Morgan+and+Elizabeth-+moral+issues

The ideas of Betrayal and Traitors are key moral issues in Shakespeare's play __Macbeth__. In Act one the Thane of Cawdor is discovered as a traitor of Scotland. He helped the Norwegians, and after being caught was forced to relinquish his title (which was given to [|Macbeth]), as well as be put to death. When Macbeth becomes the Thane of Cawdor, it foreshadows his future betrayal. “Betrayal  is an important part of the play because that is how the changes in power occur. Macbeth  is rewarded for his loyalty to the king while the Thane of Cawdor is stripped of his title because of his betrayal ” (“Macbeth Book Notes”).

Also in Act one, Lady Macbeth becomes the mastermind behind the original treason that Macbeth takes part in. Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to kill Duncan, but Macbeth feels bad about having to do the deed. It’s the ultimate betrayal because Duncan was kind to Macbeth and was an innocent man. Macbeth is scared for his own soul, if he completes the task of killing Duncan.

When Macbeth kills [|Duncan] in act two, he feels guilty about his betrayal. He is unable to sleep, unable to say “amen,” and unable to wash his hands “clean” of Duncan’s blood; With all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red. (2.2.8-11) Although it is evident that Macbeth is the traitor of the play, he makes Banquo out to be the traitor to convince murderers to kill him. Banquo is murdered because of Macbeth’s betrayal. In today's society there are still traitors among us. An American citizen was accused of treason in 2006: "A California native who has appeared in Al-Qaeda propaganda videos has been indicted for treason, making him the first American to be charged with that crime in half a century" (Eggen).  In act four, [|Lady Macduff] calls Macduff a traitor for fleeing to England and leaving his family behind. Macbeth caused Macduff to flee to England and he is the true traitor. Lady Macduff tells her son (Macduff’s son) that his father is dead. Being a traitor is like being dead to her. The son wants to know what a traitor is, and Lady Macduff tells him that a traitor is a liar and a swearer. The son then comes up with a decent point: “The liars and swearers are fools, for there / are liars and swearers enough to beat the honest / men and hang up them” (4.2.62-64). He tells his mother that there are far more liars and swearers than honest men, and therefore these traitors could beat the honest men because they would be outnumbered.

Nearing the end of the play, in act five, a Scottish force in rebellion against Macbeth, marches toward Birnam Wood to join Malcolm and his English army. Macbeth joins the fighting. This battle was caused by Macbeth’s initial betrayal. Macbeth ends up killing young Siward, the son of the English Commander. Then finally Macbeth and Macduff fight. Macbeth doesn’t want to fight Macduff because he says he already killed so many in his family: “My soul is too much charged / with blood of thine already” (5.8.6-7). Macbeth thinks that if he refuses this one last betrayal he will no longer be a traitor, but this is not true. The two men duel and Macduff kills Macbeth. The //second// traitor of Scotland is then killed. The evil tyrant is no more and Malcolm becomes king. Another moral issue that Shakespeare presents in his play __Macbeth__ is the constant comparison of good versus evil, and how good and evil are presented within a human society. The play opens on the Weird Sisters, three witches who reveal Macbeth's fate and toy with his sanity. In the very first scene, the witches chant the following: "Fair is foul, and foul is fair, / Hover through the fog and filthy air" (1.1.12-13). This incantation is saying that things are not always what they seem. A person can appear innocent, like he/she means well, but they may really be plotting something that deeply contradicts their sleuth guise. The witches' chant sets the stage for the good and evil motif repeated throughout the play. It is next seen when [|Lady Macbeth] (who quickly becomes the evil mastermind behind Macbeth's first murder) tells her husband the plan she devised to kill the king, Duncan. To keep their name innocent and their slate clean, Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to play the innocence role. "Bear welcome in your eye, / your hand, your tongue. Look like th'innocent/ flower / But be the serpent under't" (1.6.75-78). Macbeth then agrees to his wife's orders and kills Duncan while still acting the innocent flower (despite how the aftershock actually affected him) but really acting evil. Today it is known that there is no such thing as magic and witches. Although today's society still recognizes evil beings. Many look to the bible to explain [|good and evil], but there are unlimited ways to perceive the true meaning of each.

A last aspect that presents itself as a moral issue in even today's most civilized societies, is the debate over whether some leaders are tyrannical or natural born leaders. As Macbeth becomes king, his people adore him for being the strong militant leader his "innocent/ flower" (1.1.77-78). But as time goes on Macbeth proves to be a true tyrant. His people have grown to hate him, and his friends have fled from his side. While Macbeth becomes a tyrant, [|Malcolm]shows that he is worthy to be a king. Macduff travels to find Malcolm in England to pull together an assault on the tyrant Macbeth. By keeping his loyalty to the country rather than to the tyrant ruling over the country, Malcolm shows that he is fit to govern the ailing nation. Malcolm displays his diplomacy when he talks of defeating Macbeth and bringing his tyranny to an end. After Macbeth is killed at the end of Act five, Malcolm becomes a king that the people love, and he restores his country to seeing better days as it had done in the reign of the late king Duncan. Today in the U.S. we fortunately lack a tyrannical leader or any kind of dictatorship. Other countries like Cuba and Pakistan have [|military dictatorships] that hurt their countries. The key moral issues in Shakespeare's poem are prevalent throughout the work of literature. The ideas of Traitors and betrayal, good vs. evil, and tyrannical leaders are the most important aspects of __Macbeth__.