Q - Using Act 1 Scene 7 As An Extract, How Does Shakespeare Present Morality in The Extract and Throughout The Play
Q - Using Act 1 Scene 7 As An Extract, How Does Shakespeare Present Morality in The Extract and Throughout The Play
In ‘Macbeth’, interaction with the supernatural and ambition are presented as causes for the
depletion of morality seen in the arc of the tragic hero. Macbeth’s immorality is used by
Shakespeare to make a broader point of kingship: a good king is a king with morality. The
heavily religious Jacobean society would interpret morality as coinciding with Christian values
such as respecting the social order bestowed upon by God- Macbeth’s failure to do so which
lead to his downfall could reveal Shakespeare’s belief that moral virtue is necessary for leaders.
Firstly, Shakespeare depicts the link between morality and rationality as symbolised by the
attempt to justify the murder of King Duncan. While Macbeth was wary of the reasons to not kill
the king, the only justification for committing the heinous deed was his “vaulting ambition”. The
personification is used by Shakespeare to portray Macbeth’s ambition akin to a wild steed -
untamed and intense. The magnitude of Macbeth’s ambition is further emboldened by the
metaphorical horse “which o’erleaps itself/ and falls on the other (side)”. This phrase suggests
an inexperienced rider who “vaults” too vigorously serving as a metaphor for Macbeth’s inability
to tame his unchecked ambition. The verb “falls” could be seen as foreshadowing the fall of
Macbeth’s kingdom however it could also be seen to represent the fall of Macbeth’s morality.
By displaying ambition’s impact on one’s ability to rationalise and make moral decisions,
Shakespeare is establishing the correlation between having unchecked ambition and doing
immoral deeds.
From a religious point of view, Shakespeare presents the difference between Macbeth and
Banquo’s responses to the supernatural as an indicator of their morality. During the first
encounter with The Witches in Act 1 Scene 3, Macbeth urges The Witches to “stay you
imperfect speakers, tell me more”. The imperative phrase “tell me more” alludes to a desire to
garner more information as if Macbeth believes the words of the spirits demonstrating the seeds
of ambition that have been sown in his mind thus marking the beginning of his moral decline. On
the other hand, Banquo is skeptical: “have we eaten on the insane root that takes the reason
prisoner?”. The question mark is used by Shakespeare to showcase the doubt that Banquo has
over whether or not The Witches speak the truth creating a disconnect between Banquo and
The Witches therefore demonstrating how Banquo maintained his moral integrity. The contrast
created by the two responses to the supernatural is used by Shakespeare to provide a
connection between interaction with the supernatural and maintaining a moral conscience. It
could be argued that Shakespeare believes an integral part of morality relies on self control and
resistance to evil temptations.
Finally, Shakespeare presents a lack of morality through the desire to transcend the natural
order. Lady Macbeth yearns for the “milk” of her “woman’s breasts” to be replaced with “gall”. A
semantic field of feminity is created as the lexical choices of “milk” and “breasts” are symbolic of
nurture. The contrast between “milk”, usually associated with purity and birth with “gall” a vile
poison is used by the playwright to suggest that the womanhood of Lady Macbeth is preventing
her from acting upon her carnal desires. Her lust for them to be removed however means she
desires to subvert the rigid gender roles put in place. As a result, the Jacobean audience would
be appalled by Lady Macbeth’s unorthodox behaviour and would cast her as immoral. By
assigning a corrupt woman masculine traits, one could infer that Shakespeare associates those
who subvert social norms as indecent and dishonest.