Human Nature In Macbeth

   In the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth decide, in a great fit of ambition, to kill King Duncan.  Later in the play we see the same two characters undergo a transformation in their personalities after murdering the King.  Macbeth begins the play as a noble soldier and gradually changes into an ambitious and murdering tyrant.  Lady Macbeth begins as a strong, ambitious woman who dominates her husband and gradually changes into a weak and guilt-ridden woman.  This essay will explore the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth before and after the murder of King Duncan.

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

The Human Nature of an individual is the driving force of choice, where a right or wrong path is chosen. This can ultimately be influenced by personal ambitions and moral decisions which could cause conflict due to the excessiveness of power. This is explored through the play Macbeth, where Shakespeare portrays the downfall of characters through complex representations of human nature, discovered through the plot of play. The concepts of power and ambition causing a destruction to the greater chain of being is a constant reflection of their downfall and the lead up to guilt which consequently has an eternal effect on the rest of their lives, leading to their destructive ends. The subversion of gender roles in the Macbeth family are seen through the character construction of both characters, typically for Lady Macbeth as her characteristics converse heavily with women during the Elizabethan period. Shakespeare continually uses the motif of blood, to represent the concept of guilt, in order to preview the complexity of the Macbeth family’s character.

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.

“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.

Shakespeare’s bloody and tragic play Macbeth, written in the seventeenth century, portrays blind ambition, appearances can be deceiving and corruption of power. It follows the reasons behind Macbeth’s downfall. The play analyzes how other outside forces can easily change the path of ones desires and decisions. The witches’ intrusion, Lady Macbeth’s manipulation and Macbeth’s dark desires all interfere and manipulate Macbeth’s decisions. He goes from being praised as a noble soldier to a traitor and corrupt king. In the play, Macbeth commits many terrible crimes; however he is solely not responsible for all of them. The outside factors manipulate his decisions and are responsible for his downfall at the end.

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

‘What is so tragic is the spectacle of a man who could have been a great human being but who loses most of his humanity and greatness by the end of the play.’ Write about the way this theme is developed in Macbeth.

Although William Shakespeare created the play, Macbeth, to be a tragedy, the tragic hero can hardly be considered to be one. For the entirety of one of Shakespeare’s most magnificent works, Macbeth is controlled and manipulated into committing atrocious acts that the witches and his wife desire. He is powerless to their tricks and through their sorcery/cunning words and his own morals (or lack thereof) “sustain[s] the central paradox–the heroic murderer” (Cusick). Despite the fact that he laments the loss of his king, Duncan, he still continues down his path of evil that only has one ending: his death. Although Macbeth gains a few insights on his inner self, his lack of ability to resist manipulation, willingness to kill, combined with his

Shakespeare’s characterization of Macbeth and his consequences reveals his warning about ambitions and its downfalls. Macbeth begins as a noble man who’s ambition ruins him and his true self, leading to his inevitable death. In Act I, Shakespeare presents Macbeth as an accomplished man whose lust for more is fueled by his wife’s ambitions. At this point in the play, Lady Macbeth commonly challenges his masculinity to drive his ambition to kill King Duncan and acclaim the throne of Scotland: “Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou art desire?” (P. 29). Conversely, by Act III, Macbeth’s ambition is self-driven because of the prophecy making him loses his sense of morality, and become corrupt. One such action is the murder of Banquo, Macbeth’s “noble partner” (P. 17): “Who wear our health but sickly in his life, which his death were prefect” (P. 56). Banquo’s murder serves as the beginning of Macbeth’s crumbling edifice, as for each murder he commits, he falls deeper into the world of deception.

Many of people have heard the tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare. The story revolves on a sequence of misfortunate events that take place when Macbeth makes immoral decisions to be king. In the play, Shakespeare shows how power can cause corruption in a human’s brain. Macbeth himself was not a very confident person, though he had a kind soul to begin with, he was easily influenced and gullible. Through the prophecies of the evil beings, an insignificant seed was planted in Macbeth. That spark of wealth and fortune caused the tyrant within him to awake. Which eventually lead to his fatal death. His ambition lead him to murder, go insane and become very superstitious.

The Human Nature of an individual is the leading force of choice, where a right or wrong path is chosen. This can ultimately be influenced by personal ambitions and moral decisions which could cause conflict due to the excessiveness of power. This is explored through the play Macbeth, where Shakespeare portrays the downfall of characters through complex representations of human nature, discovered through the plot of play. The concepts of power and ambition causing a destruction to the greater chain of being is a constant reflection of their downfall and the lead up to guilt which consequently has an eternal effect on the rest of their lives, leading to their destructive ends. The subversion of gender roles in the Macbeth family are seen through the character construction of both characters, typically for Lady Macbeth as her characteristics converse heavily with women during the Elizabethan period. Shakespeare continually uses the motif of blood, to represent the concept of guilt, in order to preview the complexity of the Macbeth family’s character.

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.

The play examines the effects of evil on Macbeth’s character and on his subsequent moral behavior. The later murders flow naturally out of the first. Evil breeds evil because Macbeth, to protect himself and consolidate his position, is forced to murder again (Harbage, 1963). Successively, he kills Banquo, attempts to murder Fleance, and brutally exterminates Macduff’s family. As his crimes increase, Macbeth’s freedom seems to decrease, but his moral responsibility does not. His actions become more cold-blooded as his options disappear. Shakespeare does not allow Macbeth any moral excuses. The dramatist is aware of the notion that any action performed makes it more likely that the person will perform other such actions. The operation of this phenomenon is apparent as Macbeth finds it increasingly easier to rise to the gruesome occasion. However, the dominant inclination never becomes a total determinant of behavior, so Macbeth does not have the excuse of loss of free will. It does however become ever more difficult to break the chain of events that are rushing him toward moral and physical destruction.

F. Scott Fitzgerald once said “That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong”. However, how could it be, that the longings represented in Macbeth demonstrate the longings of human nature itself? The author of the play, William Shakespeare, is perhaps best known for the thorough understanding of human nature represented within his plays, therefore, the constant struggle between the good and evil is evident throughout the play Macbeth as characters such as Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Banquo struggle between the importance of their morals and their strong longings towards power. In real life, individuals can find themselves relating to the characters of the play as their beliefs might transition from putting their longings before their morals or vice versa. Macbeth is a play in which the psychology of human nature is analyzed repeatedly as it encounters temptations and allows the characters to choose a path of light or darkness.