Temptation and fall in Macbeth and the Adam and Eve narrative

Macbeth and Adam and Eve

The story of Adam and Eve is one in which a fall occurs and punishment ensues. Adam is the upright first man, created by God, who is tempted by Eve to violate one of God\'s commandments -- namely, that the two should not eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen 2-3). Adam succumbs to Eve\'s pressure (she herself is tempted by Satan) and does what he knows he should not do, accepting Eve\'s rationale for why they should eat the fruit. In Shakespeare\'s Macbeth, a similar situation is found between Macbeth, the upright defender of the land ruled by Duncan, and Lady Macbeth, who tempts her husband to commit regicide -- i.e., kill Duncan and take the throne for himself. At the root of both stories is a desire on the part of the two couples to overthrow that which is higher than them and usurp control for themselves. Their ambition, however, leads to their falls: Adam and Eve are thrown out of the Garden of Paradise by God and made to suffer death. In Shakespeare\'s play, Lady Macbeth loses her mind and finally her life and Macbeth wades deeper and deeper into blood and nihilism before finally losing his own head. This paper will show how Macbeth relates to the Adam and Eve narrative by discussing the pivotal scenes that develop the arc of the story.

The first scene to start the arc of Macbeth is the temptation scene. This scene essentially opens the play and involves Macbeth along with his friend Banquo returning from battle where they have just played a major role in putting down a rebellion against Duncan. Macbeth is considered a hero is returning home to receive the thanks of his king. However, on his way he is met by three witches who plant in Macbeth the idea that he could be king. This is similar to the way in which Satan disguised as a serpent tells Eve that she and Adam can be like God. Macbeth is intrigued by what the witches say and demands to know: \"Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more: / By Sinel\'s death I know I am than of Glamis; / But how of Cawdor?\" (Act 1, Sc. 3, 72-74). Macbeth is captivated by their prophecy that he \"shall be king.\" Eve is also captivated by what Satan tells her about the tree: \"God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil\" (Gen 3:5). Eve is seduced by these words as much as Macbeth is seduced by the promise of the witches. In both cases, it is evil luring the good to do what it should not.

In Act 1, Scene 5, Macbeth is met by Lady Macbeth who begins to plot with her husband on killing Duncan in order to become king himself. She even uses the serpent imagery and thus relates the scene to the Adam and Eve story. She tells Macbeth: \"Bear welcome in your eye, / Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower, / But be the serpent under\'t\" (Act. 1, Sc. 5, 66-68). She is essentially telling Macbeth to act like Satan -- to disguise himself and his evil thoughts -- to act like a friend to Duncan as he hosts the king but to secretly be plotting his death. Like Adam, Macbeth listens to his wife and does the deed that he knows he should not. He even has a qualm about it before finally doing it. He knows that there will be consequences to pay for killing his king and he reasons thus: \"In these cases / We still have judgment here; / that we but teach / Bloody instructions, which being taught, return / To plague the inventor\" (Act 1, Sc. 7, 10-12). Macbeth knows he should not murder Duncan. However, Lady Macbeth is relentless: \"Screw your courage to the sticking-place\" (Act 1. Sc. 7, 60) she tells him as he attempts to dissuade her from what she wants him to do. She is persuasive and he does as she desires -- he kills Duncan.

The killing of Duncan transforms both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth -- just as Adam and Eve are transformed when the eat the forbidden fruit: the latter see themselves as though for the first time and realize their nakedness and feel ashamed. Their passions are no longer under the perfect control of their reason but are instead out of control. So, too, with Macbeth and Lady Macbeth: she states, \"A little water clears us of this deed,\" (Act 2, Sc. 2, 83) -- but it is not true. Her mind is deeply impacted by their transgression as is Macbeth\'s. He stops caring at all about life and starts murdering one after another of his men. He shows no care or concern at all for life or for even being king anymore, stating his nihilism in the following soliloquy:

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

To the last syllable of recorded time,

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life\'s but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more: it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing (Act 5, Sc. 5).