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.