How is external conflict shown in macbeth?

Answer 1

There are a number of conflicts and types of conflict dealt with in Act 1. The bloody sergeant and Ross in scene 2 describe two battles, using warlike imagery, such as the simile "as cannons overcharged with double cracks". The sergeant appears to relish the gruesomeness of the battle, as he describes how Macbeth "unseam'd him from the nave to the chaps and fixed his head upon our battlements."

Much of the conflict, however, is internal. Macbeth, in two soliloquys and a prolonged aside, is torn between two impulses. Thus, his statement in scene 3, "This supernatural soliciting cannot be ill; cannot be good." which recalls the witches' chant from scene one, "Fair is foul and foul is fair." The difficulty in telling good from bad and right from wrong is at the heart of the difficulty which Macbeth faces in making decisions. Although he does not use this kind of language, the same conflict is going on in his soliloquy at the start of scene 7.

There is another conflict between what things are and what they seem to be, in the intentional deceptiveness of those seeking to hide "their black and deep desires." as Macbeth says in scene 4. Lady Macbeth sums this up best in scene 5 when she says "look like th' innocent flower but be the serpent under it.", and Macbeth in scene 7, "false face must hide what the false heart doth know." Lady Macbeth also uses images of covering up in her soliloquy in scene 5 with, "come, thick night, and pall thee in the blackest smoke of Hell, that my keen knife see not the wound it makes."

Another internal conflict is the conflict between the stereotypes of men and women and the reality of human beings. Lady Macbeth in scene five asks the gods to "unsex me here", so that she can be less of the stereotype of what a woman is in order to be the person she really is. In the course of doing so, she violently attacks her own capacity to be a mother: "come to my woman's breasts and take my milk for gall", in scene 5 and "I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from its boneless gums and dashed the brains out" in scene 7. In the same speech, she attacks Macbeth by pushing him toward an artificial sterotype of manliness. "When you durst do it, then you were a man." These conflicts will be pursued later in the play by Lady Macduff and Macduff, the foil couple to the Macbeths.

Answer 2

External conflict in Macbeth is primarily shown through the characters' interactions and relationships with one another. For example, the conflict between Macbeth and Macduff is external as they clash over power and loyalty. Additionally, the battles and physical confrontations in the play illustrate the external conflicts between characters.

Answer 3

He uses soliloquies and asides that show his true feelings, like his guilt for wanting to kill Duncan and looking for justification.

Answer 4

A lot of fighting with swords, reports of war, people getting murdered and so on.

Answer 5

Good guys win, bad guys die. Conflict is resolved.