What is the nature of evil? Shakespeare’s Macbeth uses the seven deadly sins from scripture to answer this question. Pride, lust, envy, greed, gluttony, sloth and wrath corrupt Macbeth. Macbeth’s pride in himself and prophecy, lust for power and envy of King Duncan drive him to regicide. He becomes greedy and gluttonous, using power only for his benefit. He is slothful in his duties, becoming a tyrant. Wrath transforms Macbeth into a purely destructive force. Evil affects Macbeth’s personality, actions and the lives of everyone around him. Pride begets Macbeth’s downfall.
When Macbeth confronts the witches, they state; “Laugh to scorn The power of man, for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth. ” (4. 1. 81 – 83) Macbeth gains supernatural pride: he no longer fears womenborn. Lady Macbeth goads Macbeth into killing the king, questioning his word; “When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man. ” (1. 7. 49 – 55) Lady Macbeth uses Macbeth’s pride in his bravery, strength and virtue against him. Macbeth tries to reason his contradicting conscience and inward lust.
Macbeth agrees to commit regicide to protect his valiant image, with invulnerability eliminating fear. Ironically, Macbeth truly possesses none of the qualities he requires constant admiration for, with his vanity and lack of humility attributing to his annihilation. The witches bring envy to the forefront of Macbeth’s mind; “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter” (1. 3. 50). Macbeth realises the power and pride in the position, and becomes unhappy with his Thane status. He desires the crown, becoming scared of what he may do to acquire it; “Let not light see my black and deep desires.
The eye wink at the hand, yet let that be Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see. ” (1. 4. 53 – 55) Due to envy, Macbeth feels a lack of self-worth: this envy breeds disloyalty, leading to jealousy of King Duncan and lust for the crown. Throughout the play Macbeth constantly tries to control his desires. However, his lust for the crown eventually consumes him. Macbeth justifies his lust through holy prophecy: the King’s death and his ascension would happen eventually. Once Macbeth gains the crown he is overcome with guilt and remorse, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand? ” (2. 2. 61 – 62).
The blood symbolises his guilt, and marks transition: Macbeth has committed his soul to evil, and cannot go back. This realisation causes the fracture of his sanity, unable to reconcile regicide with holy mandate and his pride. Once Macbeth becomes king, he is greedy and gluttonous, using power detrimentally. Macbeth fears Banquo: as the witches had pronounced, “To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings! Rather than so, come fate into the list, And champion me to th’ utterance. ” (3. 1. 73 – 75) He orders Banquo’s death, not content with and paranoid of losing the crown. He greedily does not want Banquo’s offspring to succeed him.
Macbeth becomes a tyrant, gluttonously ordering Macduff’s wife and child’s death upon hearing of Macduff fleeing to England. These murders inspire hate and revenge in Macduff, showing how Macbeth’s evil breeds evil. Macbeth becomes drunk with power, and sloth consumes him. Macbeth takes the throne, but not its responsibilities using the power all for himself, being indulgent and lazy in his rule. His personality changes, becoming arrogant and insulting his subjects, “If thou speak’st false, / Upon the next tree shall thou hang alive” (5. 5. 39 – 40). The news of Macbeth’s tyranny reaches far and wide.
His forces abandon him as he has abandoned them, joining the English forces outside the castle in the climax. Macbeth’s disloyalty to his duties breeds disloyalty: evil again breeds evil. Macbeth’s final act of evil is pure wrath, ordering his kingdom to death regardless of the enemy or consequences. As he states, “I ‘gin to be aweary of the sun, / And wish th’ estate o’ th’ world were now undone” (5. 5. 48 – 49). Macbeth has become a being of pure hate, sentencing himself and his kingdom to death against the English. Macbeth is usurped by men with greater virtues. Evil only brings destruction, with Macbeth’s downfall symbolising this.
Macbeth falls from hero to tyrant through the seven deadly sins. Shakespeare uses a biblical metaphor: as Lucifer wanted to be as God, Macbeth wanted to be as King Duncan. Evil is a corruptive, destructive force: only a great man can quench its call. Macbeth has no outstanding moral character: his pride, desires and hate of King Duncan consume him. Macbeth’s greedy and gluttonous use of power cause indulgence and discontentment. Sloth in his duties breeds subject disloyalty. Climactically, his sanity is lost and pure wrath consumes him. Macbeth invites evil into his soul for material gain, and therefore invites his destruction.
