Critical Analytical Response on Macbeth

“Dreams do come true, if we only wish hard enough, you can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it. ” James M. Barrie. Dreams, it can be defined as fantasies, desires or goals, it is hope, aspiration and ambition but most importantly, it is life. Dreams exist in every human being, from little children to the elders, they all have dreams. One can has as many dreams as he wants, from small to big but to accomplish them is not an easy task.

To accomplish a dream, in requires hard work, ambitions and sacrifices, one need to surmount every kind of obstacles to achieve his dreams even to go against conformity.

In the play “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” by William Shakespeare, Hermia decided not to conform to the laws and went against her father in order to pursue her dream to run away with the man she loved, Lysander. Also in one of Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth”, Macbeth because of his dream to become King of Scotland, he chose not to conform and committed regicide against King Duncan but in the end because of his dreams and ambitions was over the limits, Macbeth had to pay for the price.

The road to dream can be tragic and arduous; it can lead one into great happiness but can also devastate and destroy one. In the “Midsummer’s Night Dream” by William Shakespeare, Egeus, an Athenian nobleman, marched to Theseus’s court with his daughter Hermia and two young men which were Lysander and Demetrius. In the court, Egeus expressed his distraught on how his daughter was in love with Lysander and not Demetrius, the man whom he wanted her to get married to but she refused, therefore he wanted Theseus to punish Hermia by execution if she insisted on refusing to marry Demetrius.

After hearing Egeus, Theseus granted him full right to determine his daughter’s marriage and also warned Hermia that if she disobeyed she would be sent to be a nun or executed according to the law. After the discussion in the court, Hermia had a talk with her lover, Lysander to run away together from Athens into the woods to be wedded. Because of her dream to live with Lysander, Hermia decided not to conform to the law to marry the man her father had chosen for her but to follow her heart.

It was not easy to disobey her father and abandon the city, but since losing her dreams meant losing her will to live, Hermia had to decide what was best for her life which was to live her dream with the man she loved. In another one of Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth”, Macbeth was born a noble man and a loyal general to King Duncan whom he had served under for many years, he had already achieved everything he had ever wanted, to be thane of Glamis and thane of Cawdor, and also had the King utmost trust.

After the war with the Norwegians and the traitor Macdonwald, on the way back to Forres, the King’s castle, Macbeth heard the witches’ prophecies of him being King of Scotland, after that he began to have ambitions and dreams for the future but was disheartened when the King announced that his eldest son Malcolm to be heir to the throne. After telling his wife about the witches’ prophecies and the disappointment at King’s announcement, Lady Macbeth came up with a plan to kill King Duncan immediately during their party that night.

At first, during the party, Macbeth decided not to proceed with the plans since it went against his nature as loyalty and amicable and also against the conformity of the laws, but because of his ambitions and dreams were already too high, he followed his wife’s corrupted plan to commit regicide against the King during his sleep. Macbeth’s action showed that because of his dreams and desires to be King; he was willingly to commit any deeds to achieve it even though it meant to kill the King and steal the throne for himself and because of that dream, he had to betray his loyalty and humanity to be King.

Not all dreams are good dreams; sometimes it is a nightmare that one can never be awaken from. After accomplishing his dream to be King, Macbeth because of his desires to maintain his throne forever, he had used murderous intentions to keep the throne including killing his best Banquo because of the prophecies that his children would be King hereafter and massacred the entire Macduff’s family while he was in England upon hearing the witches’ warning about Macduff. During his reign, Macbeth obsession to the throne had made him an unjust King, therefore Malcolm and Macduff fled to England to request for an army to over throw Macbeth.

After the English King had granted Malcolm and Macduff the English army, with Malcolm was the commander the English and Scottish armies joined forces in Birnam wood around Dusinane castle where Macbeth was staying. In Macbeth’s castle, everyone including servants, doctors and even soldiers had fled for their lives except Macbeth since he desired to be King forever and foolishly believed in the witches’ prophecies the he could not be killed by any man of woman born.

After the huge army broke through Dusinane castle, Macbeth in order to protect his throne had killed numerous of soldiers but in the end, he was killed by Macduff. Because of Macbeth dreams and ambitions of being King of Scotland, he chose not to conform to the laws and rules, therefore he became an unjust King who killed his best friend and his comrade’s family and at the end he had to pray the price for dreaming too high. Dreams, for some it is an aim for a higher future, a hope out of the darkness and a chance for something new.

The road to achieve a dream is harsh, sometimes cruel and requires much self- sacrifices and most importantly to defy conformity, it can lead one to joy and happiness but some dreams can destroy one’s life. In the play “Midsummer’s Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare, Hermia, even after the duke of Athens gave her father full rights to decide upon her marriage with Demetrius and warned her about the consequences if she did not listen to her father, she could become a nun or to be executed, but despite all that, she decided not to choose conformity of the rules but to follow her dream and escaped with the man she loved.

Also in the play “Macbeth” also written by Shakespeare, Macbeth because of his dream of becoming King of Scotland, he was blinded by greed and chose not to conform by the laws and rules so he committed regicide against King Duncan, whom he had served for many years and since he dreamt too high and chose evil to keep the throne to himself, at the end he had to pay the price by being killed by Macduff.

In life, it is natural to dream, sometimes to accomplish dream some had to chose not to conform to the laws and rules, and like mentioned above it can bring light to one’s life but in some cases dreaming too high and defy conformity can take away the life of its victim.