Macbeth Character Analysis

His weakness is also shown in the way that once he starts his path he becomes consumed by the process and plunges deeper into a quagmire of murder and tyranny:

He does things that he would never have thought of doing, such as killing Banquo and trying to kill Banquo’s son. And some other things that Macbeth is now doing are affecting all of Scotland, including Malcolm, King Duncan’s older son, and Macduff, a scottish noble that could replace Macbeth as king. When Malcolm is talking to Macduff he suggests that “I am not treacherous. But Macbeth is.” (4.3.21-22), they are talking about how corrupt Macbeth has become due to too much power. Then shortly after, Macbeth goes on a rampage and starts to kill scottish nobles and their family’s so that he can stay king and have his descendants become king after him. One of the family’s that he kills is Macduff’s. Then out of hatred and grief for his family Macduff meets Macbeth at Macbeth’s castle to kill him. Since Macbeth has gained this power as king, the effects of it make him do things that he wouldn’t normally do which leads to him having the feeling of self hatred, “With blood of thine already” (5.8.6) as he says to Macduff after he had killed his family. The effect of too much power leads Macbeth to do things that he wouldn’t have done and away from demonstrating what it means to be a

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.

A tragic hero is a great or virtuous character who is destined for a downfall. The ultimate fate of the tragic hero in a play is death. Most tragic characters are faced with their weakness, which brings about their demise. In the play Macbeth, Macbeth is portrayed as the tragic hero. He compromises his honor and ignores his moral responsibility in order to gain power and status. The witches prophecies, the influence of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s dangerous ambition lead to his tragic end.

A tragic hero is described as a character who has the potential to be a hero, possessing admirable, noble qualities and exceptional achievements, but who is ultimately led to their downfall and eventual death because of a tragic flaw. William Shakespeare utilized the role of a tragic hero in many of his plays, but arguably the most notable of these characters is Macbeth. Macbeth tells the story of the titular character, Macbeth, a warrior renowned for his bravery, who encounters a trio of witches who prophesy that he will become the King of Scotland. Spurred by his ambition and the persuasions of his wife, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth murders King Duncan, commencing his downward spiral into a merciless tyrant. Macbeth is considered a tragic hero because

In the play Macbeth by Shakespeare, Macbeth turns his back on his morals as his desire for power and his fatal flaw of ambition leads to his tragic downfall. His self-destructiveness, rooted in his ambition, is very apparent especially when considering his series of bad decision-making leading to a spree of murders. Lady Macbeth pushes Macbeth to kill King Duncan so that he could take the throne. This fateful decision quickly leads to his demise, as his guilt is overtaken by his obsession with power. Soon after, Macbeth’s guilt is replaced with evil, as he continues to try to cover his tracks by then killing the King’s guards, followed by killing Banquo, because he felt that he was suspicious of him, and he might find out what Macbeth did.

After marrying the fanciful ideas of destiny obtained from the witches prophecy, and coupling that with both his and Lady Macbeth’s ambition, he commits regicide early in the play. By killing King Duncan, Macbeth undermines a concrete moral tenet of a vassal, unswerving loyalty to his Lord. This loss of morality slowly progresses to madness, and ultimately leads to Macbeth’s downfall as a tyrannic ‘hellhound’ and immoral oppressor of the people. By showing Macbeth’s degeneration, Shakespeare warns the audience of the consequences of loss of morality, and madness that results. In order to fulfil his ambition, Macbeth disregards his morality, and concomitantly, his sanity. His ambition is also shown in his desire for his family to retain kingship, despite the witches prophesying that Banquo’s heirs would be kings. This ambition for his own children ultimately leads him to order the death of Banquo and Fleance: “Banquo, thy soul’s flight, if it must find heaven, must find it tonight.” This ambition however, blinds him to his degrading morality, and lack of support from Scottish lords. By killing Banquo, Macbeth alienates even more of his vassals, who begin to see the depth to which he has been corrupted by power. Macbeth’s unrestrained ambition superimposes itself over his original moral convictions, and turns him into a loathed dictator leading to rebellion, and

Role in Plot: He is another person that Macbeth has to fight in order to secure the thrown.

He feels no remorse for his actions and he massacres people like they are only objects. His cruel deeds are not justified for the greater good of anyone but himself. While Macbeth greedily tries to secure the throne for himself, his country falls into shambles around him. Macbeth, either oblivious or simply ignoring it proceeds by murdering what he believes is his next threat; Macduff’s family. Innocent people are slaughtered under Macbeth’s command; women and children are not safe from his

Throughout Shakespeare’s famous play, Macbeth, the central character Macbeth is represented as both victim and villain. Lady Macbeth manipulated and deceived her husband while The Witches planted the seed of temptation within him. However, Macbeth himself let these influences lead him into a downward spiral that ultimately played a vital part in Macbeth’s want for glory, his ambitious lust for power and his intense and selfish desires through greed that resulted ‘his downfall’.

In conclusion, Macbeth’s ambition and need for power took him from brave warrior to evil murderous ruler, and the only person to blame was Macbeth himself. He began going crazy, his never ending desire for power drove him mad. What started with just wanting to become king quickly spiraled into slaughtering people and worrying about no one but him and his future children's royalty. This thought process eventually resulted in many innocent lives lost, as well as his own. All of this and more proves that the story of Macbeth is a tragedy of character, not

Many people act without thinking or let their pride get in the way. Many want to be the hero, or that guy, this can mess up the end goal or alter life decisions. Throughout the play Macbeth characters act on impulse and this leads to their demise for the most part. Men and women in Macbeth show strength and aggression in a time where women were portrayed as more prim and proper. Lady Macbeth seems more fierce than Macbeth in most situations challenging his manhood to make him do as she wanted. Challenging the manhood of men happened throughout the play. The misconception of masculinity and the way it drives people to act on impulse. This is the main topic or idea, being a man was standing up for yourself, getting what you want and not being afraid of anything. This play showed perfectly how pride and someone's manhood affects their lives.

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is an incredibly complex play that is interpretable in vastly different ways. While transferring the play from its written form to a theatrical production, directors must make the decision whether to portray the ghost of Banquo physically or as an illusion of Macbeth's during Act III, scene four. Banquo’s ghost not being represented physically adds the most depth to the play, allowing the audience to further develop an understanding of Macbeth’s character. The absence of Banquo’s ghost shows Macbeth’s growing hostility and isolation from the other characters. There is also the motif of appearance versus reality where Macbeth has difficulty recognizing the difference between the two. Lastly, the loss of sympathy that the audience feels for Macbeth further establishing him as a tragic hero. The absence of an actor in place of Macbeth’s ghost assists the audience in characterizing Macbeth as the person he is becoming.

With Shakespeare’s Macbeth play, Macbeth himself is a man who has fallen from grace and has been corrupted by the notion of wanting to have total control and power over Scotland and its people. During the process, however, he loses who he once was, and gets what comes to him at the end of the play. With this in mind, the acquiring of self-fulfillment is something that can lead to getting it at all costs, with the inclusion of tunnel vision, greed, and the illusion of happiness.

Imagine a man, digging a grave addressed to him using his own two bare hands. Shakespeare’s Macbeth takes readers back to a medieval Scottish time period where nobility still reigns. Shakespeare’s play is the ultimate display of how man’s desires lead to self-destruction by taking fate into their own hands. Though Macbeth is a highly respected warrior, he is easily persuaded by the people and forces around him to carry out malicious acts that eventually lead to his downfall. Actions speak louder than words, and throughout the play, Macbeth demonstrates dark and evil tendencies that overshadow the good judgment we perceive him upholding by having the titles of Thane and kinsman.