Macbeth Character Analysis

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.

Throughout the book, as Macbeth continues to progress in power, it seems as though his morals fade away while dark and destructive ideas spread through him quickly. While Macbeth contemplates his first evil deed of killing Duncan, he often talk’s himself into doing it, or gets outside persuasion to gain the courage that he is lacking. After talking to Lady Macbeth about how he has to murder Duncan, he exclaims, “I am settled and bend up / Each corporal agent to this terrible feat. / Away and mock the time with the fairest show. / False face must hide what the false heart doth / know” (1.7.92-96). Later in the novel we learn that Macbeth thinks that Banquo has become a threat to his power. Macbeth then takes this problem into his own hands and assigns murderers to kill Banquo. Macbeth then says, “So is he mine; and in such bloody distance / That every minute of his being thrusts/ Against my nearest of life. And though I could / With barefaced power sweep him from my sight/ And bid my will avouch it, yet I must not, / For certain friends that are both his and mine, / Whose loves I may not drop, but wail his fall who I myself struck down. And thence it is, that I to your assistance do make love, masking the business from the common eye for sundry weighty reasons” (3.1.132-142). Macbeth is saying that if he absolutely has to do this terrible deed he will, it doesn’t mean he wants to, but he is going to do it anyways. Macbeth uses the motif of appearance versus reality when he

Making poor choices and treating others with disrespect can affect you in the long run and can easily contribute to a downfall. Macbeth was fully aware of the choices he made with the inhumane torture and disrespect he had on the citizens of Scotland. Being a tragic hero is when one experiences an immense tragedy which leads to a downfall, but Macbeth never had a tragedy because his death originated from the choices he made and reactions he had while he had authority as king. Macbeth being selfish and only caring about himself creates an undeserving and improper image as king which brought chaos into the land of Scotland. In Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth does not fit the formula for a tragic hero because he is not a moral

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

Macbeth’s character develops consistently throughout the play. The key to his character development is his unchecked ambition, which is powered by the three witches and his strong desire to become the King of Scotland. Macbeth ends up achieving his goal but ultimately, it leads him to a downfall such as the suicide of Lady Macbeth. Macbeth’s ambition has played a significant role in the play ever since the three witches tell him that he would become the King of Scotland. His ambition has led Macbeth to become gullible. He is easily manipulated and convinced to take immoral actions. Moreover, Macbeth also becomes selfish as he only thinks about himself and not the citizens of Scotland. He fails at his job as a King in making Scotland a better place to live. Lastly, due to his unchecked ambition, Macbeth starts acting violently by murdering his closest allies and friends. Therefore, Macbeth’s ambition has driven him to become manipulative, selfish and violent; and thus, ambition is Macbeth’s greatest weakness.

With Duncan’s murder, and an increase of Macbeth’s power, his ambition is his main priority. With all the murdering and bloodshed due to Macbeth’s evil longing for power, he claims he is “Stepp’d in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o’er.” (III, iv, 24). Macbeth expresses that he is buried in carnage, and that there is no point in stopping now. At this point, Macbeth completely ignores his morals and if primarily focused on his ambition, which will never be satisfied. Macbeth’s violent and barbaric behaviour causes suffering to not only him, but also people around him. In relation to Macbeth’s dirty deeds, he also murders innocent people on account of his unfulfilled ambition. When Macbeth is finally granted the King of Scotland, which was his ultimate goal since the beginning, he has no morals left therefore his ravenous and evil ambition remains. Macbeth now targets anything that threatens his power, and now is viewed upon as a tyrannical ruler. Macbeth refers back to the first prophecy of the witch’s, where they state that Banquo will be an ancestor of a King. Macbeth takes this as a danger to his power, and kill Banquo. In the beginning, Banquo is Macbeth’s companion, but due to Macbeth’s blinding ambition, he fails to take

The real nature of Macbeth only comes out as soon as he commits the murder of Duncan and experiences the psychological and moral effects of the such a heinous act. Combined with this is Shakespeare’s presentation of the popular effects of usurping a rightful king. As Macbeth gets alienated from nature and faces the ordeal of the absence of divine grace, he does not learns from the prick of conscience. On the contrary he goes on to affirm his authority in a wrong way, and here again his authority gets

Nature changes from day to day, and when nature starts to get dark then one knows when a bad storm or a hurricane is going to happen. Some storms can stay and can ruin people’s lives. During the tragedy of Macbeth, Shakespeare relates nature to Macbeth morality in order to show that Macbeth starts off as a man on the edge, and then get worse as the play goes on. So Macbeth has been bad from the start, and he's not sympathetic. The repetition of nature in the play shows that he had evil within him throughout the whole play. Some examples of where nature shows is when, when Macbeth becomes the Thane of Cawdor, when the horses are eating each other, and when the forest moves.

Willful as a person’s actions may appear, they are governed not from within, but from without; an instrument to the musician who plays the tune. When pressured by these forces, an individual can be induced to cross the delicate line between good and evil. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the sinful actions of the title character can be attributed to several outside factors which alter his moral sensibilities, leading to fatal consequences. The stimulating presence of Lady Macbeth, the existence of a hierarchical society and the great chain of being, and the impact of supernatural prophecies all play a role in setting the right situation for him to commit treason and murder. Indeed, the choices Macbeth has made are directly influenced by external pressures that lead him onto the path of tyranny and cruelty in his aim to become king of Scotland.

In the opening of the well known tragedy Macbeth, the captain says, “And Fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling, Show'd like a rebel's whore” (Shakespeare 1.2. 16-20). The captain refers to Macbeth escaping his death, but implies that fate will seize him in the end. The concept of fate being inescapable is presented in Macbeth just as it is presented in many naturalist texts. One naturalist who captures this concept comprehensively is Frank Norris. In Norris’ tragic novel McTeague, those who defy fate are met with chaos and destruction while those who accept their fate can avoid fate’s wrath.

In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, women, his downfall, tempt the title character into going against his own nature. No matter how many times Macbeth talks himself out of doing something he will regret, he falls victim to the witches and Lady Macbeth. The way they manipulate him causes him to commit acts that he normally would not do, eventually leading to Macbeth’s mental break down.

William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, categorizes not as a tragedy because of the bloodshed or death; rather the tragic element becomes evident through the protagonist’s suffering, destruction, and distress. Even though Macbeth’s gruesome death at the end gives the audience a sense of catharsis, the mental suffering and moral weakening of Macbeth represents the play’s hamartia. Macbeth’s honor, ambition, and guilt lead to this downfall and eventually his death.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare portrays a tragic hero whose drastic decisions causes a major downfall in his life. Many try to understand why Macbeth spirals out of control so quickly, but the psychology behind it explains it all. Exploring the Mind of Man explains how the brain blames any catastrophe in his/her life on an object outside of themselves, when in reality their downfall is their own fault. By researching and learning how the brain works, it becomes very evident that Macbeth doesn’t take responsibility for his actions, rather he manifests them through other characters. Shakespeare utilizes multiple characters such as Banquo, Lady Macbeth, and the witches to hide Macbeth’s true feelings and thoughts. This portrays how Macbeth

In his play Macbeth, English playwright William Shakespeare illustrates the adverse effects ambition wields on the human soul. Furthermore, he explores supernatural influences and illustrates how Macduff, a vengeful character, rose against tyranny and brought about the downfall of Macbeth. Written in 1606, under the reign of King James I, Macbeth is Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy. It begins with a summary of the famous warrior Macbeth’s valiant actions in the battle against both the Macdonwald clan and the Norwegians. Three witches declare that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor and the future king of Scotland. Macbeth does not believe these prophecies until he is named Thane of Cawdor and, because the first prophecy came true, Macbeth

In the play, the character of Macbeth may have wielded the knife, but I do not believe that Shakespeare presents him as acting alone and of his free will. I believe that Shakespeare shows him as being manipulated into killing Duncan by the witches. This is because they are guilty of planting the idea of becoming king in Macbeth's head, they cause Macbeth to be confident in their abilities to predict his kingdom, they allow the idea of becoming King to take over Macbeth and they use their supernatural powers to interfere with the natural world.