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Essay On The Transformation Of Macbeth

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In the story of Macbeth, the main role, Macbeth, transforms from a noble and courageous hero that is well respected among his peers to a twisted and cynical ruler that is wanted dead.
As the play opens, we see Macbeth receiving prophecies from the three witches determining his fate. His is baffled by their predictions and is humbled by them when they refer to him as “Thane of Cawdor”. This act is the only time we see Macbeth as an ambitious but still humble soul. Furthermore, after Macbeth receives their reading he develops an overwhelming desire for prestige and power. His wife, Lady Macbeth, supports him in his endeavors, but once she discovers that her husbands “fate” for power could be blocked by Duncan she deems him a dead man.
Act II …show more content…

They tell him the conditions of his death and the seemly impossible qualifications that any foe would have to meet. In the final vision is Banquo's which startles Macbeth and he demands to know what if means, but before he can find out the witches vanish, which is a callback and slight foreshadowing to Macbeth's back and forth nature of dealing with guilt and his actions. Not long after it is revealed that Macduff has fled to England, where Malcolm is and Macbeth makes a plan to kill his wife and children because he is suspicious that his downfall could be near and wants to send a warning to Macduff to keep to himself. This is another example of Macbeth slowly descending into madness because in Act I he was apprehensive about killing a fully grown man to become king, but as we see here he is willing to brutally murder a woman and her children at the drop of a hat and without second …show more content…

The first time we see Macbeth in Act V is right before Malcolm and the Scottish Army attack Dunsinane Castle and Macbeth's soldiers reassure him that everything will be okay and that their invasion will not succeed. Although Macbeth boasts that there is nothing to worry about recalling the witches earlier prophecies, he still makes the decision to wear his armor after it is announced that an army of Englishmen are approaching the castle, which surely instills some sense of fear within Macbeth. No time later, a scream is heard signalling the death of Lady Macbeth. This sucks Macbeth out of reality like a vortex and he is no longer concerned with the immense army approaching and is instead ridden with sorrow for his loss. This turning event marks the first time since the beginning of the play that Macbeth is not a power hungry person who is willing to do anything to get what he wants. We see him here as a typical man who just lost his wife and his partner in crime in every sense of the word. Although he is grieved he still insists on going into the attack to defend his honor and

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