The Complexities of Macbeth As any good character, Macbeth, of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, has several different intriguing and well-thought-out layers to his character. Whether it is the thrill of Macbeth’s daring side, or the interesting psychological aspects of his thought processes, Macbeth has a unique element that can seem to relate to everyone in some way. Macbeth is a prime example of a human being faced with varying degrees of everyday conflicts, emotions, and morals. He makes and exponential impact on both the reader, and all his fellow characters, by displaying several aspects of life that make people truly human An effective way to understand the impacts, thoughts, and nature of a character is to learn about their motives, morals, …show more content…
Macbeth clearly demonstrates his inner conflicts within the first act. He begins to have frightening thoughts of killing King Duncan for his own power, and Macbeth’s awareness of these immoral thoughts remains throughout the entire play. Now, although Macbeth has the ability to perceive what is morally logical, he does not always follow through. After Macbeth learns of the prophecy, he grows eager to fulfill these great revelations; being the flawed creature that he is, Macbeth had a steadily increasing measure of greed and angst that grew with each success. After a certain point, Macbeth had learned to ignore the guilt that nearly gnawed him raw after such heinous crimes. Only then did the greed and natural instinct to success really take hold of Macbeth’s mind. …show more content…
While it wasn’t unheard-of, it was still very frowned upon to be the murderous tyrant he was. Macbeth, with the rather firm encouragement of his wife, killed the king of Scotland. As it was previously mentioned, this crime wasn’t committed with second thoughts before it was done and a heavy cloud of guilt afterwards. Not only did Macbeth’s actions leave him and his wife with their own personal storm of discomfort, but it left a few such as Malcom and Macduff in a very sticky spot. Malcom being King Duncan’s son was left with only his grief; so much that he even fled to London. Along with his murder of King Duncan, Macbeth had also pursued Banquo with the logic that, since Banquo’s ancestors were said to be future kings, if he could kill Banquo his bloodline would continue to be royalty. After the murder, which was not done directly by Macbeth this time, Banquo’s son swore to avenge his father’s death. Macbeth had, yet again played off his crime smoothly, by mourning with his respected peers at a dinner party to honor Banquo. This murder not only left Macbeth a nervous wreck, but everyone had begun to get suspicious, especially Macduff. One banquet and a conversation with the three witches later, Macbeth makes the choice to flat out stop thinking before he does things. He learns Macduff is a threat, and that he can supposedly not be defeated, so he plans
In the play, Macbeth, Shakespeare uses indirect characterization to compare Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s personalities to convey that one’s actions do not define a person’s identity. In closer view of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, after Macbeth had assassinated King Duncan, he immediately felt guilty for his actions, “ Lisnt’ning their fear. I could not say ‘Amen’/When they did say ‘God bless us”’(2.2.39-40). Macbeth’s sorrowful state of mind after committing treachery portrays him as a man with a frail mind, who cannot stay strong through the actions that he commits. Macbeth can also be described as a cold-blooded man, whose greed for power led him to backstab his own king and kin. However, his actions provide a skewed perception of his true character.
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
In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth the reader watches as Macbeth changes gradually as the play endures. He are transforms from a loyal person with a loving and loyal disposition with other people, into a tyrants who are willing to kill in order to keep himself on the throne. He is tormented with fear, regret, and guilt. When someone does something they know is wrong it causes them to fall prey to their own emotions.
Macbeth shows his desire for power, he was friendly to Banquo before he became the king, but after he became the king, he let three murderers to kill Banquo and his son. “So is he mine, and is such bloody distance That every minute of his being thrusts against my near ‘st of life”(3.1 line 116-118). Macbeth sent three murderers to kill Banquo and his son since they ran away. All he thinks about is to kill more people in order to gain more power. Macbeth didn’t just kill Banquo only, he also killed Macduff’s whole family. “Murderer. What your egg! Stabbing him. Young fry of treachery! Son. He has killed me, mother: Run away, I pray you”(4.3 line 84-87). He killed Macduff’s whole family, he just wanted to make sure he doesn’t lose his power, so he just killed anyone who against him, he’s obsessed with his power, he never cares about breaking other people’s family.
Macbeth’s unfettered lust for power led to his biggest detriment, the transformation into a man living in fear who cannot possibly escape this continuous cycle of trepidation. Though Macbeth may hide these fears behind a strong exterior throughout the play, it remains a primary emotion and potent motivating force in his life.
Lady Macbeth is a complex and intriguing character in Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth. She is a difficult character to embody as her personality seems split between two sides, one that is pure evil, sly and conniving in contrast to her softer, vulnerable, weak and feminine side. In the play we see her in these two main ways. The reader may feel a certain animosity towards Lady Macbeth throughout the first few acts as her personality appears more and more distasteful, in spite of this towards the end she has a serious breakdown over the guilt that torments her, even in her sleep, regarding her hand in Duncan’s untimely death.
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.
Individuals continually deal with general events that affect their personalities. This can either strengthen an individual’s character or lead to one’s demise. William Shakespeare acknowledges these human experiences in The Tragedy of Macbeth with his focus on the protagonist, Macbeth. Fixating his focus on Macbeth, Shakespeare thoroughly portrays the protagonist as a frail human, easily influenced by his environment and personal relationships. Although Macbeth’s decisions determine his plight, he finds himself transgressing when he believes his prophesized throne is in danger. By eliminating what he perceives as threats, he sacrifices his honor, his friendship with Banquo, his wife, and his sanity, resulting in a personality change.
Shakespeare is one of the most influential and famous playwrights of modern times. A major reason his work is loved by so many is because of his insightfulness into the human mind, and one of Shakespeare’s greatest works demonstrating this is Macbeth. This famous play is about nobleman and military man Macbeth and how his tragic choices lead to his inevitable demise. The first and most trying choice that Macbeth has to make is whether or not to kill Duncan, the king of Scotland. Macbeth has to make this decision while being pulled in different directions by two conflicting forces. The force pulling him away from murder is his loyalty and humanity towards Duncan. The other force pulling him towards murder is his loyalty towards Lady Macbeth
The mind of each and every individual is unique in its own special way; some, of which, are steadfast and can roll with the punches, while others bend, conform, or break with the many psychological and physical influences in life. In the play The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth is introduced by the wounded sergeant as a person of battlefield valor and who showed great loyalty for his king, Duncan. His mind, at the time, expresses an authentic adamant and patriotic persona which seems hard to be swayed. It is later revealed that Macbeth expresses a lack in strength of character and is easily corrupted by his lust for power. Encouraged by his wife, nerve racked by the witches, and plagued by his thirst for authority, his
In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Macbeth’s internal conflicts are the main problems he faces in act one. In this act they are many people that cause him to have these internal conflicts. The main people causing Macbeth mental grief are Himself and lady Macbeth. Macbeth's conflict with himself involves him wanting to kill Duncan for the crown, but not being able to go through with this murderous act. At first he doesn’t bat an eye at the thought of killing him, but conflict with himself comes in when he starts to question this. Macbeth eventually thinks about how Duncan just honored him by promoting his position to “Thane of Cawdor”. Macbeth then goes as far as to say to Lady Macbeth, ”We will proceed no further in this business. He has recently honored
The most interesting aspect of Macbeth’s character is that it is flawed. The audience can identify with his human frailties. Despite the fact that Macbeth commits evil and is drawn to the successes he thinks evil can provide him, one can tell he has goodness in him. Shakespeare reveals Macbeth’s moral development through the use of symbolism in the soliloquys which portray
The dark aura surrounding Shakespeare's Macbeth is well deserved, as is the darkness shrouding its title character. Although Macbeth is certainly a villainous, evil man based solely on his actions, a fuller examination of his character's portrayal leads to a more sympathetic view of him. The play does not portray Macbeth simply as a cold-blooded murderer, but rather as a tortured soul attempting to deal with the atrocities surrounding him.
William Shakespeare since the year 1590 has been considered one of the best -if not the best- writer in history. His plays touch on the emotions that have warped humans brains since the beginning of our creation. Macbeth, considered to be one of his finer productions, is no exception. In this tragic tale we find our main character so trapped in his own guilt and self pity that he ends up secluding himself from everyone around him, going insane, and eventually getting murdered. Macbeth has gone down in history as a very infamous character in literature, but he isn’t the only one that makes the story worth reading. For example, we have Banquo; vastly considered Macbeth’s contrast. He’s the “good guy” in a sense, but falls victim to Macbeth.
In the beginning of MacBeth, the title character has not come to power yet; but this does not mean that his hunger for absolute control is not already affecting his mind, despite his outward niceties toward those he reveres. Both MacBeth’s early characterization and his more startling actions as the plot starts to progress are