From A Hero To A Devil

William Shakespeare(1564-1616) is one of the most influential writers in the world's literature.For more than four centuries,Shakespeare and his works have been the focus of attraction of the World's literature.Shakespearean dramas have been commented for centuries. They have exerted a profound influence on the field of the literature.So does Macbeth.This thesis analyses the internal necessity of Macbeth's transformation from the psychoanalytic perspective.This thesis is divided into four chapters besides the introduction and the conclusion.The introduction first gives a brief view on the position of Macbeth,and then it puts emphasis on the plot of it.Lastly,a brief view is given on the structure of the thesis and the significance of the study.Chapter one provides the theoretical framework.This chapter reviews the researches that critics made both at home and abroad,and it gives a particular introduction on Freud's model of human psyche.Chapter two discusses Macbeth's conflict between the id and the superego.Macbeth is a hero.He is brave and successful,loaded with honors and enjoying every prospect of praises.The desires hid in his deep heart is triggered by the witches' prophecies.The witches' prophecies cause Macbeth's hard struggle.However,under the moral principle of the superego,his energy of the id is repressed.Chapter three concentrates on Macbeth's second conflict between the id and the superego. Macbeth tells the witches' prophecies to Lady Macbeth immediately and at this moment Lady Macbeth becomes the decisive factor that incites the conflict between Macbeth's id and superego. Because of the incitement of Lady Macbeth,his desires come into his consciousness,and he commits a series of mistakes:murder of King Duncan and Banquo.After murdering,Macbeth suffers a lot,and he hears voices and knocking that others do not hear.He sees bloody dagger and Banquo's ghost.All these delusions are the evidences of the conflict of his id and superego.In Chapter four,analysis is on the third conflict between the id and the superego.When Macbeth can not stand the image of Banquo's ghost appearing in front of his eyes,he revisits the witches who prophesy his destiny.The witches' ambivalent words again make Macbeth's subconsciousness float to the surface of the consciousness.He now is deeply obsessed with the prophecies.Believing the witches' prophecies,Macbeth's superego is lost absolutely,and he becomes a carrier of the id.He overcomes his fears and goes ahead cruelly.He kills Macduff and his family,and becomes a devil.The last part is conclusion.This thesis thinks that Macbeth's tragedy comes from his desire for higher status and greater power.The witches' prophecies enkindle Macbeth's desire,making his id comes to the surface of consciousness.Then with the influence of Lady Macbeth,he commits murders.Eventually he becomes so evil that he cannot even think rationally for himself, and becomes a carrier of hidden id and a total devil.