The Difference Between Kingship and Tyranny

In the play, Duncan is always referred to as a “king,” while Macbeth soon becomes known as the “tyrant.” The difference between the two types of rulers seems to be expressed in a conversation that occurs in Act 4, scene 3, when Macduff meets Malcolm in England. In order to test Macduff’s loyalty to Scotland, Malcolm pretends that he would mshows thesake an even worse king than Macbeth. He tells Macduff of his reproachable qualities—among them a thirst for personal power and a violent temperament, both of which seem to characterize Macbeth perfectly. On the other hand, Malcolm says, “The king-becoming graces / [are] justice, verity, temp’rance, stableness, / Bounty, perseverance, mercy, [and] lowliness” (4.3.92–93). The model king, then, offers the kingdom an embodiment of order and justice, but also comfort and affection. Under him, subjects are rewarded according to their merits, as when Duncan makes Macbeth thane of Cawdor after Macbeth’s victory over the invaders. Most important, the king must be loyal to Scotland above his own interests. Macbeth, by contrast, brings only chaos to Scotland—symbolized in the bad weather and bizarre supernatural events—and offers no real justice, only a habit of capriciously murdering those he sees as a threat. As the embodiment of tyranny, he must be overcome by Malcolm so that Scotland can have a true king once more.

Polanski films the two kings, Duncan and Macbeth, in two very contrasting ways.

Guilt

Some of the most famous and poetic lines from Macbeth are expressions of remorse. “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand?” exclaims Macbeth after he stabs Duncan (II ii 58-59). Similarly, Lady Macbeth is plagued by a “spot” that she cannot remove from her hand: “Out, damned spot! Out, I say. . . What, will these hands ne’er be clean?” (V I 30-37). At first physical remainders of a regrettable crime, the royal blood leaves permanent marks on the psyche of the couple, forever staining them with guilt and remorse. The different ways in which the Macbeths cope with their crimes show how their characters develop: whereas Lady Macbeth is initially the one without scruples, urging Macbeth to take action, it is an overpowering sense of guilt and remorse that drives the Lady to her untimely death. Macbeth, on the other hand, seems to overcome the guilt that plagues him early on in the play.

Polanski shows Macbeth's guilt as manifesting itself in the form of  horrible hallucinations. The best example of this is Banquo's ghost.

Appearance Vs. Reality: Equivocation

"Fair is foul and foul is fair." That's what the witches chant in unison in the play's opening scene and the mantra echoes throughout the play. In Macbeth, appearances, like people, are frequently deceptive. What's more, many of the play's most resonant images are ones that may not actually exist. Macbeth's bloody "dagger of the mind," the questionable appearance of Banquo's ghost, and the blood that cannot be washed from Lady Macbeth's hands all blur the boundaries between what is real and what is imagined.

Lady Macbeth's deceit is highlighted by Polanski through the scene in which she dances, while smiling, with Duncan, whom she plans to murder.

Macbeth's appearance as a god-like figure is the opposite of the murderous reality. Polanski at first shows Macbeth, as king, in the light, but then makes him darker and darker.

Ambition

As Macbeth deliberates, he realizes that "vaulting ambition" is all that compels him to the heinous act of murdering Duncan and that his intent is nothing but personal gain.

" I have no spur
 To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself
And falls on the other. (Act 1, Scene 7)

In Polanski's film and in history, being a king is seen as being linked to God. This was a temptation too strong for Macbeth to ignore, at least subconsciously.
Macbeth's subconscious ambition manifests itself in hallucinations, particularly the dagger.

Violence and Futility

Violence in Macbeth is central to action. The play begins with a battle against rebel forces in which Macbeth distinguishes himself as a valiant and loyal warrior. Later, Macbeth's murder of King Duncan is condemned as an unnatural deed but the play also raises the question of whether or not there's any real difference between killing a man in combat and murdering for self gain. Violence in all forms is frequently associated with masculinity – the play is full of characters (Macbeth, Macduff, Young Siward, and so on) that must prove their "manhood" by killing. Even Lady Macbeth asks to be "unsexed" so that she may be "filled with direst cruelty." At the same time, the play also suggests that unchecked violence may lead to a kind of emotional numbness that renders one inhuman.

 The film also emphasises the futility of violence. In the famous "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" speech, Macbeth says life is "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing" (Act 5, Scene 5). Also, Polanski's final scene shows Donalbain encountering the witches which suggests that the violence will continue without end.