Causes of Macbeth's Personality Change in The Tragedy of Macbeth

“Macbeth” by William Shakespeare is hailed to be one of the greatest tragedies ever written. First performed in 1606, the story of Macbeth is filled with death, guilt, and relatable characters making it a long-lasting favorite among scholars. One of the biggest reasons why the characters in Macbeth are relatable is because they have personalities many readers can relate to. The characters in “Macbeth” have personalities filled with ambition, wit, revenge, and guilt which are feelings all readers can identify with. Though this is also the reason “Macbeth” is such an enthralling read, the reader sees these significant characters slowly driven crazy due to outside aspects that have managed to invade their psyche.

In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, he exhibits the personal transformation of Macbeth, a general with the huge desire. Based on the tragic ending of Macbeth, Shakespeare reveals the versatility and complexity of human nature, exhibits the distortion of natural mind of people. In Shakespeare’s thought, Macbeth’s tragedy is mainly accomplished by three evil acts assassinating Ducan, killing Banquo, and massacre the family of Macduff. Macbeth wants to be a great man with his great ambition. In his initial desire of human nature, he hopes to achieve ambition by proper means; however, under the temptation of witches and instigation of his wife, the original calm, and balance of Macbeth is broken. When his impatient desire tilts the balance between his emotions and his senses, Macbeth comes up with the delusion of killing Ducan and Banquo. Thus, Macbeth is immersed in an extreme self-contradiction that inner good and evil keeps struggling. Author shows the characteristic evolution of Macbeth from an illustrious military general and valiant hero who brings peace and stability to the country to a selfish careerist and a bloody tyrant who only pursues his own goal. Shakespeare depicts Macbeth as the victim of desire and lack of moral judgment between good and evil in order to question the human internal contradiction of conscience and ambition.

The tragedy Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, follows the rise and fall of a loyal Scottish warrior. Macbeth is portrayed as a man of multiple sides, presenting three main traits – bravery, ambition, and self-doubt – throughout the play. The character is an example of how ambition and guilt can have terrible effects on an individual lacking in strength of character. Although some people may perceive Macbeth as malicious, his weak character shows that he is incapable of conquering guilt and self-doubt. The prime themes of the play are: ambition, loyalty and betrayal, good and evil, appearance versus reality, supernatural and fate. Shakespeare presents these themes through the actions of Macbeth and their results: the corrupting effects

“All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!”(1.3.47-49). The three witches prophecies throughout the play are major influences in helping the plot develop. As well they develop the character of Macbeth and reveal the morals he holds. This play by Shakespeare which of the three types he writes is a tragedy. These tragedies are all brought upon by Macbeth’s doing. The heinous murders he commits are all brought upon by the prophecies the three dark and evil witches have spoken to Macbeth. These three witches are perceived as all things evil. They are the living embodiments of darkness and are born to destruct those weak enough to listen. “Macbeth” is a play of evil, hurt and self-fulfillment which are all from the prophecies being brought to Macbeth. Self-fulfillment is “…how a belief or expectation, whether correct or not, affects the outcome of a situation or the way a person (or group) will behave.”(Menton). The witches use their knowledge of this term and idea in order to manipulate Macbeth into fulfilling what he has been told, no matter how dark the duty is.

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tragedy in which the main characters are obsessed by the desire for power. Macbeth’s aspiration for power blinds him to the ethical implications of his dreadful acts. The more that Shakespeare’s Macbeth represses his murderous feelings, the more he is haunted by them. By analyzing his hallucinations it is possible to trace his deteriorating mental state and the trajectory of his ultimate fall. Throughout the play Macbeth is never satisfied with himself. He feels the need to keep committing crime in order to keep what he wants most: his kingship. The harder Macbeth tries to change his fate the more he tends to run into his fate. His ambition and struggle for power was Macbeth’s tragic flaw in the play.

Whilst the character of Macbeth is initially portrayed as a noble kinsman, his ambition and motivation, directly influenced by the witches and Lady Macbeth, ultimately transforms him into a corrupt and ruthless tyrant. William Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy “Macbeth” clearly depicts this notion of change, illustrated through Shakespeare's utilisation of literary techniques. The tragic downfall of Macbeth is mainly attributed to Macbeth’s own greed and hubris.

Throughout the story of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth acts in a much despised manner: he becomes a murderer and later, when king of Scotland, a tyrant. Many who have read or seen the play are left wondering how a man’s whole approach to life can change; how Macbeth turned from the hero whom all adored, to the tyrant who was hated and ended up a lone man, fighting for his life.

The character of Macbeth is like a crazy girlfriend, they change so fast. Its starts out great, at one moment she's happy loving and flawless, then out of nowhere she becomes a psychotic crazy lunatic who tries to murder and kill everything that is in her path. Just like Macbeth, the people view him as a kind, courageous noble warrior. But we soon see that Macbeth becomes something that was unforeseeable, as the play unfolded these true traits are displayed. Unlike a crazy girlfriend, she only destroyed the boyfriend's life. While Macbeth's actions and and mind created a world where malice, ruthless and manipulation creates a world of tyranny. Where Macbeth's changes in the play destroyed his marriage and created his political career

Macbeth is at first incredibly affected by the guilt he feels from his actions, but his mind makes him become numb to it in order to deal with it; eventually making him become cruel and insane. This insanity causes imaginary objects to seem real to him. He ends up firmly believing in the existence of multiple images fabricated by his mind. In the second act he sees “A dagger of the mind, a false creation” and says that “I have thee not, and yet I see thee still” (2.1.35-38). Also, he sees the ghost of Banquo in the third act and speaks to it, making exclamations such as “Let the earth hide thee! / Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold” (3.4.93-94). This blurs the line between real and imaginary. It is difficult for Macbeth to tell whether something that seems real actually is or is not. This shows that things can seem perfectly corporeal and obviously real, yet not be at all. His numbness also leads to changing opinions. He starts to question if what he has believed is actually true and determines that some of it is not. He states that “Life’s but a walking shadow. . . a tale / Told by an idiot. . . Signifying nothing” (5.5.24-28). Life is always described as unique and beautiful, or a wonderful adventure, and ambitious Macbeth seemed to hold those opinions at the start of the play. However, by the end, he no longer believed that: he regarded life as a worthless chore. Life had always seemed to him to be one way, but eventually proved to be entirely different. The guilt Macbeth harbors and the insanity that is produced from it elucidate the concept that not everything is as it

How Macbeth's Character Changes throughout the Play In this essay I would be looking at Macbeth’s character on how he changes throughout the play and to base this evidence on weather he was a tyrant or a tragic hero. The play focuses on the changing character of Macbeth and his increasing greed for power. Many factors contribute to the changes to Macbeth throughout the play which cause the character to deteriorate from a man with nobility and good intentions to one who is ruled by ambition and greed.

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the title character is a tragic hero who brings about his own demise through his deeply flawed character. Formerly a courageous man of noble origins, Macbeth’s ambition, foolishness and hubris turn him into a murderous tyrant who eliminates all that pose a threat to his kingdom. By the end of the play it is evident that it is this catastrophic transformation that ultimately leads to his death.

In William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, the supernatural and the evil are demonstrated as forces that coerce people to commit wicked actions that they would not have done on their own. The Witches that talk to Macbeth represent the paranormal and unknown in the novel when they make three predictions and they all come true. It may be argued that Macbeth was destined for these prophecies and that the necessary wickedness to commit such crimes was in Macbeth’s character. Upon closer examination of the novel, it is clear that the witches infected Macbeth and swayed his actions. Accepting this viewpoint is important because it shifts the story’s theme from Macbeth’s evil nature, to the supernatural’s influence over people in power.

Despite all the cruelty, Lady Macbeth is a still a human. Her sleepwalking and her affection toward her late father is her main weaknesses. Even though the sleepwalking has caused negative criticism, however, some supporters claim that it is one of Shakespeare’s creative ability to create an interesting scene that is full of meaning. Macbeth reminds her of her father and this is one of the reasons why she is willing to do everything for him and becomes a very devoted wife for

Life is like a roller coaster with its ups and downs, with incidents that will leave one feeling ecstatic or causing one to feel miserable. Regardless of any case, these episodes will leave a haunting memory that will affect one’s character one way or another. The play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare exhibits the changes of one’s nature through their adventures that occurs over the duration of their life. Macbeth a noble from Scotland, starts off earning the title Thane of Cawdor and soon after inheriting the title, his ambition towards the throne starts to grow. The closer he reaches the throne, his character evolves into something that causes a negative effect to his political career and his marriage. Macbeth’s personality that once

Macbeth is a very complex character whom reflects man's thirst for power through the drastic changes of his personality; thus being one of the slightest reasons in which make this intriguing character, greatest of all Shakespearean’s well-known works.