A Dead Butcher And His Fiendlike Queen

?A Dead Butcher And His Fiend-like Queen? How Satisfactory Do You Find Malcom?s Condemnation Of Macb Essay, Research Paper ?A dead butcher and his fiend-like queen? how satisfactory do you find Malcom?s condemnation of Macbeth and his wife ??????????? The above quote comes from the end of the play, after Macduff brings in the severed head of Macbeth. Before we can analyse the quote we should first find the definition of ?fiend? and ?butcher?. The word fiend according to the Oxford Dictionary means ?The Devil; evil spirit; person of superhuman wickedness (esp. cruelty or malignity)?, ??????????? The play is about a leader of men who is portrayed as a loyal, honest and trust worthy person who turns against his own king in a bid to rule the country. I believe the three witches

have led him to this decision. The word butcher has two meanings. According to the dictionary the word butcher means ?One who slaughters animals for food, dealer in meat or a person who causes or delights in bloodshed.? Although Macbeth doesn?t slaughter animals for food, he still gains from murdering somebody, like a butcher. A butcher kills animals for gain, in his case to make money. Macbeth also gains from killing, by killing Duncan and Banquo he receives and keeps his position of king. I do not believe that Macbeth however is delighted by bloodshed although he does cause it. Does this make Macbeth a butcher? As we go through the play the character of Macbeth changes. ?For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name), disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel, . . .? . . .

Till he unseamed him from the nave to the chops?The above quotation is one of the first descriptions we hear of Macbeth. It describes Macbeth as a brave soldier, who like a butcher ?unseamed him from the nave to the chops.? So we now know that Macbeth could be described as a butcher at the beginning and the end. The cutting from the nave to the chops is a very bloody horrifying image. However in this case Macbeth is not described as a butcher, he is being described as brave Macbeth.? It is also clear that Macbeth shows Machiavellian traits."Hence it should be noted that in taking hold of a state, he who Seizes it should examine all the offences necessary for him to Commit, and do them all at a stroke…. For injuries must be done All together, so that, being tasted less,

they offend less…" Machiavelli gives this key paragraph of advice to all future leaders who are willing to obtain the status of leader by using criminal means. Macbeth is an example of someone who obtains his kingdom in a criminal manner, as he and his wife conspire together to kill the present king and blame his murder on his drunken guards, then after set about killing to keep control of the throne. The main question we need to ask is who is the real Macbeth? Is it the Macbeth we know at the beginning of the play who is a ?loyal kinsman? to his King, or the cruel ?butcher? we know at the end. I will first look at the three witches. FIRST WITCH: ?All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis? SECOND WITCH: ?All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor? THIRD WITCH:

?All hail, Macbeth! Thou shalt be king thereafter ? This is part of the first meeting with the three witches. After hearing this Macbeth doesn?t throw the suggestion immediately away, instead he asks for them to ?tell him more?. This shows that maybe the seed had already been planted, and the witches helped the seed to grow, and with the persuasion of his wife finally come flourish. ??????????? It was Sigmund Freud who said ?the power from knowledge creates discomfort?. "Good sir, why do you start, and seem to fear, Things that do sound so fair?"Macbeth?s new knowledge makes him uncomfortable. He realises the implications. His first thoughts considering murdering Duncan appear, which scare him, as he for previous parts of his life has always stood by and supported the