How much Sympathy do we have for Macbeth as the play Progresses
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... n his hands and therefore has very little choice but to go through with the murder. But he had already really given in to evil before killing Duncan, he had surrendered to his vision and entered the room with daggers in his hands, he kills Duncan to protect himself. The film version would then give Macbeth a clear reason to go through with the murder when it is apparent afterwards that he regrets it so much, he seems in no fit state of mind to be capable of murder before or after as he is in such indecision. The fact that Shakespeare leaves out the murder scene means that we have to make up our own minds about what goes on after Macbeth enters Duncan's chamber. Some will think differently compared to others about what actually happens, hence different people will have differing levels of sympathy for Macbeth after this scene. I myself think that Polanski's interpretation is extremely effective and appeals to me as the most likely set of events after Macbeth enters Duncan's chamber. What we have to ask ourselves is why Shakespeare does not include the murder scene, does he, in not showing us the murder, let us push away the thought that Macbeth really is evil and that he is in fact a cold blooded murder?
After the murder we see that Macbeth instantly regrets the killing of his king, he says, "Wake Duncan with thy knocking: I would thou couldst." Macbeth is in a great panic, he fears that they will be found out at the first moment, "Whence is that knocking?/How is't with me, when every noise appals me?" We can see that he regrets what he has done and, in a roundabout way, we feel sorry for him, regardless of the fact that he has just killed the King of Scotland. He was tricked into the murder by his imagination and comes out ...
