Appearance Vs. Reality Of Macbeth Essay

     In Shakespeare’s classic tragedy of Macbeth the main character Macbeth is driven from his status as a well respected warrior and lord of not one, but two Scottish regions to a dishonest, unloyal murderer. Macbeth gets caught in a web of lies and vile acts of murder in which he brings about his own demise. His criminal actions lead up to his tragic ending of life. ‘ They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly, But bearlike I must fight the course.’ His great ambition and gullibility of the witches predictions are two of the biggest factors of his downfall;however, Lady Macbeth was probably the biggest influence in the whole tragedy.

Through the soliloquy, the audience gains insight into Macbeth’s innermost thoughts. He names multiple reasons as to why he should not kill King Duncan, noting that Duncan is his guest, kinsman and a good king. He also admits that the only motive he has is the “Vaulting ambition” residing inside of him. Here he names his own hamartia, his fatal flaw, and acknowledges that to give in and commit such a deed, would result in his “deep damnation”. While still undecided on the matter, Lady Macbeth enters, and, seeing his indecision she decides to manipulate him into the decision that suits her; for after all, she is almost if not as ambitious as her husband. By questioning his manhood, his bravery, even their marriage, she successfully leads him to make the choice to kill the king. We now must realise that although the witches’ prophecies and Lady Macbeth’s taunts were a catalyst for Macbeth’s treachery, they never force him to make these errors in judgement; it must have been something that was already inside of him that caused him to decide this. There must have been some inherent evil already a part of his character.

Macbeth is very faithful and honorable general in the beginning of the play. However, once he rebels to king due to three witches plot, his character and personality changes completely. He becomes an atrocious and tyrannical ruler. Furthermore, his understanding of kingly rule is exposed in his words in act 4 scene 1: “Time, thou anticipatest my dread exploits: / The flighty purpose never is o'ertook / Unless the deed go with it; from this moment / The very firstlings of my heart shall be / The firstlings of my hand.” (Shakespeare 4.1.162-166). His evil character, which changed after becoming a king, matches with his understanding of kingly rule – he believes that king can do anything even though it is a dread exploit.

"Macbeth" is a tragic play that was written by William Shakespeare in the early 1600’s. It revolved around the character Macbeth and his urge to become king of Scotland. Macbeth had to do anything possible to become the king including murder, lying, and deception. However, Macbeth committed these evil deeds due to some influential people in his life. Between Macbeth’s wife persuading him to do anything to become king and the witches prophesying over him causes Macbeth to try and bury the past and control the future.

3. 157-159) Macbeth’s arrogance is made apparent with the immediacy of his thoughts of becoming king and it is clear that the supernatural has given him arrogant ambition as Macbeth is already beginning to think of how he will be crowned king. Macbeth eventually decides he will show his “Black and deep desires” (1. 4. 58) and murder Duncan, the current king of Scotland. This is a shift from Macbeth showing loyalty to Scotland and the king as he now has arrogantly, for the benefit of himself becoming king, murdered Duncan, the king of Scotland. Duncan was greatly admired and respected by the population of Scotland. Macbeth himself describes Duncan as “meek” (1. 7. 17) and being “so clear in his great office” (1. 7. 18). When Macduff first realizes the death of Duncan, he describes the scene as: “O horror, horror, horror!” (2. 3. 73) Macbeth acknowledges that the reaction to Duncan’s death would be mournful before murdering him: “Pity… / Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye, / That tears shall drown the wind” (1.7. 21-25). However, Macbeth’s only goal is to become king, not to please the population of Scotland who admires their king greatly and sees him as a righteous person. After tempting Macbeth with the idea of becoming king, the supernatural gives Macbeth arrogant ambition, forcing him to contrast his loyal and courageous personality, which motivates him to kill Duncan.

“Macbeth” a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, portrays, how the main character Macbeth, transforms from a war hero, to a murdering villain. Macbeth starts out as the thane of Glamis and steadily rises to become King of Scotland. The higher Macbeth rose on his road of power the more corrupt and evil he became. The character change of Macbeth ignites the whole theme of the play.

It is also clear who is to be the target for the forces of evil; the

    Macbeth's internal combination of ambition and passivity create his susceptibility to the witch's prophecies and allow him to commit murderous deeds, but his unwillingness to take action-and to do evil-create his internal conflict that ultimately leads to his downfall. Although Lady Macbeth tries to goad Macbeth into action, it is Macbeth's character flaw that causes him to take action.  At first Macbeth is unwilling to murder Duncan, citing his loyalty to Duncan

Topic: Macbeth’s coronation dinner and his reaction to seeing Banquo’s ghost. The weird sisters appear and speak to Macduff after King Duncan is killed. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth prepare for Banquo’s funeral and tell the story of their interaction.

The “Tragedy of Macbeth” by William Shakespeare tells a tale of deceit, murder, and ambition, beginning with a cutthroat rise to power, followed by calamitous downfall. At the start of the play, Macbeth is a brave and loyal captain in King Duncan’s army, but after three witches prophesize that he himself will become the king of Scotland, and that those born of a friend, Banquo, will be king after him, Macbeth is overtaken by ambition and gluttony. Instigated by his wife and his own lust for power, he murders Duncan, assumes the throne, and subsequently sends mercenaries to kill Banquo’s sons. While awaiting battle, Macbeth addresses the death of his wife in Act V, scene 5. Throughout the

Macbeth is the main character in the play and makes a large impact on the entire storyline. He makes drastic changes; he changes from good to evil. Many things caused this change to happen. When the story first starts, Macbeth is a very loyal and respected general in King Duncan’s army.

    Macbeth shows signs of having a good heart and good intentions, but he also shows that he has a weak mind that ignores and disobeys what his good heart tells him is right. The reader can see Macbeth's good heart when Lady Macbeth tries to persuade him to kill Duncan. At first Macbeth refuses to do such a horrible deed. He knows in his heart that killing Duncan is wrong and deceitful. Just after Macbeth has received the news from the witches that he will be King, he thinks to himself," This supernatural soliciting/Cannot be ill, cannot be good. . . . If good, why do I yield to that suggestion,/Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair/And make me seated heart knock at my ribs/Against the use of nature?" (I.iii.17). Macbeth's heart is telling him that this suggestion of killing Duncan cannot be good. The reader can see that Macbeth tries to listen to his good heart when he tells Lady Macbeth that he will not kill Duncan,"We will proceed no further in this business./He hath honoured me of late, and I have bought/Golden Opinions from all sorts of people,/Which would be worn now in their newest gloss,/Not cast aside so soon" (I.vii.33). Although Macbeth has a good heart with good intentions, he does not obey and listen to his heart. He allows Lady Macbeth to persuade him into doing what he knows is wrong. Macbeth knows he has chosen the wrong path when he says," I'll go no more./I am afraid

Macbeth subconsciously knows that he may have to kill Duncan in order to pursue the third prophecy, as it is Duncan who is presently king, and the only way for Macbeth to obtain Duncan’s title is if Duncan were to die and lose his title. In this scenario, Macbeth has thoughts of himself being the cause of Duncan’s death, in order to have Duncan’s title passed on to him. Macbeth is soon outraged to discover that Duncan has announced his son Malcolm as the future King of Scotland, Prince of Cumberland, as Malcolm now stands in his way of pursuing the actualization of the third prophecy. When Lady Macbeth receives news of the witches’ three prophecies and the fulfillment of the second prophecy, the enormity of her ambition to make Macbeth become King of Scotland leads her into plotting out the murder of Duncan. When Macbeth hears of Lady Macbeth’s plans to kill Duncan, he is at first unwilling to go through such horrific and drastic measures in order to obtain a royal title. Macbeth gives reasons during his soliloquy as to why he shouldn’t kill Duncan, and then says:

In real life, we should not judge people solely on their appearances. There are many people who appear to be trustworthy but in reality, are not. Appearance versus reality is an important theme in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The theme focuses on characters who are deceived by what appears to be real, and on the tragic consequences that follow this error in judgment. These characters include, Duncan, who trusts Macbeth too much; Lady Macbeth, who tricks by the witches and herself; Macbeth trickes by other people in the play.

     In the tragedy Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, many character traits are portrayed through the various characters throughout the play. Macbeth was one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies. It was completed in 1606 and was most likely first performed before King James I and his royal family at Hampton Court. King James I is believed to be a direct descendent of the character Banquo. Probably the most potent character trait expressed in Macbeth would be integrity or the lack there of. Integrity could be defined as doing the right thing at all costs no matter what the consequences or what would be in the persons best interest. In this play the person that displays the most