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Fear in Macbeth by William Shakespeare Essay

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Fear in Macbeth by William Shakespeare Fear motivates us to do many things no matter if they are right or wrong. In Macbeth fear was the main motivating factor and in the end fear influenced the outcome of the play. All of Macbeth’s actions were done out of fear, not only fear of being caught but also fear of the witches’ prophecies. He was afraid that they might be true and tried at all costs to prevent them from happening. The whole play was inspired by fear and what it can do to a person. Firstly Macbeth had just killed Duncan the King of Scotland and blamed it on his son. He got away with it and became king however he remembered the witches’ prophecies. They claimed that he would be king …show more content…

His fear becomes evident in this scene as well, “But to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo stick deep…” Macbeth then has Banquo killed but his son Fleance escapes in the attack. Next Macduff refuses to accept Macbeth as king and flees to England to join Malcolm. The witches also tell him to beware of Macduff which angers him and this drives him to kill Macduff’s family. More fear of losing the impending battle with England makes Macbeth start doing anything that will give him an edge in the final battle. Macbeth’s fear starts to consume him and he can no longer sleep and is ravaged by guilt over what he has done. At the start Lady Macbeth was the one pushing Macbeth to kill Duncan but as the play goes on she becomes weaker as Macbeth becomes stronger. Her role in the play becomes smaller and smaller as she ends up being driven mad by the guilt and she ends up taking her own life thinking that the torment will end when she is dead. This taking of her life demonstrates her fear and in the end what fear can do to a person. The witches’ prophecies are a main source of fear for Macbeth. With each new vision Macbeth falls deeper and deeper into an evil spiral from the witches’ first prediction that Macbeth will become king which made him kill Duncan. When Macbeth went back to the witches he gained some more knowledge, “Macbeth,

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