Macbeth+Project+-+Josh+M+-+acrostic+poem


 * M**uch darkness resided in this one,
 * A**lthough it was not always that way.
 * C**hoosing to descend into a downward spiral,
 * B**arely giving it a thought.
 * E**ven though he knew the consequences,
 * T**umbling down this former hero went.
 * H**aving lost grasp on his former self.

In the acrostic poem about Macbeth, I wanted to write about how, even though a character like him, had so much promise at the beginning of the play, he allowed himself to turn into a dark, evil version of his former self. During the scene where Lady Macbeth was convincing him to kill Duncan, I felt as if he almost just lost his grip on all moral values. Originally, he was not going to kill Duncan, stating to Lady Macbeth: “We will proceed no further in this business” (1.7.31) (followed by explaining that he had loyalty to Duncan). This stance, however, did not last long, as Lady Macbeth could convince Macbeth to reverse his opinion rather quickly. Macbeth, in debating the killings beforehand, knew what he was doing, but after the fact he was afraid to face the consequences (2.2.54).


 * L**ed her husband on a murder spree.
 * A**iming her sights on the king.
 * D**emoralizing the one who trusted her most.
 * Y**earning to take control of the throne.


 * M**aybe she could have done it,
 * A**lthough the guilt would have overcome her,
 * C**ementing her path to insanity.
 * B**ut she postponed that trip,
 * E**ncouraging her husband to make it.
 * T**hough she could not escape the guilt, however,
 * H**elpless from any way out.

In the acrostic poem about lady Macbeth, I wanted to describe how Lady Macbeth was the selfish individual of the play who utilized her husband to do something that she was too terrified of to do herself. Throughout the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth demonstrated herself as the more power-hungry and ambitious individual of the two (as she was the one who was able to convince Macbeth to go forward with the killings in act 1 scene 7). At the same time, however, she proved herself to not be able to cope with the guilt of the killings. Even though she displayed willingness to kill her own child in order to accomplish a deed, stating: How tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me. I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this” (1.7.55-59), it is likely that she was simply stating this just to convince Macbeth to proceed with doing her dirty work. This is because, eventually, Lady Macbeth goes insane from the guilt associated with convincing her husband to go through with the killings (with hallucinations of bloody hands occurring during act 5 scene 1).


 * B**oth he and Macbeth,
 * A**cclaimed as heroes.
 * N**ever did he give into the temptation,
 * Q**uite the opposite of the traitor Macbeth.
 * U**nfairly ended, his life was.
 * O**pened for haunting, Macbeth had become.

In the acrostic poem about Banquo, I wanted to write about how I felt Macbeth and Banquo were two characters on parallel paths at the beginning of the play (both heroes in battle, along with both of them receiving prophecies from the witches), but Macbeth took a turn for the worse when he gave into the temptation of accelerating his rise to the throne (in an effort to ensure that the witches’ prophecy would come true). Banquo, however, decided to allow fate to take its course, but this was interrupted by Macbeth when Banquo was killed by the murderers. I also wanted to mention how Banquo would not be “gone” for good in the play, as his ghost would be able to haunt the troubled Macbeth later on in the play.