Put One Foot in Front of the Other

1. Why do people who are not "evil" take the first step into evil? What, for instance, is involved in taking that first step "down the primrose path to the everlasting bonfire" (Macbeth, 2.3)? What are the consequences of the individual choosing evil (particularly the internal consequences)? Use examples from the text to support your opinion.

I personally believe that every person is born good, and it is the choices that people make along the way that lead them to become corrupt or evil. Macbeth did not start out as an evil character, but as the story progressed, he became more and more power hungry, and eventually became everyone else's enemy besides a few. We see Macbeth's journey "down the primrose path to the everlasting bonfire" (Macbeth, 2.3) evolve, starting with the push from the witches, and ending with his and Lady Macbeth's deaths. 

The first step of becoming 'evil', as shown by the witches' roles in Macbeth is having the idea planted in your head. Macbeth was just coming back from a victory in battle, not looking to be king until the witches gave them the idea that he could in fact be a great king, and should be. As I said before, all people start out as good people, but once they get set on an idea, it doesn't leave their head, and they feel as though they will regret it if they don't do it. Macbeth had the chance to back out when Lady Macbeth confessed that she couldn't kill Duncan, but he didn't back down. 

The next step in becoming evil is losing all sense of what is right in the world. Macbeth could have stopped at just killing Duncan, but because he was afraid of the rest of the prophecy coming true, he decided to not only kill Fleance, who the prophecy was actually referring to, but also Banquo, regardless of the fact that they were best friends. "They hailed him father to a line of kings. Upon my head a fruitless crown" (Macbeth, 3.1). Macbeth is at this point both fearful of Banquo as well as jealous of him, and both of the feelings together lead to this second step towards evil. "It is concluded. Banquo, thy soul's flight, If it find heaven, must find it out tonight" (Macbeth, 3.1). 

The third step in becoming evil is to start to unravel, and go insane. This is first evident during Macbeth's soliloquy with the dagger, in which it is unclear whether or not it is real or a figment of his guilt. "...and on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, which was not so before" (Macbeth, 2.1). This is the next step in becoming evil because it is when those who made bad decisions realize what they have done, and the consequences that come with it. The adrenaline decreases, bringing them back to reality, and for a brief period of time before being overcome with full evil, they remember the difference between good and evil, and regret their actions. 

This stage only lasts for a small amount of time before the last stage, which is being fully taken over to the dark side. This is shown by Macbeth's lack of emotion at the end when Lady Macbeth supposedly kills herself. 
"She should have died hereafter. There would have been a time for such a word" (Macbeth, 5.5). Even when his own wife dies, he shows little to no emotion. Also, in the rare occasion he does show emotion like before his journey down the path, it is anger. This is exemplified by his attitude toward the witches during the apparations, and also towards his servant. 

The consequences of becoming evil are clearly shown through Macbeth's character development. He slowly loses all of the people closest to him, by either killing them or making them his enemies. He slowly loses his mind, leaving his mental health shattered, as well as the fact that he eventually is killed. Seeing as the prophecy spoken made him king eventually, it is interesting to think about what might have happened if he had let it play out instead of forcing it. Maybe he never would have wandered onto the primrose path to evil... 


Works Consulted: 

Shakespeare, William, and Kenneth Muir. Macbeth. Bloomsbury, 2013. 

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