The essential moral issue in Macbeth
seems to be conscience versus personal gain. Would you commit an immoral act
if that action meant that you and your family would be financially sound for the rest of
your life? I ask this question to my students, and I am often appalled by the answers.
Many answer yes, even if that immoral act involved murder. But it is a moral dilemma
presented often in literature: Would you sell your soul to the devil?
It is this issue that Macbeth grapples with. In his
soliloquy at the end of Act 1, he lists all the moral reasons NOT to kill Duncan:
Duncan is his king, he is his kinsman, he is his guest. Duncan has also been a good
king. There will be public outcry against his death. There will be consequences,
especially in the afterlife. Yet, Macbeth's "vaulting ambition," his desire for
personal gain, outranks his moral scruples.
Lady Macbeth
has no such scruples. She only sees the available opportunity of killing Duncan while
he is a guest at the Macbeth castle. She knows such an opportunity will not present
itself again. She does not debate the right or wrong of such an action as does
Macbeth.
Yet, Shakespeare explores the effects of such an
action on their psyches and on their relationship. The guilt that Macbeth feels is
overwhelming and plunges his deeper into crime. "Blood will have blood." Once he
crosses the line and loses his soul, he becomes a paranoid tyrant committing more and
more murders. And Lady Macbeth is filled with regret.
No comments:
Post a Comment