Macbeth Character Analysis

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

Macbeth abuses his power as king by becoming so ruthless that he kills whoever might get in his way or threaten his position as king. Macbeth fears that Banquo is beginning to doubt him and believes that Banquo is his enemy. When he is speaking to the two men he has hired to murder Banquo, he tells them,” Every minute of his being thrusts / Against my near’st of life” (Shakespeare 3.1.128-129). Macbeth is jumping to conclusions about Banquo because he fears Banquo’s sons will become king, as the witches predicted. This turning point in the play shows that Macbeth is not suited to be king and continues to act out against people in Scotland. Macbeth feels the same threat towards Macduff as he did towards Banquo, but since Macduff fled to England, Macbeth had to take a different action. Macbeth chose to attack Macduff’s family, he said, “The castle of Macduff I will surprise, / Seize upon Fife; give me the edge o’ the sword” (Shakespeare 4.2.166-167). Macbeth chose to kill everyone in Macduff’s family so that he would scare Macduff away from Scotland while Macbeth is king. This downfall did not come from no where, but from his sins and the choices he made as king, he did everything for himself instead of for others.

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

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?

Characterization is a vital component of a text. How does Shakespeare utilise character traits to demonstrate characters as either heroes or villains?

From the sinister acts of killing the innocent, to betraying loved ones and best friends, who is to blame for all the constant chaos caused by these despicable acts? The story of Macbeth is about a man whos naive faith in prophecies leads him to selfishness. Not only this, but due to this trait of his, it causes mass destruction and deaths of many. Although there is many people to point fingers to, who is most responsible for determining the course of events throughout Macbeth? Even though Macbeth was the killer, did he alone create his own destiny? While Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were a factor of Macbeth’s downfall, the We’ird sisters take most of the responsibility for the murders.

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

Written in 1606, Macbeth is one Shakespeares most well known pieces of work. There are two characters who undergo drastic changes in personality; these people are Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is seen as a courageous soldier who is loyal to the King, but is corrupted from the witches prophecies and by his and Lady Macbeth's ambition. This is because of the weakness of Macbeth's character and the strong power of Lady Macbeth and how she is easily able to influence him. Her strength motivates him at the start, but after he realises what he has done, it is himself that continues in his murderous, bloody path. At the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth appears as a kind wife of Macbeth's, but underneath lies a scheming and treacherous woman. At the start of it all, Macbeth is a strong soldier who fights for the King without mercy, but his strive for ambition and his curious nature leads him to the witches who give him a prophecy (Shakespeare 53). Banquo realizes that there must be a trick hidden in the witches prophecies somewhere, but Macbeth refuses to accept that. When Lady Macbeth finds out about the witches, her strong desire for ambition and her cold nature leads Macbeth astray. Macbeth is a little ambitious at first, but Lady Macbeth's plan far exceeds his and so she is able to get Macbeth to agree with her to kill King Duncan. Macbeth still has a conscience at this stage because he is very hesitant about killing the King, but his weak nature overpowers him (Shakespeare 97). He has a conscience throughout the entire play that is seen by the hallucinations of the dagger and the ghost of Banquo and his vivid imagination and his constant worry also provokes him. This is also evident in his terrible dreams which gives the solid theme that he has indeed "murdered sleep". Throughout the play we see the character of Macbeth change not from just the way he thinks and what we hear from the play, but from the actions he takes in the play. Killing Banquo, having Lady Macduff and her children murdered, shows the insecurity that was present in Macbeth (Shakespeare 217). After the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth becomes paranoid and his first step of killing the guards is one of

appreciated for its diverse array of characters- as well as the personality's possessed within the story- and the noteworthy themes of betrayal, fate, love, greed, and of course death. Shakespeare provides an in-depth perspective into the enticement of power and just how pernicious it can be hidden beneath all the glory blocking it. This concept is showcased by the man himself that the play is named after- Macbeth. Macbeth’s choices throughout the story influenced it as a whole and eventually, in the end, caused his inevitable death as well. Macbeth himself is the one who should be viewed responsible for his demise. As the nature of his persona changed from a trustworthy

“The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it” (A. Einstein). Evil is a destruction that causes people to commit unnatural actions of harm. The play is centered on the coexistence of good and evil. The evil of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is so great that it ultimately destroys both of them. The human soul cannot endure such evil; it destroys the soul. It is incompatible with humanity. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth was presented with three prophecies, one being that he would become king. This specific prophecy was the first thought Macbeth had to kill. However, Macbeth is known for lacking character and ambition. He knows right from wrong, and he isn’t comfortable with his role as a criminal. At this point, it is where we see Macbeth’s conscience start to override his ambition, but his wife, Lady Macbeth, convinces him into killing King Duncan. She summons evil spirits and persuades him into doing so. She has a deep ambition and lust for power. Throughout the play, she seems to link masculinity to ambition and violence. Lady Macbeth is more evil and more responsible for the murder of king Duncan due to the fact that he came up with the idea to kill him, she manipulates her husband, and she persuades him to perform terrible deeds.

Good and evil are fluid concepts due to skewed perspective. No person is inherently good or evil. ‘Good’ people tend to have a lack of self-centredness, whereas ‘evil’ people are unable to empathise with others. Where people lie on the spectrum of good and evil depends on the perspective of a person placing them on the spectrum. Perspective is what makes the difference in how people judge other’s nature. In Macbeth by Shakespeare, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth seem to change in nature, however the audience changes their perspective of the characters, while their nature remains the same.

William Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’, is ranked among the four great tragedies of the world, of ancient as well as of modern times. The concept of the tragedy is Elizabethan. These tragedies are basically tales of suffering that ultimately result in death. The protagonist in these tragedies is not only notably placed socially but is also conspicuous for his qualities of head and heart. In the tragedy, the society is largely affected by the fall of the supremacy of the central character. Like, in Macbeth, the decadence from a hero to a villain greatly affects the fate of the nation, i.e., Scotland. Of all the four tragedies

The character Macbeth, in the Shakespearean play The Tragedy of Macbeth, gives the audience much to cringe about. A seemingly good and virtuous noble turns into a murderous power-thirsty tyrant. However, the change runs deeper than that. The transformation of Macbeth shows the disintegration of a human as he gives into the forces pressing on him.

When people do something that makes them feel good, their brain releases dopamine to teach them to seek out this activity in the future for that good feeling to be repeated. Over time, the brain adapts in a way that actually makes the sought-after substance or activity less pleasurable. Macbeth was so addicted of the idea of becoming king that he did whatever it took. The tragic hero caused his own downfall simply because once the prophecies started coming true he continued to feed on to it which starting leading to chaotic choices. Yet, there are others who might of influenced it in the beginning, Macbeth began to do his own thing in the end.

Faber est suae quisque fortunae - Every man is the architect of his own fortune. This Roman saying rings especially true for Macbeth, the ill-fated, murderous king of Scotland. Throughout The Tragedy of Macbeth , William Shakespeare shows readers just how far a man goes to maintain power. Readers see just how many lies are told, how many families are destroyed, and how many friends are murdered in the coldest of blood, all because one man gets the smallest glimpse of the fate he is due. The witches may have showed Macbeth his future, but the responsibility for what is done with that knowledge falls entirely on Macbeth. “All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!” Eight words are all it takes to drive Macbeth, the tragic hero of Scotland, to commit crimes against mankind itself. Macbeth is the forest,and the witches’ prophecy the spark that sets an entire country ablaze.