How Does Shakespeare Create Sympathy For Macbeth

In Act 5 Essay, Research Paper

`Macbeth has, with the aid of

his wife, committed the murder of Duncan and he has claimed the throne of

Scotland for himself.? During his reign

as king Macbeth has created a tyranny in Scotland.? He has continuously been dragged further and further into the

world of evil, visiting the witches during his reign.? He is suspicious of everyone and has spies in the homes of the

thanes of the country; he became so paranoid that he had his best friend,

Banquo, murdered because he knew of the witches? prophecies.? Macbeth and his wife have grown further

apart, he is no longer dependant on her for piece of mind and it is not she

that he turns too.? We have already

learnt that Macbeth is suffering from insomnia and nightmares when he does

sleep, suggesting that despite his outward appearance of strength he is feeling

the repercussions of his actions.?

Macbeth is so detached from people now, and so cold and calculated; that

he had the wife of Macduff and his children brutally murdered for no other

reason than that he could.? It is this

act of pure brutality that sends the audiences estimation of Macbeth to rock

bottom, and it is by the beginning of Act 5 that the audience will feel some

kind of hatred towards Macbeth because he has become so heartless.? Their murders were motiveless and cannot be

justified in any way.? However the play

is a tragedy, and so there needs to be a sense of loss created, that because of

his bad judgements Macbeth has ruined his life. In order to achieve this

Shakespeare creates some kind of sympathy for him, so that there is a sense

that yes Macbeth should have died, it is what he deserved, but that it is

tragic, it should and could have been avoided.Throughout the play it has been

Lady Macbeth who is the stronger of the two partners, she was the initiator of

the murder of Duncan and it is her who helps Macbeth with his instant guilt and

the problems he has initially due to the crime.? In Act 5 Scene 1 we see that she is not as strong as we thought,

he conscience is catching up with her.?

The scene is a visual enactment of her conscience, she is sleepwalking

and in her dreams she re-enacts the murder, she dreams of her and her husband

killing Duncan.? ?Yet here?s a spot?

this shows that she is feeling guilty and repaying the murder over and over

again in her dreams, the spot is blood on her hand.? When Macbeth murdered Duncan he didn?t take the daggers with him,

and she had to go back to put them at the scene of the crime.? In doing so she got blood on her hand, but

dismissed it as being nothing and as being easily washed away.? However we see here that it was more to Lady

Macbeth and it is playing on her mind, it is as if although she has washed the

blood away it is still there.? The

audience should be able to see how distressed Lady Macbeth is at this point,

that despite her appearance of calm and composed she is going mad inside.? The way that this will be acted should

convey this idea; Lady Macbeth is finding it difficult to hold onto her sanity

and keep strong and together.However we can see that Lady

Macbeth had a strong relationship with her husband, as she is feeling guilty

for his actions that didn?t involve any interference from her.? ?The Thane of Fife had a wife: where is

she now?? her she is referring to the murder of Lady Macduff and her

children.? The audience can see that she

feels her husbands? guilt, she had nothing to do with the murder of Lady

Macduff yet she has this playing on her mind. She is also feeling the

consequences of the murder of Banquo ?Banquo?s buried; he cannot come out

on?s grave.?? Although the actions

that Macbeth took after the murder of Duncan had no contribution from her she

feels as if it is her fault.? This is an

indication that Lady Macbeth feels responsible for the way things have turned

out, she was the one who pressurised Macbeth into the murder of Duncan and so

consequently feels as if what has happened to herself, Macbeth and Scotland is

her fault.In seeing how everything is

effecting Lady Macbeth, it helps to create sympathy for her and Macbeth, this

is because we can see her suffering and link it to that of her husband.? This is aided by the fact that Lady Macbeth

uses language similar to what Macbeth used after her had murdered Duncan.? ?All the perfumes of Arabia will not

sweeten this little hand? when they had committed the murder Macbeth said

that all the water in the ocean would wash the blood from his hands.? Lady Macbeth is saying that a lot of perfume

would not take the stench of blood away from her hand.? Due to the fact that Lady Macbeth uses

language that is similar to that of Macbeth allows the audience to link Macbeth

with her suffering.? Lady Macbeth has

crumbled, we see now how weak and vulnerable she is, she has always been the

strong one but she is now acting like Macbeth was.? Lady Macbeth is afraid of everything, the audience can in some

way sympathise with Lady Macbeth because her suffering is clear.? The sleepwalking is a way of Shakespeare

physically showing the effect of her conscience and how everything is effecting

her.? Lady Macbeth is not sleeping and

when she does she has these sleepwalking sessions and nightmares, this

associates with Macbeth, as we already know that he is suffering from sleepless

nights and terrible dreams too.? The

physical enactment of Lady Macbeth?s conscience allows Shakespeare to create

sympathy for Macbeth because the audience knows, despite the fact that he has

not shown recently, that Macbeth is feeling the same as his wife.? The audience has always seen Lady Macbeth as

the strong person in the relationship, she is the one who kept Macbeth going

and tried to decrease his pain and suffering.?

She has never let anything bother her, but now we see how things have

truely effected her.? The implications

of this are that if Lady Macbeth is suffering so greatly Macbeth must be

suffering so much more as he is the one who has always shown the remorse for

the murder of Duncan.? Also he has done

far much more than Lady Macbeth has he committed the murder of Duncan and

ordered the deaths of Banquo, Lady Macduff and Lady Macduff?s children.Shakespeare uses the suffering

of Lady Macbeth to have the knock on effect of making the audience think about

Macbeth and how he is being effected by the situation that he is in.? When the doctor has seen Lady Macbeth he

tells Macbeth of what he thinks is medically wrong with her.? The doctor has already said that he cannot

do anything of Lady Macbeth ?This disease is beyond my practice? what is

wrong with Lady Macbeth is too serious for him to deal with. All he can suggest

is that Lady Macbeth should not be exposed to anything that she may use to kill

herself with.? When the doctor tells

Macbeth if the situation Lady Macbeth is in Macbeth doesn?t seem too

bothered.? He makes some little enquires

about his wife but they are more related to his own suffering then hers.? ?Cure her of that? it appears that

Macbeth is worried about his wife but he is also making enquires about himself.

We know that there used to be love in the relationship between Macbeth and his

wife so it is fair for the audience to presume that there is some concern for

his wife there but it is mainly for himself.?

He wants to be free from the way he is feeling and as his wife is

feeling the same as him and so if she can be cured he too can be.? ?Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow,

Raze out the written troubles of the brain? Macbeth wants the doctor to

make the memories he has disappear.?

From this initial reaction the audience can see that Macbeth is too

suffering, just as we saw his wife do so.?

He wants the cause of suffering to be removed from the mind of himself

and Lady Macbeth, he has had enough and is clutching onto the hope that the

doctor will be able to make him better.?

He is looking for way out.?

However the doctor explains to Macbeth that there is nothing he can do

for Lady Macbeth ad so consequently for him.?

At the news of this Macbeth is angered and lashes out at the doctor ?Throw

physic to the dogs; I?ll have none of it? Macbeth is infuriated by the fact

that the doctor hasn?t got a miracle cure for his guilty conscience.? Macbeth says that the doctor is useless and wants

nothing to do with his advice.? The hope

that Macbeth had, that the doctor would help, has been taken away from him with

the diagnosis of the doctor.? Although he is at first angry,

his temperament changes into sadness.? ?The

water of my land, find her disease? because Macbeth realises that he cannot

be cured he looks at his country and the state she is in.? His tyranny across the land has left a shell

of what the country used to be and it as at this point that Macbeth realises

what he has done to the land that he loved so much and fought for against all

the odds.? He wants the doctor to bring

the country back to health.? This is the

first time that the audience has seen Macbeth think about what he has done to

the country and how his actions have effected her.? We see the loyalty for his country that Macbeth had at the

beginning of the play.? He comes to the

conclusion that he has not got what he wanted.?

He has been reduced to going through his daily life, all the tedious

tasks he thought would make him happy, and he also has to put up with his guilt

and regret also with a country in turmoil. ?He wants to get the country back on track and being the solider

that he is Macbeth feels that the best way for him to do this is to get rid of

the English, which are threatening him.?

?Would scour these English hence? Hear?st thou of them?? Macbeth

is ready to take his country into war because of the threat of the English, who

are helping the Thanes of Scotland who are grouping together against Macbeth

and the way he is running the country.?

This helps to create sympathy for Macbeth because this is the first time

that we have seen him take a look at his actions and how they have effected his

country.? By seeing this different side

to Macbeth the audience can some way remember the Macbeth at the beginning of

the play who was loyal to his country and fought to the best of his ability for

it and for his king.? This helps to

crate a felling of waste, because the Macbeth at the start of the play has

gone, he has changed into the horrible ruler that Scotland has now.Lady Macbeth is so consumed

with guilt that in Scene 5 she commits suicide.? Macbeth reacts to the news of the death of his wife in a cold and

unfeeling manner.? ?I have almost

forgotten the taste of fears? when he hears the screams of a woman, not

knowing who it is, he shows no reaction.?

We can see that Macbeth has become so used to horror and death that he

can no longer be shocked.? It is as if

it is a common occurrence for him.? His

senses have become chilled; he has lost all emotion.? This illustrates that Macbeth has actually suffered because of

what he has done and he has become detached form everything and nothing will

stir him, not even the screams of a Lady.?

This makes us think that Macbeth is now just a shell, he feels nothing

and so really has no life.? He goes

about doing the things that he has to but he is not there emotionally.? When Macbeth learns that the screams where

those of his wife he is not upset at all ?She should have died here after?.? He simply says that Lady Macbeth would have

died anyway and it is best that she is out of life, it is the easiest and best

option for her.? It almost seems that

Macbeth cannot feel sad because he is envious of her death.? She no longer has to live with the guilt and

suffering but he does, it is not that easy for him to get out of it he has to

live with his conscience everyday and he cannot feel sad at her death because

she has been set free.? There is

monotony in his speech, ?To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow?.? Macbeth is summing up his life, it is a

repetition and he doesn?t get a break.?

His life is the same all the time, he has no escape from what he has

done.? Macbeth has given up on life to

him it is meaningless.? ?The way to

dusty death.? Out, out, brief candle!?

Macbeth sees life as just being something to fill the gaps in and that

everything leads to death.? Life is

short and at this moment in time he can see no meaning to it ?Signifying

nothing? he is empty of his soul and wonders what the point in life

is.? He sees those who expect something

out of life as being fools.? Macbeth is

showing here that he greatly regrets his actions and has to live with what he

has done everyday of his life and there is no escape from himself, it is

getting him down greatly.? The audience

can clearly see that Macbeth is severely depressed.? This aids the creation of sympathy because the audience is now in

touch with how he is feeling and just how badly his actions have effected

him.? It doesn?t take away the fact that

what he has done is unforgivable but it does help the audience to see Macbeth

in a different light.? We can see how

much he is suffering and it has made him anxious, alone, depressed and

afraid.? It is not until now that it

becomes apparent that Macbeth has reached the point of desperation and life has

lost all meaning for him.? He is in such

desperation that he has come to envy the dead.?

His guilt is tearing him up inside leaving only a fraction of the man

that used to be.? Macbeth deeply regrets

what he has done and we can see that the way he has acted, the things he has

done have turned Macbeth into a manic-depressive.Shakespeare makes the audience

feel closer to Macbeth through his soliloquies.? It is the only way in which the audience can get inside his head

and so understand what he is going through.?

When Macbeth is alone he lets his defences down and so allows himself to

become vulnerable and open to the audience.?

?I have liv?d long enough: my way of life is fall?n into the sere?

Macbeth feels that he has lived long enough and his life is now a wreck.? This is the first time that the audience

sees how much Macbeth is suffering.? He

just wants out, he cannot cope any more.?

Shakespeare uses imagery to convey the feelings and attitudes of

Macbeth.? ?Yellow leaf? Macbeth

has, in himself, come to the autumn of his life and it will soon be over. ?He is accepting that he is near the end of

his life and sees life now as more of a tedious task rather than something to

be enjoyed and embraced.? ?As honour,

love, obedience, troops of friends, I must not look to have?.? Macbeth knows that people hate him, he has

noting left any more, no honour, no love, no obedience and no friends.? His only left with hatred and guilt, he has

nothing any more.? He feels as if he has

betrayed his own life, he has nothing left any more.? This is a heartrending show of emotion from Macbeth; he has given

up on life.? Macbeth has accepted

eternal damnation.? He is showing an

almost regret for what he has done.?

Macbeth would end it all but he has to carry on ?which the poor heart

would fain deny, and dare not? although suicide seems like the perfect way

out for Macbeth.? However he cannot take

this option because it is not in his nature to just give up on things, although

this is what he has done privately to the rest of the people he doesn?t want to

be seen that way.? He has become

desperate and his mental state of mind is unstable, he is showing just how

things are getting to him.? From the way

Macbeth talks we can see that he is becoming more and more fed up with life,

his guilt is so overwhelming that he just cannot see himself living any

more.? This helps to create some kind of

sympathy because we see that Macbeth is so consumed by what he has done and the

repercussions of his actions that he cannot see anyway out, he contemplates

suicide, as this is the only way out he can see.However in public Macbeth is a

completely different person.? He is

almost split in two, the private and public ?faces? of him.? Around people Macbeth keeps up this pretence

of being confident and he puts on a brave face.? He wants to get on with everything, ?Till famine and the ague

eat them up; were they not forc?d with that should be ours? Macbeth wants

to get rid of the English from Scotland and so allow the country to go back to

what it was like before.? He feels that

if he can get rid of the English then he will be able to put things right.? In front of people Macbeth is full of

confidence and he wants to get out into battle and make things better.? None of the other people know what Macbeth

is going through because he feels he has to keep it all bottled up on the

inside.? This is because he is paranoid

that someone will find out that it was he that murdered Duncan and all the

other bad things he has done during his reign.?

This can in some way aid a feeling of sympathy for Macbeth because the

audience knows what he is like inside and that he is falling apart, everything

he wanted has gone and there is nothing he can do about it.? Yet he has to put on this show of being

composed and not having anything wrong with him.? This must be a hard thing for Macbeth to do because of the way he

is feeling inside.It can be noticed that the

temper of Macbeth has become a lot worse.?

He is a lot more irritable and snappy ?Go prick thy face, and

over-red thy fear, thou lily-lier?d boy?.?

Macbeth turns on people for no apparent reason, when a servant tells

Macbeth about the soldiers that are n the way to the castle Macbeth calls him a

coward, he implies that the servant has ever been in battle and so would become

soaked with blood quickly.? He is attacking

the boy?s masculinity and has done so for no reason.? Macbeth?s irritability shows that he is finding it difficult for

him to carry on.? Macbeth is finding it

increasingly more difficult to carry on living a double life. His irritability

could be seen as a further indication of his depression and so it shows how he

is handling things and how they are getting on top of him.? Macbeth is keeping everything private and to

himself.? The audience seeing Macbeth in

both his public and private persona allows us to be more in touch with the

effect of everything and the audience can see more than the other characters in

the play can see and so see the effect of keeping up his false face.The witches still have a strong

hold on Macbeth, they have had this throughout the course of the play but it

has become stronger the longer Macbeth has been suffering.? The witches bring a feeling of relief for

Macbeth; they give him hope and confidence through the things that they have

told him.? They showed him apparitions

the second time he went to see them and gave him a further two prophecies which

established a sense of confidence and determination in Macbeth, which is partly

the reason why he will not committee suicide and give up on life.? The confidence that they gave him was false,

but it succeeded in doing both what he wanted and what the witches wanted.? It made Macbeth feel better about himself

and safer in life and it did what the witches wanted by dragging Macbeth

further into the world of evil, which is what they wanted.? They convinced Macbeth that no person could

kill him, the two prophecies that the witches gave him boost his confidence ?Bring

me no more reports; let them fly all: till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane?.? When told of the enclosing army Macbeth

comforts himself with the prophecy of the witches, he holds tight onto what

they told him, he believes that he cannot be defeated until the wood moves

towards the castle.? There is a sense of

arrogance to the way that Macbeth sees things ?I cannot taint with fear?

despite being an intelligent man and having the knowledge of how the initial

prophecies tricked him, Macbeth still holds strong to what the witches told

him.? It is as if all that Macbeth has

left n his life is the witches and the false confidence that they give

him.? However the audience soon becomes

aware that the witches have tricked Macbeth with regards to their prophecy

about the moving wood because in the following scene we soon become aware of

the fact that the marching soldiers will camouflage themselves with twigs and

leaves. ?thereby shall we shadow the numbers of our host, and make discovery

err in report of us?.? The watchers

at the castle will not know how many men there are in the army marching towards

them because they will be hidden from the eye.?

This illustrates that the witches have tricked Macbeth because the

confidence that he has with regards to the army is shattered, he has put his

trust in a lie.When Macbeth learns of the wood

walking towards him he is initially shocked, ?Liar and slave!? Macbeth

does understandably not believe what he has been told.? The messenger carries on explaining about

the wood more until it sinks into Macbeth.?

?If thou speak?st false, upon the next tree shalt thou hang alive?if

thy speech be sooth, I care not if thou dost for me as much? Macbeth reacts

rather unfairly to the servant by telling him he will be hung if he is lying to

Macbeth, but that he should hang him if he is telling the truth.? This is a realisation that Macbeth is going

to die, he now realises that this is not something he can avoid.? The audience can feel sorry for Macbeth

because he put all his hopes on the witches that has turned out to be no more

than trickery.? However this will also

remind the audience of his association with evil, at the time Shakespeare wrote

the play people believed strongly in witches and the paranormal.? They would see the witches as agents of the

devil who wanted to pull people into their world of evil.? The witches have succeeded in doing this by

manipulating Macbeth and distorting the truth for their own needs.? They have pulled Macbeth further and further

into evil and he is at the point where he has committed motiveless and brutal

crimes, the murder of Lady Macduff and family, they have sentenced Macbeth to

eternal damnation, which the audience would feel is what the witches wanted.The way in which Macbeth deals

with the situation he finds himself in is commendable, ?At least we?ll die

with harness on our back? he is not just going to go out with a whimper; he

is going to put up a fight and defend himself and his country.? This will in some sense help Macbeth to gain

back a little self-respect and like himself a little bit more.? His reaction helps to create pity for him

because it is the first time since the murder of Duncan that we can see a

glimpse of the real Macbeth (the one at the beginning of the play).? He is showing his loyalty to his country and

the solider that we saw who would not give up and went into battle against all

the odds.? He will not give up until the

end.? We then beginning to remember that

Macbeth was a good person but was pulled into evil by the witches and what they

told him.? This creates a feeling of

sadness, as we know that Macbeth could have been something great.? We see this through his honour and loyalty

even in certain death.Despite Macbeth being able to

see, and knowing that the witches have tricked him, with regards to one of the

prophecies they told him, yet he still believes that he cannot be killed.? ?What?s he that was not born of

woman?? Such a one am I to fear, or

none? the only shred of hope that he has is the final prophecy of the

witches, even though he already knows that they have betrayed him already.? He is at such a loss, and doesn?t know what

to do that he will hold onto any kind of hope.?

Even if it is from someone who has already tricked and betrayed him and

so he knows he should not be placing his trust in.? Everything in his life has gone and he has lost his dignity,

self-respect, the respect of others, his friends and family and everything he

was living for.? If Macbeth doesn?t hold

onto the sayings of the witches he will have noting left, he will have lost

absolutely everything.? Macbeth still

has an air of confidence about him.?

When Siward confronts him he goes into the situation by trying to scare ?Thou?lt

be afraid to hear it? Macbeth tells him that if he discloses his name to

him he will be afraid.? This shows his

confidence at the face of death because he is still influenced by the witches,

right up until the end.? Macbeth kills

Siward, which conveys the idea that nobody can harm Macbeth and it increases

his belief in the witches and the prophecies they gave him.? ?Weapons laugh to scorn, brandish?d by

man that?s born of woman? he is once again full of confidence, which is

boosted by him defeating Siward.?

Although Macbeth has killed someone the audience has their sympathy for

Macbeth come into play because we realise that it is only a matter or time

until the witches? final prophecy crumbles around Macbeth and this is too taken

away from him.? When we see Macbeth alone he

refuses to kill himself, ?Why should I play the Roman fool, and die on my

own sword?? Macbeth will not die of his own hand.? If it comes to him having to die he will do so with more dignity

and honour than suicide would give.? The

audience can here see that Macbeth is the man that he used to be, he will not

end his own life because of what he is facing.?

He is going to go into battle with whoever comes his way and do as much

as he can to defend himself and his castle.?

Macbeth reminds the audience that inside him is the solider who would do

all in his power to defend his king and country.? Macduff decides that for his own sanity he must be the one to

kill Macbeth, to avenge the murder of his family, otherwise it will haunt him

for the rest of his life, but when he confronts Macbeth he doesn?t get the

reaction that he wanted.? Macbeth

refuses to fight Macduff ?of all men I have avoided thee: but get thee back,

my soul is too much charged with blood of thine already?.? Macbeth shows here recognition of what he

has done, he will not fight Macduff because he already has a heavy soul.? Macbeth doesn?t want to kill any more and he

has had enough.? He makes reference to

the murders of the family of Macduff saying that he has enough of the blood of

his family on his hands and he will not have any more.? Macbeth says that he has shed enough of

Macduff?s blood through the murders of his family.? This will aid the audiences? pity for Macbeth because this is the

first time that Macbeth has showed remorse for the murders of Lady Macduff and

her children.? This was the most brutal

thing that Macbeth did and although seeing his remorse does not change that it

makes the audience soften a little in regards to their murders because we

didn?t know until now how he felt about it.Macduff will not except that

Macbeth will not fight him, he wants to avenge the murder of his family and so

pushes Macbeth into fighting him.?

Macbeth initially has the upper hand in the fight, partly because of the

confidence that he has through the witches? prophecy.? ?I bear a charmed life, which must not yield to one of woman

born? the confidence Macbeth has is due to him believing he cannot be

killed by a man born of a woman. ?He

brags about this whilst fighting with Macduff and uses it as a weapon to try

and shatter the confidence of Macduff.?

However the opposite happens, Macduff replies by telling him that he was

not born of a woman ?Tell thee Macduff was from his mother?s womb untimely

ripp?d?.? Macduff was born by

caesarean section and so was technically not born, the witches have tricked

Macbeth again.? Macduff therefore can

kill Macbeth and so all his confidence was because of noting.? Macbeth is understandably shocked.? He has had all that he put his trust in

ripped away from him in a second.? He

reacts by blaming the witches ?Accursed be that tongue that tells me so, for

it hath cow?d my better part of man: and be these juggling fiends no more

believed?.? He curses the witches

because he now realises that he has put all his hope into something that is

false and unstable.? Macbeth now

realises the extent of the witches trickery and what it has done to him, to his

life.? He loses all confidence and stops

fighting ?I?ll not fight thee? Macbeth backs away from Macduff and

refuses to fight him.? This shows that

all Macbeth had was that false prophecies of the witches which gave him the

confidence and will to do things.?

Macbeth is reduced to nothing ?Then yield thee, coward? he is not

even half of the man that he used to be, without the reassurance of the witches

Macbeth is nothing, he has nothing.? It

is like this is all that he was going on for, because he had the reassurance

that he would be safe.? The audience

will feel sorry for Macbeth by his reaction because we know that the prophecies

of the witches was all that Macbeth had, he has lost everything and we see how

it effects him.? He is at a loss and the

audience can sympathise a little because we have seen all that Macbeth has been

through, his pain and fear as well as his brutality, and we realise that it was

only the witches that kept him going.?

When someone has lost everything, all that they lived for, it is only

human for us to feel some sympathy for them.However once Macbeth is free of

the witches it is as if he sees things more clearly.? ?To kiss the ground before young Malcom?s feet, and to be

baited with the rabble?s curse?Yet I will try the last? he refuses to live

so that he can bow down before Malcolm; Macbeth has done so much in his life

that the thought of this is ridiculous.?

He will not give up and submit to Macduff he going to go out with a bang

he will go out fighting.? For the first

time since his encounter with them Macbeth is free from the witches.? He is not burdened with the things that they

have told him, he is once again his own person.? Macbeth has nobody left, his wife his dead, and he is free of the

witches, now he is not being manipulated or persuaded by anyone.? His actions are once again his own and we

see much more clearly the Macbeth from the start of the play, this is aided by

him wanted to go out fighting and refusing to give up in the face of almost

certain death.?? This will create sympathy

because the audience knows how much Macbeth has been dependant on other people,

he murdered Duncan because of his wife and everything after that he either did

out f fear because of what the witches told him.? This is the first time that Macbeth has been dependant on himself

and not other people and so the choices that he makes now are because of him

and no one else.Macbeth and Macduff go off

stage to fight and the audience is introduced to the father of Siward.? He is being told of the death of his son, although

we know that it was Macbeth that killed Siward we cannot help but see the

situation in Macbeth?s shoes and not those of Siward.? The conversation is about honour in death, ?Why then God?s

solider be he? Siward says that because his son was not stabbed in the back

he is proud because it means he went out fighting like a true solider.? It shows that his son was not a coward and

didn?t give up in the face of death, he is a solider of God.? We refer this to Macbeth because we know

that this is exactly what Macbeth has done.?

He has gone into battle against all the odds and not given up.? The last glimpse that we had of Macbeth was

of him being noble and like the Macbeth he used to be.? This aids a feeling of pity for him because

he has done the right thing for the first time in a while and we see that

without the pressure of other parties he is a good man.? This adds to the sense of loss and waste,

the situation that he is in could have easily been avoided.? Macduff kills Macbeth and then

everything seems to go back to the way it should be ?We will perform in

measure, time and place? now that Macbeth is dead everything can get back

to the right order.? Malcolm is the

rightful heir to the throne, as he is the son of Duncan and because of the divine

right of kings it is he who should be the king of Scotland.? With everything back how it should be the

country is a better place and order has been restored.? The land will be better now and everything

will be as it should be.? However there

is the reflection on Macbeth himself ?Of this dead butcher and his

fiend-like queen? Macbeth and his wife created havoc throughout the country

and without him the country is a far better place.? The play is left with a sense of relief, that because of the

divine right of kings all is good again.?

However there is a sense of waste created as well, that things didn?t

have to turn out like they have done, yes Macbeth deserved to die but it is a

pity that he has.? Through Act 5 Shakespeare

builds up pity and sympathy for Macbeth because of the way in which Macbeth is

coping with his life.? He creates a

feeling of waste and loss for Macbeth.?

The audience have been reintroduced to the real Macbeth slightly towards

the end of Act 5 which reminds us that he was not always bad and he only ended

up in the situation he was in because of mistakes that he made and stupid

judgements.? The audience sees how

Macbeth has been wrapped up in the world of evil and hence how this has led to

his eventual downfall.? Although it is a

hard task for Shakespeare to create sympathy for Macbeth, especially with the

audience last seeing him associated with the murder of Lady Macduff, before Act

5.? He does succeed in doing so, through

the use of Lady Macbeth, soliloquies and other dramatic techniques.