Essay Comparing Macbeth And Macduff

Macbeth is confused as he is arguing with himself on what he should do. He states reasons not to kill Duncan, because Macbeth is his noble kinsmen and the act would bring dishonor. However, he also states reason why he should kill him, because Macbeth will then become king and fulfill the witches ' fortune. Lady Macbeth, who appears in the beginning as the driving force for the murder of King Duncan, also develops internal conflict. At first, Lady Macbeth seems to be a woman of extreme confidence and will. But, as situations become more and more unstable in the play, guilt develops inside her. For instance, she exclaims; "Wash your hands. Put on your nightgown. / Look not so pale. I tell you again, Banquo 's / Burried; he cannot come out on 's grave" (Shakespeare V, ii, 65-67). Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and frets about her evil wrongdoings because she is extremely guilty of her influence on Macbeth to commit the murder. Lady Macbeth reacts emotionally and dwells on her actions as guilt eats at her soul.

Lady Macduff on the other hand, seems to genuinely love and feel for her husband. She is very upset over the fact that he is leaving home, not because she feels it is cowardly, rather because she knows that he is her protector and her one true love and without him she is lacking. This is an obvious difference between Lady Macduff and Lady Macbeth, which helps to highlight the personality of Lady Macbeth.

Many people who have read William Shakespeare’s Macbeth know that Macbeth is the tragic hero in the play, but there another character stands out as a much greater protagonist. Macbeth is the type of character who turned from a loyal warrior to the king into a violent, tyrannical, and conflicted person as he progressively commits crimes inside the kingdom without anyone’s notice, except for one person, who is Macduff. Macduff doesn’t have any flaws and remains sinless and heroic throughout the play. As Macbeth progressively gains power and prestige in exchange for the lives of his king, his friends, and his countrymen, Macduff meanwhile goes through great personal loss in his attempts to stop Macbeth’s tyrannical ruling and to restore justice and freedom to Scotland. It is ironic how Macduff acts so much more nobly than his king. Throughout the tragic events that have occurred in the play, Macduff serves as a heroic figure through his demonstrations of intelligence, loyalty, and righteousness.

In the play Macbeth, ambition, strength, and insanity play major roles in how the characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth behave and react. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth present all 3 of these behaviors at one time or another during the play. However, there behaviors progress in very different ways. While Macbeth gets stronger and more ambitious, Lady Macbeth does the opposite. She starts out strong and ambitious, but becomes weaker and more reserved.

Initially, Macbeth is viewed as a brave and loyal soldier, with Duncan praising him by expressing that “More is thy due than more than all can pay” (1.4.21). At this point, he has not been influenced by the three witches. Yet, by Duncan implying his importance, Macbeth gains a sense of self-worth and this arouses power within. His clear desire to be titled Thane of Cawdor while then having a growing temptation to commit regicide clearly demonstrate the early stages of his corruption and forms a basis for utilizing illegitimate power.

King Duncan was an honest king favored by many. His generosity is shown when he titles Macbeth Thane of Cawdor. King Duncan proclaims, “No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive our bosom interest: go pronounce his present death, and with his former title greet Macbeth” (Shakespeare 8). King Duncan is munificent, but gave Macbeth this title because he cares for the people of Cawdor. He is a fair KingKing since he did this for the better of the people. Morality is proven in the play after King Duncan is rewarded for his great actions. After King Duncan’s death Macbeth states, “So clear in his great office, that his virtues will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against the deep damnation of his taKing-off” (Shakespeare 20). King Duncan was virtuous and was rewarded by being honored and well respected by everyone including his murderer. He was very

After hearing the prophecy that he will become king, Macbeth resolves to leave his future up to fate proving his pride and prestige are very important to him. Once he is told of Malcolm being named successor to the throne, Macbeth decides that if he is going to reach his goal he cannot leave it up to luck. Again Macbeth’s resolve to murder Duncan wavers when he leaves the grand banquet to assess his situation and decide whether he wants to proceed. His arguments include wishing to keep his honor and not kill Duncan for Duncan is there ‘in double trust’. Thus, Macbeth is shown to be clinging to his honor. Finally, Macbeth must stand his ground one last time against his wife who uses tact to emasculate Macbeth. In his final attempt to stop the whole ordeal before it can start Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that he does not want to ‘cast aside’ the honor he has just recently received. Unfortunately, Lady Macbeth will have none of what her husband is saying and so convinces Macbeth to follow through with his plan of murdering King Duncan. Hence, the audience is given the first example of how powerful selfish motives are and how quickly they can spread to others along with cause them to perform unthinkable

Despite his fearless character in battle, Macbeth is concerned by the prophecies of the Witches, and his thoughts remain confused, both before, during, and after his murder of King Duncan. When Duncan announces that he intends the kingdom to pass to his son Malcolm, Macbeth appears frustrated. When he is about to commit the murder, he undergoes terrible pangs of conscience. Macbeth is at his most human and considerate when his masculinity is ridiculed and degraded by his wife. However, Macbeth has resolved himself into a far more stereotypical villain and asserts his manliness over that of his wife. His ambition now begins to spur him toward further horrible deeds, and he starts to disregard and even to challenge fate. Nevertheless, the newfound resolve causes Macbeth to move onward.

Originally, Macbeth is set as being of great value.   He has already earned the title of Thane of Glamis, and is prophesied by the three witches, he will soon take control as the Thane of Cawdor. These titles show that Macbeth is of great importance, and is becoming more and more important. In Act 1, Scene 2, Duncan speaks of Macbeth as a “Worthy Thane”. The way in which the leaders speak about Macbeth doubtlessy shows his respectable and honorable qualities.

Macbeth’s ambitious ways takes over his whole inner self throughout his time of first wanting to be king. Macbeth was thought to be a great leader and war hero before he was king. Macbeth was hatched an idea by three suspicious witches in whom he had never come in contact with before. They told him that he would one day become King of Scotland. After the witches disappeared, he got to think a lot about what they told him and pondered the words they spoke. Macbeth sends a letter to his wife about his feelings of what he had heard. When Macbeth returned back to his castle his wife wanted to lead him down a dark path and feed his ambition. Macbeth decides he wants to go after the crown after consulting his wife. "I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself, and falls on th'other...." (Act I, scene vii) This shows that Macbeth’s only reason to kill Duncan is for his ambition. Macbeth ends up killing Duncan. The way Macbeth killed Duncan made it a great crime scene. Macbeth still

His infidelity breaks the trust between him and Duncan because of his immense betrayal to not only the King, but to the country of Scotland. He quickly becomes a man whom Duncan could no longer rely upon, for this reason, Duncan awards the title to a noble and courageous soldier, Macbeth. Dramatic irony is presented in this line because as Duncan is addressing the unfaithfulness of the old thane, it is followed by the entry of Macbeth to the scene, a man who later misuses his power to betray the King. To Duncan, Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, is appeared to be virtuous and courageous because of his heroic performance in the battle for defeating the opponent, Macdonwald. The King demonstrates his satisfaction towards Macbeth through a conversation with Banquo. He describes Macbeth as “full so valiant, And in his commendations [King Duncan is] fed; It is a banquet to [him]… It is a peerless kinsman.” (1.4.56-60). In this speech, King Duncan truly admires Macbeth’s valiancy and describes him as a man without equal. He congratulates Macbeth for his courage on the battlefield and as followed by the witches’ prophecies of Macbeth, “...All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor…” (1.3.50), he replaces and becomes the new Thane of Cawdor. This speech reveals the gullible nature of Duncan who once trusted the old thane and anew, believes the new thane will be loyal to the country. By all means, Duncan is clueless of

Macbeth’s whole demeanor and mindset changes over the course of the play. Macbeth was very loyal to king Duncan and showed him respect. Macbeth’s wife, Lady Macbeth convinces him that he should kill the king but Macbeth had doubts about it. Killing king Duncan was never on Macbeth’s mind to, but Lady Macbeth called him a coward and further convinced him to kill king Duncan. After the killing, Macbeth faces hallucinations, guilty feelings, and fear which made it hard for him to sleep.

Macbeth develops into a pernicious king as the play advances, as he commits horrendous actions that result in his own wrecking. Nevertheless, he has differentiated himself during the battle against the treacherous Thane of Cawdor, and the King of Norway. He is the brave soldier who leads King 's Duncan force to victory through his strength and skill level. King Duncan addresses Macbeth as his "…valiant cousins (and) / (A) worthy gentleman" (I.ii.25). This shows, how the King recognizes Macbeth 's skill on the battlefield, and therefore rewards Macbeth with a higher title, the Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth displays these characteristics once again in Act IV, as he ignores the witches ' prophecies, don 's his armour and fights against a heavily armed army, which is a greater size than his own Scottish infantry. This performance displays that Macbeth still holds the attributes of bravery as he did initially. For the first time, he makes a decision by setting aside the prophecies. In the play, the townsfolk see their malicious

At the very beginning of the play, Macbeth, alongside companion Banquo, is introduced when returning to Scotland after a fierce battle between the Norwegians and the Scottish. They have just won the war for their king, Duncan, showing Macbeth’s loyalty to the king and capabilities as a great warrior. He occupies a high status and, initially, embodies virtue. Macbeth has inherited the title of Thane of Glamis from his father, Finel. This is initially where Macbeth gets his noble status from. Macbeth then receives another title: Thane of Cawdor. He earns this title by killing the traitorous Macdonald in battle. Macbeth is admired by others and has outstanding qualities, such as his ferocity in battle, his valiance, and his

In the beginning Macbeth and Lady Macbeth had a loving and supportive marriage. They always had each other’s best interest at heart. Lady Macbeth didn’t want nothing but best for her husband. She always supported him and led him in the right direction. Macbeth was promised by three witches that he would be king of Scotland. Macbeth becoming king would make Lady Macbeth queen and she was willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen. Macbeth had a large heart and was always loyal to King Duncan. Macbeth and King Duncan had a good friend friendship. They both thought positive of each other. Lady Macbeth was willing to do anything for her husband to be announced king, even if that meant murder.