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To what extent is Malcolm’s extreme condemnation of Macbeth as a “dead butcher” justified?

At the end of the play, “Macbeth,” Macbeth is described as a “dead butcher.” In this essay I will discuss whether this is a fair judgement or not. The term “butcher” is referring to Macbeth’s cruelty and the fact that he has killed so many innocent people, needlessly and often brutally. When Macbeth is described as a “butcher,” he has at this point been murdered and beheaded. Although there are times when Macbeth does not appear to be completely heartless and at times we admire his bravery and sensitivity, but others when there seems to be no justification at all for his evil deeds. In this assignment I will evaluate whether Malcolm’s extreme condemnation of Macbeth as a “butcher” is justified or unjustified.

The true definition of a butcher is someone that slaughters and dresses meat. A butcher is ruthless, fearless and a murdering person whose job it is to kill and slice up animals. Macbeth shows some of these characteristics in the play, but it is arguable whether or not Macbeth should be defined as a “dead butcher.”

The first scene of the play involves three witches in an eerie setting, which portrays the image of evil and hatred in the upcoming scenes. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is seen as a brave and valiant character, which all the other characters seem to love and admire. The Captain describes Macbeth to the king as “brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name).” Ross describes Macbeth as “Bellona’s bridegroom.” Bellona was the Roman goddess of war and Ross portrays the image that Macbeth is good enough to marry Bellona, the goddess of war.

At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is portrayed as a “butcher” in an acceptable manner when he fights valiantly for his country, and “butchers” the “merciless Macdonald” who committed treachery against his own country, Scotland. Macbeth kills Macdonald by slicing him from “the nave to th’chaps” and puts his head upon the battlements as a warning to others who might commit treachery. This behaviour is considered as noble by King Duncan who calls him “valiant cousin” and “worthy gentleman.” Macbeth’s bravery is admired at this point in the play as he helped guide Scotland to victory in battle, and was then awarded with the title “Thane of Cawdor” as well as already owning the title “Thane of Glamis.” This would mean Macbeth would gain money, land and prestige.

Macbeth then goes on to meet the three witches who envisage Macbeth and Banquo’s future. Macbeth becomes unquestionably ambitious when he is told that he will become Thane of Cawdor and then King. Macbeth continues to question the witches visions and becomes very curious and wanting to know more, he asks them to, “Stay…Tell me more.” When Macbeth is awarded with the title Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth begins to believe in what the witches have told him and begins to consider how he may become king. Macbeth also says aside (a soliloquy), “Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor! The greatest is behind.” Macbeth believes that the greatest is yet to come.

When Malcolm is pronounced Prince of Cumberland and next in line to the throne, Macbeth begins to think of how he can alter his future. He says aside, “Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires! The eye wink at the hand!” Macbeth is thinking of doing evil to become King and is asking for the stars and darkness to hide his evil thoughts from the light. It is as though he is becoming a traitor after taking on a traitor’s title.

Lady Macbeth is presented as evil and powerful because she easily manipulates Macbeth and seems to be planning Duncan’s murder. Macbeth doesn’t agree immediately, but seems to be overpowered by his wife. This is unusual because in the time this was written, women were seen as weak characters, so having a powerful woman may have been quite a shock to the Shakespearean audience. This is a role reversal as it would be seen to be the man who is powerful and manipulative.

Macbeth delivers a soliloquy (a speech made by the character alone on stage whereby the audience gains access to their innermost thoughts and feelings). He weighs up the murder of Duncan and what he has to gain in opposition to Duncan’s saintly behaviour as King, and realises that his ambition is the only thing making him think of murder. This imagery presents Duncan as heavenly which is suitable because the King was believed to be God’s representative on earth, according to “The Divine Right of Kings.”

“The Divine Right of Kings” was a belief system whereby people believed that the King was appointed by God and was God’s representative on earth. No man had the right to question a king and the king had power over his subjects and decided whether they lived or died. To commit regicide (to kill a king) is the most terrible crime any man could commit. Macbeth is fully aware of the enormity of the crime he is thinking about committing.

Macbeth decides to abandon the plan to kill Duncan, but Lady Macbeth manipulates and forces him to reconsider. She accuses him of being a coward and lying to her, neither of which are true.

On his way to kill Duncan, Macbeth hallucinates and sees an imaginary dagger floating in front of him. Macbeth says, “Is this a dagger which I see before me… sensible to feeling as to sight? Or art thou a dagger of the mind… Proceeding from the heat-oppressèd brain?” Macbeth’s hallucination is caused by paranoia and suggests Macbeth’s disturbed state of mind.
When Macbeth kills King Duncan, he is assisted by Lady Macbeth. This tells us that Macbeth was not powerful and was too weak to completely partake in the murder, so he needed the help of Lady Macbeth. She drugs the guards and leaves their daggers ready for Macbeth so that he may frame them easily. Foolishly Macbeth brings the daggers back with him so Lady Macbeth has to return to the chamber with the bloody daggers in order to frame the guards so that their crime is covered up and undiscovered. Macbeth shows us a weakness here because he is weaker than a woman who is thought to be weaker than a man.

Macbeth kills Duncan brutally and needlessly, so he shows his first act of true butchery, but he is highly remorseful. When he looks at his blood stained hands he so shows regret by saying, “This is a sorry sight.” Macbeth also says when there is a knocking at the gate, “Wake Duncan with thy knocking! I would thou couldst!” Macbeth wishes that Duncan would wake up at the sound of the loud knocking, but he knows that this is impossible.

When Macduff discovers Duncan’s dead body, Macbeth becomes more in control of the situation and is able to stay calm and act as though he knows absolutely nothing about Duncan’s murder. Macbeth also takes action himself, without the help or prompting of Lady Macbeth, kills the two guards, who have been framed by Lady Macbeth, because he did not want them to be able to protest their innocence. He told Lennox and Macduff that he killed the guards because he was furious and his loyalty to Duncan was so strong that he felt that the guards needing to get what they gave. Here is a use of dramatic irony as Macbeth does not seem to have any loyalty to King Duncan at all because he was the one to murder Duncan. Macbeth is also starting to take much more control of the situation and Lady Macbeth seems to be losing control of the situation-role reversal.

Macbeth then goes on to plan the murders of Banquo and Fleance. Macbeth wants Banquo murdered because Banquo was with Macbeth when the witches told him that he would be King in the future. Macbeth thinks that Banquo might suspect him as Duncan’s murderer, so he has him killed. Macbeth wants Fleance dead because Banquo was told that he would be “the foot and father of many kings.” Macbeth sees this as a threat towards him and wants his own sons to become Kings, so he has him killed as well. This is particularly cruel as Fleance is only a child and Banquo is also Macbeth’s comrade. Macbeth abuses his power as King by getting others to do his dirty work for him. By getting others to murder for him, he seems to be less heartless than first thought. Macbeth also decides to murder Banquo and Fleance against the will of Lady Macbeth.

Macbeth’s wickedness is growing stronger; he has committed himself to the path of evil and can never go back. “Thinks bad begun make strong themselves by ill!” Here Macbeth realises that by doing one bad deed, he must do more to cover his original crime. The king was meant to be like a father to his subjects, but Macbeth is the opposite of what a king should be and is killing his subjects.