History provides many examples of dictators who have resorted to cold-blooded killing to gain absolute power and control, such as Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, but in order to do so, they had to forsake their humanity. In Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth is a tyrant willing to do anything and kill anyone to reach and protect his goal of being the king. However, it is clear throughout the play that these evil deeds take an increasingly large toll on his mind. He begins a descent into darkness that can only result in his inevitable destruction. Shakespeare employs blood and eye/hand imagery to explore the psychological consequences of immorality that devours Macbeth’s sanity. Macbeth starts out as being a fiercely loyal warrior who…show more content… He wants the gloom of evil to overshadow the daylight of kindness. In these words, the eye of day represents tenderness and compassion while the hand symbolizes wrongdoing and agents of sin such as the murderers who were sent after Banquo. The decline of Macbeth is evident in these lines since he talks about his desire to see Banquo dead so he can be free of the fear that cripples him. Greed and selfishness become larger influences on Macbeth’s actions as he kills even the people closest to him to protect himself. However, his humanity hasn’t completely disappeared. The reader gets a look into the internal war Macbeth wages between gentleness and malevolence. He calls out for his darker side to overshadow his conscience, but he still acknowledges that he possesses a shred of morality. Later on, after the murder is complete, Banquo’s ghost haunts him. While he does see this apparition, it is more out of fear that his killed comrade’s descendants would become rulers instead of his own offspring since the son of Banquo escaped. Macbeth evolves even further into a tyrant as he becomes more secure about his position and overwhelming power. He reflects on all his past sins that got him this far: “I am in blood / Stepp’d in so far that should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o’er” (3.4.165-167). He is coming to terms with himself that he has killed so much that stopping would be harder than continuing. Macbeth decides for himself that there is no turning back. The blood in these lines illustrates his corruption and vice. He no longer possesses the moral compass that drove him to question such drastic measures as murder. From this point on, he acts solely on his evil side and masks the benevolence in him. However, Macbeth makes it sound like this decision isn’t one he is excited about; more that it is necessary. This suggests that in the battle
