Macbeth Independence And Failure

Macbeth - Independence and Failure

Macbeth
- Independence and Failure

Peasants of the early sixteenth century
are often pictured carrying a bundle of limbs tied with vines on their
backs. This is a perfect metaphor for the events in Macbeth. Macbeth is
one of many thanes, or limbs, bundled together. The thanes are united by
the king, or the vine. Scotland, or the peasant, carries the bundle by
the sweat of his brow. They carry the bundle for fires on cold nights,
or wars, and to build homes, or castles, to protect them from the elements,
or invaders. If the limbs are tied improperly, one limb may slip to the
side and cause the peasant, or nation, to stumble or fall. If the limb
slides completely out, the rest of the limbs may follow because the bundle
is loose. Marriage is like a triangle. Each spouse makes up one of the
leaning sides, and marriage the lower side. The three together are very
strong, but to stand they all must be united. The longer a marriage is
held the longer the bottom stretches, and the more dependent each person
becomes on the other. If one side tries to stand on its own then the second
will fall on the first as it tries to stand. This metaphor also excellently
exemplifies the catastrophe that occurs in Macbeth as both Lady Macbeth
and Macbeth try to separate. Macbeth is a eighteenth century play written
by William Shakespeare. Using these two metaphors, the breakdown in the
relationship between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth and between the king and
the thanes and how they perfectly parallel each other because each is caused
by Macbeth’s will to be independent
.

According to Webster’s dictionary, the
archaic definition of independence is "competence" (1148). To be independent
is not to be "subject to control by others" (Gove 1148). This means that
independence is to be in control of ones decisions and to feel they are
good decisions. Macbeth, on the other hand, feels independence is to not
be subordinate to others like the king.

To be independent, one must be strong.

Inner strength, not physical strength, is needed. Inner strength is only
accomplished by having a high self-esteem. Macbeth does not and must use
others to reach for independence. Macbeth needs this strength: It [Macbeth]
hurls a universe against a man, and if the universe that strikes is more
impressive than the man who is stricken, as great as his size and gaunt
as his soul may be he will fall. (Van Doren 217) According to Macbeth’s
ideas of independence and of strength, he is neither independent nor strong.

He feels the need for both and thus allows nothing, including murder, to
get into his way.

Shakespeare opens Macbeth with the disorder
being stabilized by the king and thanes. The thanes fought "rebellious
arm ‘gainst arm" to curb "his lavish spirit" (I, ii, 56- 7). Macbeth’s
stature increased to fill the space in the bundle of limbs opened by the
death of the Thane of Cawdor for "what he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath
won" (I, ii, 67). "When we first see him [Macbeth] he is already invaded
by those fears which are to render him vicious and which are finally to
make him abominable" (Van Doren 216).At the end of Act I, Lady Macbeth
and Macbeth are discussing whether or not to assassinate the king (I, ii).

Macbeth has not committed himself to this sin and to independence, he has
not broken the commitatus bond that exists between the king and thane.

Likewise, Macbeth’s marriage is unstable as they argue, but their triangle
is still together as they depend on one another.

Lady Macbeth and Macbeth each experiment
with external forces to gain independence from their spouse. Macbeth uses
the witches, on which he becomes increasingly dependent. Lady Macbeth uses
alcohol and Satan to "unsex" her and make her strong (II, ii, 1; I, v,

42). Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth deny their dependence on their aid,
and still require their spouse. Their self denial of their dependence makes
them weak, and the more self denial the weaker they get. As a married couple,
they are splitting away from each other: they are trying to turn their
triangle of dependence into a open square of independence.

The split between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
becomes apparent with the assassination of king Duncan. By the end of their
arguing in the beginning of Act II, the two had not come to a final decision
as to whether to kill the king or not (I, v, 72). Without the consent of

Macbeth, Lady Macbeth tries to kill Duncan but fails, because she lacks
strength and covers her ineptitude with the lame excuse that he "resembled
my father as he slept" (II, ii, 12-3). Lady Macbeth lacks strength, because
she only has conscience strength formed by extreme self denial. Unlike

Lady Macbeth, Macbeth is almost strong enough to complete the task without

Lady Macbeth. "He is driven to the murder of Duncan partly by the constant
goading of Lady Macbeth and partly by his own will to be in control of

Scotland:" he feels power is strength (Watkins 29). His strength comes
from multiple places. It comes from his strength as a warrior, from the
witches’ revelations, and from self denial of his dependence on the first
two (I, iii, 49-50). Macbeth is still not completely independent from his
wife in that he is unable to complete the task and "carry them [the daggers],
and smear the sleepy grooms with blood" (II, ii, 48-56). The scene is painful
in the way it separates husband and wife. Crime had at first brought them
closely and eagerly together, but now they discover how the execution of
the crime separates them...In fact, after the murder they can only speak
in short sentences, not communicating or even answering questions. (Jorgensen

67)

Although he blames his rage on the grooms
for killing Duncan, he was actually mad at himself for committing the murder.

Not until he kills the grooms with his regret does Macbeth become totally
independent from the thanes and slide from the bundle of limbs (II, iii,

108-19). The action of killing the chamber servants was the first action
which Macbeth does totally independent of Lady Macbeth: he does not even
mention killing the chamber servants to her: A stranger to himself and
to others, he is on his way to isolation...but what he sees cannot really
be shared with others for it is the uniquely appropriate and lonely torment
that cannot be felt by others. Even for his wife there will be a torment
of a different kind, one that likewise separates her from others. (Jorgensen

178) This reaction to his regret is the strongest divider between him and
his wife: it ends their relationship of dependence for their temporal existence.

Tree’s limbs do not tie very well, because
they break. Likewise Macbeth incapable of being king, because he is unfit
for the job. He tries to replace Duncan, because he is so filled with self
denial that he can not see the truth: he will never be a good king. Macbeth
wants to be strong and independent at the same time but is very unsuccessful.

Macbeth must use external support to stand and not to lean on Lady Macbeth
so he turns to killing. He has Banquo killed, because he poses a threat.

Macbeth can not do it himself, because they were once friends which shows
his lack of strength to stand erect (II, i, 11). A soon as the deed is
done, Macbeth falls: his control and independence falls. His plan to use

Banquo’s death to restore order and give him strength did not work. Before
all the thanes except for Macduff, Macbeth has a brief moment of insanity,
in which he loses all control and reveals his true strength which has been
hidden by self denial. For her own safety, Lady Macbeth tries to calm the
situation and to make it excusable:

Sit, worthy friends. My lord is often
thus, And hath been from his youth. Pray you, keep seat.

The fit is momentary; upon a thought he will again be well.

If you much note him,

You shall offend him and extend his passion.

Feed, and regard him not. . . (III, iv, 54-9) With little effect, she struggles
to keep order but gives up and has the thanes "stand not upon the order
of your going" (III, iv, 120-1).

Macbeth’s strength from self denial fails,
because he is losing his sanity. To make up for the loss of support, he
returns to the witches. "He may concievably be under the spell of the witches,
may even be possessed" (Jorgenson 64). He is very uncertain of himself
and asks many questions of the witches in search of answers on which he
can be strengthened: "Then live Macduff: what need I fear of thee?", "Who
can impress the forest, bid the tree unfix his earth bound root?" (IV,
i, 82; IV, I, 95-6). His answers do not give him sufficient strength for
he vows to make "assurance double sure and take a bond of fate" (IV, i,

83-4). Again his will is greater than his ability, and Macbeth must have
someone else kill Macduff and his family. As if trying to keep all the
marbles together, each time one slips Macbeth has them killed. Unfortunately
for Macbeth, he is not too successful for Fleance and Macduff get away.

Quickly Macbeth is overwhelmed with his
independence. Lady Macbeth is "troubled with thick-coming fancies that
keep her from rest" (V, iii, 38-9). She is no longer "unsexed" and strong
so she can not sleep. She remains sane and strong longer than Macbeth,
because her strength came from one source, Satan, that would never leave,
but ultimately fell, because her sub-conscience fought against evil and
kept her without rest. She also began to realize the wickedness of her
sin for she said, "all the perfumes of Arabia will not [could not] sweeten
this hand" (V, I, 53-5). The fight in her mind is too hard so she kills
herself.

She leaves Macbeth with the rest of his
subjects. Many of Macbeth’s soldiers are deserting him, and he gets his
wish: to be independent of others (V, iii, 1). He thinks he is independent,
but, in reality, he supports himself on the revelations of the apparitions
for he frequently repeats "until Birnam Wood come to Dunsinane" and "was
he not born of woman?" (V, iv, 60; V, iii, 3). In the end, Macbeth dies
because everything he used for strength was gone.

As soon as Macbeth dies and reunites with

Lady Macbeth, the thanes are reunited by Malcolm who has the qualities
to make a good leader and to keep the thanes together. The suffering that

Scotland had endured ended because "All Hail, king of Scotland" (V, viii,

59). "The passions are directed in their true end. Lady Macbeth is merely
detested; and though the courage of Macbeth preserves some esteem, yet
every reader rejoices at his fall" (Johnson 484). In the end, Macbeth is
independent, because he does not rely on his wife and he does not rely
on the witches. Since the nation was restored to order, his death was for
the better. "The universe that struck was more impressive" so he crumbled
with lack of strength.

Works Cited Gove, Philip Babcock. Webster’s

Third International Dictionary. Springfield, Mass: G. &

C. Merriam, 1967. Johnson, Samuel. The Plays of William Shakespeare.

London: J & R Tonson, 1788 Jorgensen, Paul A. Our Naked Frailties.

Los Angeles: U of CA, 1971. Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. New York: Penguin

Books, 1987. Van Doren, Mark. Shakespeare. NY: Doubleday, 1939. Watkins,

Ronald. The Theology of Macbeth. Oxford: Oxford University,

1964.

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