Wednesday 24 September 2014

I'm just wondering, but what are Macbeth's relationships in the play?

Macbeth has several relationships of various sorts, but he puts an end to almost all of them by the end of this tragedy. First, he is friends with Banquo; he and Banquo are generals who fight together (valiantly) to fend off the Norwegian forces in the very beginning, and King Duncan heaps praise and thanks upon them both. They are loyal subjects of the king in the beginning, until the witches foretell Macbeth's future. Macbeth's...

Macbeth has several relationships of various sorts, but he puts an end to almost all of them by the end of this tragedy. First, he is friends with Banquo; he and Banquo are generals who fight together (valiantly) to fend off the Norwegian forces in the very beginning, and King Duncan heaps praise and thanks upon them both. They are loyal subjects of the king in the beginning, until the witches foretell Macbeth's future. Macbeth's relationship with the witches is one of disgust and maybe some fear, then--when he returns to them--one of command (he is the king by then, after all). He is married to Lady Macbeth; their marriage seems to be a good one, except she is greedy enough to talk him into murdering Duncan. 


Macbeth is Thane of Cawdor then Thane of Glamis. This is a Scottish version of "lord," so even from the beginning, he has many people he must protect. In essence, Macbeth begins the play as a worthy thane and a great general, but as he becomes more and more wicked, murdering (in his paranoia) his friends and anyone who may threaten his position, everyone turns on him, even to the point that by the final battle, the men who presumably fight on his side "strike beside [the invaders]." That is, they aren't even trying to hit the men in Malcolm's army. 


Or maybe you were asking about the royal relationships and how they work:


Duncan is Macbeth's cousin, which--in the event Duncan has no sons, which he does--means Macbeth is next in line to the throne. Thus, when Duncan is murdered and his sons (Malcolm and Donalbain) run for their lives, Macbeth is crowned. 

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