with mine? Well, if I suggest outright what I’m thinking, I know you won’t go for it, even though it HAS to be done in order to secure the throne. There’s no other way.
So I guess if I have to fight dirty and insult you and bruise your ego a little bit so that it gives you that push to do what needs to be done than fine; because I don't want anything standing in the way of the throne and your being King; because whatever hindrances exist that might influence you to remain idle and not act, while there's opportunity, has got to be eliminated. Which; as fate seems to have appointed you King already."

(i.e., the Golden Round is indicative of the Crown; and the “fate and metaphysical aid” is in reference to the prophetic utterance by the three witches as to Macbeth’s Kingship.)

Okay so, she is busy thinking on this, and trying to figure out what to say to her husband when he gets home. Then a messenger comes in and tells her that her husband is on the way home, AND as an awful but pleasurable twist of fate, the King (Duncan) is also on his way to their home in order to stay the night. THAT is where she formulates the crime of opportunity and convenience and comes up with the plot to kill the King.

The playing out of that conspiracy (scheme) follows in the rest of the scene. She begins to muse over plans of killing Duncan, and basically inviting whatever evil exists to assist her in not only being deceptive enough to convince her husband to commit murder, but so that she herself might be rid of all compassion and human emotion as to go through with the plan without remorse. This is the rest of that scene.
[ i.e, Li40-54 Li41- “Come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here and fill me, from the crown to the toe-top full of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood and stop up th’ access and passage to remorse that no compunctious visitings of nature shake my fell purpose, not keep peace between th’ effect and it!” And so on with the remainder of the speech.

This scene is important in the context of the play as a whole because it sets the stage for the “Fair and Foul” the witches prognosticated; and a series of one unfortunate wicked event to the next. The Evil, or malevolence and apathy towards anything opposing her own achievements, that was operating in the heart and mind of Lady MacBeth, is both criminal and sociopathic; As she reveals her truly wicked and divisive nature in what she convinces her husband to do. Though Macbeth is no innocent victim here, the iniquitous thoughts of Lady Macbeth act as another catalyst for the horrible nature dormant in him; and the atrocities committed by both that followed the revelation of the evil intent of her heart, that was spoken to him, becomes his evil intent as well, and therefore operates through him as well.

As the play continues, she does manage to convince him to kill Duncan. But Macbeth has a conscience throughout the entire play feeling remorse and empathy for what he has done. She has no such sentiments as reiterated in Act 1 Sc 7 where they discuss the deed further, and she pretty much calls her husband a bitc*h as*s little girl lol because he says he doesn’t think he can do it. She basically tears down his manhood until he feels that in order to be a man, he has to go through with the plan. He’s on the spot basically to prove his manhood to his wife. THIS was very clever on her part, as she uses his (not much hinted at insecurity) plus his desire for greatness to thrust him into the thought of needing to win his wife over by killing the King.
In truth, it is really her actions working through him that causes him to carry out the deed in Act 2.
She even comes up with the manner in which they will “cover up” the crime and put on the pretense of innocence by making a big fuss over his death. i.e, Act 1 Sc7 Li 78-79 “Who dares receive it other, As we shall make griefs and clamour roar upon his death?”

In Act 2 MacBeth does kill the King, But he freaks out with guilt and doesn’t go all the way through with the plan. She rips him apart, and insults his manhood yet again telling him that he’s basically and idiot, because he didn’t follow through. The guilt (i.e, suspicion) has to be on the guards and not on any one else. (i.e, no other possible suspects) She takes care of it, by wiping them with blood, and then gloats over the fact that she really doesn’t feel bad about it. This reinforces the evil that was in her to begin with.

Anyways to finish this up (it’s very long sorry!) They’re told the King is dead, they make a big fuss about it. Then Macbeth starts going crazy from the guilt. Guilt and the idea of being discovered and/or losing the throne, leads to a murderous rampage of every person that knew, or may have knew AND also every person that was now was a ‘possible’ threat to the Throne. As the story progresses a wicked Lady Macbeth begins to psychologically crumble under the strain of the guilt that she thought she did not feel at first. She goes nuts and kills herself. The castle is under siege (sort’ve) and Macbeth is slain. Then someone else is appointed King.

So, therefore, the Evil that operates in this story, is affluent in both Macbeth and his wife, and is thusly a chain reaction of disaster and tragedy going from one person to the next throughout the story; The words of the three sisters in Act 1 are the catalyst for the unfolding of the tragedy that is to come; And elevates the ambitions and selfish desires, of Macbeth and his Wife, revealing the evil that already existed in them, which in turn ruins both of them.

Here's a link to another Macbeth Question I answered a few days ago. Maybe it'll prove helpful to you. You can also Feel free to email me with any questions that you have, and I’ll be more than happy to help you, okay? I'm serious!
Link:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...
♥♥♥♥♥
I’ve put this all in laymen’s terms so that the Shakespearean Text is in basic modern day as much as possible. It really is not that difficult to grasp once you understand what they’re saying. LOL.

STAY PUT I AM GOING TO ADD ADDITONAL THOUGHTS AND CLEAN THIS UP A BIT, Okay? I am not satisfied with this entirely.♥

**but as an additional note, if you wanted to, I'm sure your English teacher would fancy this: You can parallel it to the biblical story of Adam & Eve, AND the Evita and Col. Peron story “Evita” as they have similar themes and undertones.**
It is not such a stretch.

Answer 2

Here's an analysis that should be helpful:
http://www.theatrehistory.com/british/macbeth001.html

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Cheers,
Bruce