The downfall of Macbeth

The play Macbeth was written by William Shakespeare during the reign of James I. In his shortest and bloodiest tragedy, the author tells the story of a brave Scottish general, Macbeth, who receives a prophecy from a trio of witches. The witches state that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by dark thoughts and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and seizes the throne for himself. He begins his reign racked with guilt and fear and soon becomes a tyrannical ruler, as he is forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion. The bloodbath swiftly propels Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to arrogance, madness, and death. The tragic figure of this text displays one of the most terrible downfalls of literature, transforming himself into a despicable human being. According to the traditional analysis of Macbeth, the central topic and the reason behind Macbeth’s fatal ending is his ambition. In the Thrift Study Edition of Macbeth (2012:135), it is pointed out that ‘Macbeth’s road to ruin is twisted and branching. He is offered chances to reverse his course and save himself, but he sticks to the path of personal ambition. Each murderous act leads to another, more horrific than the last.’ But there is another possible interpretation. From a postructuralist and deconstructive analysis, there is a theme subtly introduce by Shakespeare in the play that can be moved from a marginal to a more central position. That theme is the incapacity of conceiving a son. This essay argues how the downfall of Macbeth is actually provoked by his concern with infertility and his obsession with producing a male heir to continue his lineage. It is not far-fetched to think Macbeth’s mind was tortured with the idea of being barren if one takes into account what S. Chamberlain explains in Fantasizing Infanticide:Lady Macbeth and the Murdering Mother in Early Modern England (2005:84). She says that ‘patriarchal identity in the early modern period was conditioned upon the perpetuation of the patrilineal line. Without an heir to continue the family name, lineal identity would be lost.’ In Act one, Scene three, the Scottish Warriors have succeeded in their battle against Norwegian invaders. Macbeth and Banquo are on their way back home from battle when they meet three witches. This trio known as the Weird Sisters gives the two men a prophecy: they say Macbeth would become Thane of Cawdor and then King of Scotland, but they also say Banquo will father kings. Macbeth instantly realizes that this prediction means he will not have any heirs to continue the family name. Apparently, when the witches disappear, he forgets about the incident and goes on with his life. In reality, Macbeth’s biggest fear and anxiety was brought to life by the Weird Sisters and from that moment it will stay in his mind forever. Everything he does revolves around the topic. Finally, Macbeth is named Thane of Cawdor by King Duncan, but he proclaims his son, Malcom, Prince of Cumberland, which makes the young man one step closer to kingship and at the same time an obstacle for Macbeth’s fantasy of becoming King. The royal family visits the Macbeth’s castle in scene seven. But that time, Lady Macbeth knows everything about the witches and has made clear she desires to be queen. The tragic hero certainly gives some thought to the idea of killing the king in order to achieve his goals but he ends dismissing it. King Duncan was a good king, who always trusted Macbeth and he never did anything to deserve death, that is what Macbeth tells his wife when he expresses ‘we will proceed no further in this business’ I.vii.31. The lady is able to manipulate Macbeth and change his mind recurring to his weakness. She tells him: What beast was´t then That made you break this enterprise to me? 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.Nor time, nor place, Did then adhere, and yet you would make both; I. vii. 48-52 In this passage, she points out Macbeth’s lack of manliness and that connects him to his obsession with infertility. As B. Weaver puts it in Offending and Desistance: The Importance of Social Relations (2015:116) ‘Becoming a father represents another way of realizing masculinity or brings a new dimension to one’s sense of masculinity (…)’ This means that Macbeth decides to kill King Duncan in a desperate effort to reinforce his masculinity, which is threaten all the time by his incapacity of conceiving. This murder is the first of many to come and opens the way for Macbeth’s downfall. The second event that marks the downfall of Macbeth is the murder of his friend Banquo. On Act Three, Scene One, Macbeth is holding a formal banquet to celebrate his coronation. Banquo is about to go for a ride with his son Fleance. Suddenly, Macbeth encounters them and starts inquiring Banquo about his route. The king hires professional murderers to kill Banquo and Fleance but before meeting the criminals he delivers a reveling soliloquy (...) When first they put the name of king upon me, And bade them speak to him. Then, prophet - like, They hailed him father to a line of kings. Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown, And put a barren sceptre in my gripe, Thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand, No son of mine succeeding. If't be so, For Banquo's issue have I filed my mind (..) To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings! III.i.56-68 Here Macbeth expresses how tormented he is with the idea of Banquo's issue in contrast with his unfertile future. He feels as if he has a "fruitless crown" on his head, a constant reminder of his incapacity of producing an heir. He is not a complete man, but Banquo is secured as one. B. J. Paris explains in Bargains with Fate: Psychological Crises and Conflicts in Shakespeare and His Plays (2013:169) that ‘One of his reasons for killing Banquo is to alleviate his self- contempt and sense of inferiority by removing the person who triggers these feelings (...) One of Macbeth's strongest reasons for wanting to kill Banquo (and Fleance) is his anguish at the thought of Banquo's line succeeding to the throne.’ At the end of this event, the three murderers ambush the victims and attack them in the darkness of the night. They only fail to kill the little boy who manages to scape. Even though he is dead, Banquo and what he represents will never leave Macbeth's mind. In Act Three, Scene Four, the king is holding a banquet for his thanes when he is told Fleance is alive and then the ghost of Banquo appears to make the tragic hero lose his senses. Moving further into Act Four, Scene One, Macbeth arrives at the witches lair to ask them about his future. The weird sisters spirit up a series of visions. The first one is an armed head that tells Macbeth to be aware of Macduff, the second one explains that ‘for none of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth.’ IV.i.79-80 and the third vision says that the king should be safe until Great Birman wood comes to Dunsinane. But the worst vision is the one that takes place when Macbeth presses the witches to show him more. The ruler is clearly horrified when he describes his sight: Thou art too like the spirit of Banquo; down! Thy crown does sear mine eyeballs. And thy hair, Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first. - A third is like the former. Filthy hags! Why do you show me this? A fourth? Start, eyes! (...) Another yet? A seventh? I'll see no more; And yet the eight appears, who bears a glass which shows me many more (...) IV.i.112-121 This vision shows Macbeth that Banquo will have a long line of heirs, when he will not have even one descendant. In Act Four, there is another terrible crime. Macbeth knows Macduff is a threat to him so he resolves to kill him. The problem is that Macduff has gone to England to prepare an invasion against Macbeth. The king decides the following course of action in Scene Two: ‘The castle of Macduff I will surprise, / Seize upon Fife, give to th’ edge o’ the sword / His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls / That trace him in his line’ IV.ii.150-152. These murders are not motivated purely by ambition or fear that Macduff will kill Macbeth. As B. J. Dobski puts it in Souls with Longing: Representations of Honor and Love in Shakespeare (2011: 199) ‘It makes no sense from the standpoint of Macbeth’s own interest in securing his rule to destroy the family if he cannot also destroy Macduff at the same time.’ Macbeth kills the innocent family because they represent what he can´t get, they remind him of his obsession with lineage. It it interesting to consider the point of view of S.Zimmerman and G. Sullivan in Shakespeare Studies (2012:60). They say that ‘Macbeth is bent not on producing heirs, but on killing them – whether or not they’re his own (…) He is in this sense not fatalistically inferring his own barrennes but rather actively embracing it.’ It seems like since he won’t have any sons, Macbeth wants to make sure none of his rivals have heirs neither. When Macduff is told by the messenger Ross what happened at his castle, he wants revenge. Because ‘He (Macbeth) has no children’ IV.iii.215, he decides to kill the king. Macbeth’s death has been planned. So far, it has been proven how the king tries to kill the sons of his enemies, but Macbeth’s own private sphere should be analyzed, too. Because he is so obsessed with the lineage of other men, he “murders” his own possibility of conceiving an heir with his wife, Lady Macbeth. In Act One, Scene Five, there is her famous soliloquy: (…) Come,you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me, from crown to toe, top-full Of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood, Stop up th’ access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between The effect and it (…) I.v.39-46 The lady asks the evil spirits to help her get rid of the emotions and restraints of being a woman. If she adopts the cruelty, courage and strength of a man she would be able to do what is necessary. If she is “unsex”, then she will never be capable of giving birth. As S. Chamberlain clearly explains in Fantasizing Infanticide: Lady Macbeth and the Murdering Mother in Early Modern England (2005: 82) ‘She would readily kill Macbeth’s progeny to secure her husband’s succession, but in killing the progeny she must likewise destroy his patrilineage, rendering his short- lived reign a barren one.’ Because the Thane of Cawdor can’t do the deed himself, she sacrifices her fertility to evil spirits. In any case, Macbeth never attempts to have a child, he is just too concentrated on the succesors of Duncan, Banquo and Macduff. In the last act of the play, Lady Macbeth dies off stage in a solitary and sad room with almost no support from her husband. It this essay it has been shown how Macbeth has such a strong obsession with continuing his patrilineage that he is capable of committing the most cruel crimes towards the ones who personificate this obsession. He engages in horrible situations that actually prevent him from focusing on conceiving and lead to his death in the hands of Macduff. He deeply desires to have a long line of progenitors but at the same time he embraces his barrenes. Only Shakespeare knows if the Macbeths are biologically infertile for real, but that the perpetuation of patrilineal line was necessary for a man to feel manly enough and that the topic provoked many anxieties on society, cannot be denied. Bibliography: Pope, R. (1998). The English Studies Book. Oxford: Routledge Shakespeare, W. (2012). Macbeth Thrift Study Edition. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. Chamberlain, S. (2005). Fantasizing Infanticide: Lady Macbeth and the Murdering Mother in Early Modern England. College Literature 32(3), 72-91. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Retrieved December 6, 2016, from Project MUSE database. Shakespeare, W. (2014). Macbeth. Oxford University Press. Weaver, B. (2015). Offending and Desistance: The Importance of Social Relations. London and New York: Routledge. Paris, B.J. (2013). Bargains with Fate: Psychological Crises and Conflicts in Shakespeare and His Plays. University of Florida: Insight Books Dobski, B. J (2011). Souls with Longing: Representations of Honor and Love in Shakespeare. Lexington Books Zimmerman, S. and Sullivan, G. (2012). Shakespeare Studies. Madison – Teaneck: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press