Macbeth Character Analysis

He's here in double trust: first as I his kinsman and his subject, strong both against the deed; then as his host, who should against his murderer shut the door, not bear the knife myself (39)...We will proceed no further in this business"(41). Yet, Macbeth's desire to become king overrides his feelings for Duncan as he continues to do such evil. Macbeth believes that he can only fix his wrongs with more wrongs, therefore he was, in fact, acting on his own volition. "Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill"(95).

After Macbeth was told the prophecies about him becoming king he had to let his wife know. So after knowing what the future supposedly held for Macbeth, Lady Macbeth started to get power hungry way before Macbeth did. Lady Macbeth wanted the power so badly that she deceived her own husband into doing an evil bidding so they could get the throne and power that they soon desired so much. In (Act 1 scene 5) Lady Macbeth had summoned an evil spirit to take away her decency and fill it with evilness and sinfulness so she could block out the guilt that would come her way. She knew that Macbeth was too full of human affection so she said she would spill her evilness into his ear just so she can get him to do the evil deed of killing King Duncan. Lady Macbeth compares to a manipulative kind of bully who can easily trick you with her influences and controlling manner. If Lady Macbeth was never so power hungry for power after what the witches told her and Macbeth than Macbeth would probably never have done what he had to King Duncan and Macbeth wouldn’t have changed and turned into a dominate, cowardly, manipulative bully. After Lady Macbeth spilled her malicious and devious ways into Macbeth, he turned and took advantage of King Duncan, because in act 1 scene 4 Macbeth said to King Duncan “ The service and the loyalty i owe in doing it pays itself”(Shakespeare 223). Basically Macbeth was saying he has

Selfish desires and ambitions can have great sovereignty over one's actions as their thirst for power only grows. In the play, a loyal, honourable hero transforms into an evil murderer which is driven by his greed and ambition. Macbeth is portrayed as a brave, loyal and courageous nobleman who is incapable of committing evil deeds. Nevertheless, this changes when the witches prophecies are introduced which causes macbeth to think about his aspirations for power and his nobility ranking. He betrays king Duncan when he kills him and obtains the Scottish throne for himself. An example of his loyalty in the beginning of the play in the place when king Duncan thanks Macbeth for his bravery and victory in the battle; Macbeth responds and says, “The service and loyalty I owe, In doing it, pays itself. Your Highness’ part is to receive our duties, and our duties are to your throne and state children and servants. Which do what they should, by doing everything safe toward your love and honour” (I, iv, 25-30). Macbeth is pleading a great deal of loyalty by expressing that serving him is its own reward and

Just as the character spectrum flows from hero to villain, Macbeth also gradually makes his way down the line. In the very beginning of the play (before making his appearance), Macbeth’s fellow Scots and lords praise him for his loyalty and noble deeds. Here, it is made clear that the public initially views him as a heroic figure who is loyal to Scotland; “for brave Macbeth, (well he deserves that name)”(9) Admittedly, Macbeth does unseam a man “from the nave to th’ chops”(9), however this is considered an act of valor in the service of his country and his king. However, Macbeth’s loyalties soon become questionable, as he plots to and then commits the murder of his honored king, Duncan. At this point, the audience

In the beginning of Macbeth, Macbeth is hesitant. Lady Macbeth, being ruthless, tries to convince Macbeth to kill King Duncan, but his conscience is stronger than his ambition. He feels that the king is at his palace in “double-trust”; he is

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

Then ‘tis most like the sovereignty will fall upon Macbeth” (Act 2 Sc. 4 39-42). Ross declares the murder that took place as “thriftless ambition,” and against the natural order. Yet, the irony behind the situation is that “thriftless ambition” has led to Macbeth's rise in power. It is inappropriate to deem him “brave Macbeth” and more appropriately “cowardly Macbeth.” Macbeth’s thought process is Machiavellian in nature, as if the “ends justify the means” and his success is worth what he loses. Becoming the king is his ultimate goal, and now that he has succeeded, the only obstacle in his way of losing that ambition is himself. Gareth Lloyd Evan states in the Literary Companion Macbeth that “However, as long as Macbeth can at least give himself the illusion he has some control over his destiny he seems decisive”(Lloyd 166). Grief and regret are both emotions that Macbeth tries to hide from not just everyone else, but also himself. If he started to be too overwhelmed, his facade would quickly dissipate and reveal a flawed man. He forms an illusion of a perfect situation for himself, away from the vast possibilities in his imagination, swamped by thoughts of possible

Macbeth’s character has developed significantly up to the second act. We are first introduced to Macbeth character in a way that we view him as powerful and Nobel. We get this idea from the quote “oh valiant cousin, worthy gentleman” which is what he is described as by Duncan, who at the time is the king. From this quote Macbeth is portrayed as a loyal and heroic figure who has done much for many, however as we know this was not a smart move for Duncan to make as it makes him come across and weak and seems like Duncan should be giving Macbeth a higher title, which is what the witches had told him before. In addition, this idea of the king complementing Macbeth about all the good that he has done seems to trigger the belief that Macbeth has the ability to be king, even in the eyes of Duncan who is so ecstatic what he has done for the county.

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.

At the beginning of the play, he was very loyal to the king. The King rewarded his service to Scotland with gifts, titles, and gracious praises. For a time, it appeared that Macbeth was going to remain loyal. Macbeth’s quote in act one "Why, if fate will have me king, why, chance may crown me King,” made it seem if as Macbeth would remain loyal.

As we all know Macbeth is a master of lying. Right off the bat he lies about killing Duncan, and he frames Duncan’s chambermen. He thought that unless Duncan was out of the picture he was never going to have a chance to be king. Therefor, he killed Duncan himself

“O worthiest cousin, the sin of my gratitude even now was heavy on me!”(I. i. 347) the king cannot repay him for what he has done for their kingdom. Macbeth is a highly respected warrior because he is loyal, trusted, and honest man. Macbeth is a vulnerable man; he is weak. Letting other people make decisions for him, he becomes more incapable of resisting how people will view him as a “loyal” soldier since he cannot follow through. In the film Macbeth the setting is right in the middle of war. Macbeth has held the enemy facing him, but he hesitates and looks at his soldiers for the okay to kill the enemy. With that being said, he is seriously self conscious and lets others makes the decisions for him. Before he is going to kill King

He even murders the king Duncan and some guard to show that someone went inside the castle and kill Duncan.” Macbeth paces by himself, pondering his idea of assassinating Duncan. He says that the deed would be easy if he could be certain that it would not set in motion a series of terrible consequences. He declares his willingness to risk eternal damnation but realizes that even on earth, bloody actions “return / To plague th’inventor” (1.7.9–10). This shows that he kills king Duncan. Later in the play he kills Banquo because he suspects of Macbeth, that he kills Duncan. Macbeth takes one more step and kill Banquo. “The murder of Duncan, which weighs so heavily on his conscience, may have simply cleared the way for Banquo’s sons to overthrow Macbeth’s own family.” Macbeth reminds the two men, who are murderers he has hired, of a conversation he had with them the day before, in which he chronicled the wrongs Banquo had done them in the past. He asks if they are angry and manly enough to take revenge on Banquo. They reply that they are, and Macbeth accepts their promise that they will murder his former friend” (act3, scene 1). This show that, Macbeth doesn’t want to take any risk and he plans to kill Banquo. But he still has the murder of king Duncan in his conscience and now he has the murder of Banquo. All these action he made it because he wants it to become the king of Scotland. One of the prophecy that the witches gave to Macbeth was no man born from a woman will harm Macbeth. He went to the battlefield confident that no one can kill him, but Macduff was not born from a woman he was take away from his mom wound because she died before she gave

To most people who know him, Macbeth is a valiant and noble general, however it’s his caring, nice personality, and his gullible, easy-to manipulate character that will form his final decision to kill Duncan, after reading Macbeth’s letter proposing Duncan’s regicide, Lady Macbeth mutters to herself regarding Macbeth: “Yet I do fear thy nature; It is too fill o’ th’ milk of human kindness.” (1.5.17-18). This quote alone tells the reader that Macbeth is too gentle to make rash decisions. He can not think for himself and was easily convinced into murdering Duncan.

In the beginning of the play Macbeth is known as good, he is a noble man and does what he is told. The townspeople all have great things to say about him they state, “Conduct me to mine host: we love him highly and shall continue our graces towards him” (18, Act 1, scene 6). He is known for being loyal to King Duncan. Macbeth is then forced by his wife to kill Duncan and his decision changes him. Macbeth has an internal battle over whether he should listen to his wife or do what is morally right. When Macbeth decides that he has to