Macbeth Character Analysis

Lady Macbeth is a very complex character; she has a way to manipulate people in order to come to hold whatever she wants. The play starts off with Macbeth hearing his future by three witches, and he proceeds to write a letter to Lady Macbeth telling her what the three witches have told him. Upon reading this letter, Lady Macbeth immediately starts thinking about killing King Duncan so that Macbeth may become king. “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be what thou art is promise. Yet I do fear thy nature. It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness o

The tragedy of Macbeth is a story of greed and lust for personal gain that is still seen frequently today, for it is human nature. It’s seen in many instances, such as power-hungry politicians with corrupt practices or even teenagers that bully to gain social status. Lady Macbeth possesses these same qualities throughout the story, and it’s evident from the very start when the fate witches tell their prophecies to the time of Macbeth’s downfall. During all of this, it’s clear that Lady Macbeth is the one behind it all. The reversal of gender roles allows her to control her husband, and she uses this control to force Macbeth to commit the series of murders, which would not have happened without her

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

In the beginning of the play, after the visit of the three witches, Macbeth tends to ignore his desires for power, and depends on chance. “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir” (I, 3, 143-144), this declaration by Macbeth shows his initial stand, which is believing in fate and to be sin free. As Macbeth’s character develops throughout the play, he moves from being reliant on chance, to take actions to fulfill his darker desires. However, Lady Macbeth also has a manipulative mastermind, she possesses the power to influence her husband‘s decisions in a negative manner. “... and you shall put This night’s great business into my dispatch, Which shall to all our nights and days to come Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom,” (I, 5, 55-60) Lady Macbeth was the one who conceives the entire plan about murdering king Duncan, and hashes out the details before Macbeth even truly considers taking action to make the prophecies come true. “Was the hope drunk Wherein you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since? And wakes it now, to look so green and pale At what it did so freely? From this time Such I account thy love,” (I, 6, 26-40) even though Macbeth has the desire to become a king, he did not have enough courage to take any action to fulfil his desire. In contrast, Lady Macbeth is full of courage and will stop at nothing to get what she wants and desires. She attacks Macbeth’s weakest spot, his courage, by convincing him that he will only be a man if he commits the murder.

At the beginning of the play Macbeth is shown as an honorable man who is always loyal to his king. This is in contrast with Lady Macbeth who shown from the very beginning that she always had a lust for blood and murder. As time passes by he begins to be manipulated by both the witches and Lady Macbeth. He is shown saying, “For them, the gracious Duncan have I murder’d” (3.1.67) making it clear that in his eyes he only murdered Duncan for the sake of the witches. In his eyes he was only doing these things for others rather than himself. Also Lady Macbeth uses methods of tying to his pride and insecurities. She begins to build him up whilst bringing him down using mind games against him. Lady Macbeth on the other hand was not even able to commit the act herself as she proclaims, “Had he not resembled/My father as he slept, I had done’t” (2.2.12-13). Because of the resemblance Duncan holds of her father she did not want to commit to the deed so she just did the manipulation behind the whole scheme. Her not even being able to kill Duncan herself shows her cowardice and that she would rather be making her husband do all the heavy lifting. Not only that her tactics of manipulating her husband by using their so called love shows the true evil she shows within her. She uses their love as if it was tool as to get her husband to do things for her questioning whether she really does love her husband or just sees him as a device. Although neither character should be sympathised, Macbeth shows the biggest transition thus the most tragic

In spite of Macbeth was influenced by outside sources, he was motivated by his ambition and has a desire to become King

Macbeth is a courageous war general who receives a prophecy from the mysterious three witches that he will someday become the King of Scotland. Although skeptical at first, Macbeth knows better than to question the witches. He lets this prophecy over take him and with the encouragement from his wife, Lady Macbeth, they murder King Duncan and become engulfed with both regret and insanity. This insanity leads to Macbeth unnecessarily murdering other citizens in order to “secure” his throne. At the start of this play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are polar opposites, as Macbeth is self-aware of his actions while Lady Macbeth refuses to worry about her consequences. However by the end, their feelings of guilt completely switch. In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses the story of these murders to portray the effects that Macbeth’s diminishing guilt will have on his relationships. Macbeth’s lack of guilt will destroy his relationship with Lady Macbeth, alter Macduff’s feelings towards him, and overtake his own actions.

Macbeth is a real tragedy written by William Shakespeare for what’s presented is a morally significant struggle, one that attempts to engage our sympathies and understanding. In this dark and powerful tragedy, Macbeth is a part of several murders, including the murder of King Duncan of Scotland. Macbeth performs these murders after he encounters the weird sisters and hears the prophecy that he will one day become the King of Scotland. But although Macbeth was the one that was directly involved in every murder, there are other influences that have an impact on his pursue for the crown of Scotland and could be responsible for the evil done in the play. When Lady Macbeth first hears about the prophecy of the witches, she immediately plans

Macbeth is portrayed to be a very evil character throughout the play of Macbeth. The most back stabbing scene in the play is when Macbeth murders King Duncan, But the real evil genius behind the murder is Lady Macbeth, who forced Macbeth to kill King Duncan, which brings up the argument, whos responsible for the murder of King Duncan? A Lot of people also ask, who’s more evil? Macbeth, or Lady Macbeth?

Over-ambition: Macbeth was introduced as an exceptional individual both socially and personally. He was a brave and heroic warrior. But his tragic flaw, the dominant trait of his character lead to his downfall. It was because of that ‘tragic flaw’ that he had to face such circumstances. “Vaulting ambition” was Macbeth’s tragic flaw. Even before the prophesy, he had that yearning for the crown since we are told that he had often discussed the matter with his wife. The prophesy just acts as a spark to that ambition. Not only Macbeth, his wife, Lady Macbeth also possessed that flaw. Often termed as the ‘fourth witch’, she instigated her husband to kill King Duncan without pondering over the ramifications. And ultimately, this ambition proved catastrophic for both the characters and covetousness invaded humanity.

The story of Macbeth is a tragic tale of an honorable man who makes a risky decision in which caused him to rapidly become evil and tyrannical. The beginning of play was opened with the noble soldier, Macbeth, who is loved and adored by his king. One day he heard a prophecy that he could be king one day. However, this is when he begins his downfall. Unable to stand the suspense of waiting to become king as his fate beholds. He usurps the throne in a timely fashion by killing the present king. This action leads to multiple other killings as Macbeth struggles to keep his position and justify to himself that he did the right thing. This only directs him to his eventual downfall. The aura of darkness, deception, and horror created by William Shakespeare in this tragedy envelopes the entire play. It is created mainly by the sense of violence and foreboding that is evoked by the imagery Shakespeare has set. Throughout the play there is dominant use of nature and the supernatural that contribute significantly to the atmosphere that is portrayed throughout the story. One can argue that Macbeth constantly borders along the lines of both the natural and supernatural. In the play, a series of unnatural forces initially influences the main character, Macbeth, to commit his first crime, along with the persuasion of his wife, Lady Macbeth. After the murder of Duncan, however, Macbeth not only ignores the signs of danger present in supernatural illusions, but uses them to

Macbeth is one of the many tragedies written by the famous William Shakespeare in the 17th century. The play revolves around Macbeth and his rise to power as King of Scotland with his wife Lady Macbeth at his side. When three witches tell him that he will soon be king, driven by his wife, he kills the King of Scotland to take his place at the throne. This began his journey into madness and was also the cause of his downfall. Like any other play I have seen, the concepts we discussed in class manifested in the play.

In the play, Lady Macbeth who is the other main character of the play changes dramatically after Macbeth from evil to good-in other words to miserable- . She is really wants Macbeth to be a king and does her best to change his decision. She starts to manipulate Macbeth to kill the king, she not only manipulates him, moreover she makes all the plans about the murder of Duncan herself in every detail, and also prepare the daggers for Macbeth in advance, which shows her equanimity. She is so calm and strong that she acts as a welcome hostess when Duncan arrives at the castle. By controlling every details, she accomplishes her purpose perfectly and never hesitates to kill

In written literature, a tragedy is considered as a story that narrates the journey of a glorious individual with a fatal flaw in their character which leads to their undoing. In order to execute a well written tragedy, the author’s work must invoke an abreaction from the audience in response to the storyline that revolves around the suffering of a human character. In the play Macbeth, William Shakespeare demonstrates his skill of writing a tragedy by creating a character, named Macbeth, who struggles with balancing his moralities. In Act Ⅰ, the play begins to unravel and reveal this glorified Scottish general’s fatal flaw which invokes the audience to shift lenses on how they view him as he battled his internal struggles. William E. Cain stated, “One of the unnerving fascinations of Macbeth is that ... we are sympathetically connected to its protagonist”. Regarding to Act Ⅰ in Macbeth, Cain’s statement becomes evident because Shakespeare has written the play in such a way that modern day audiences are able to distinguish a character's intentions promptly, especially those from the female characters Macbeth encounter with.