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.