Macbeth Character Analysis

Shakespeare bases his eponymous protagonist on the Aristotelian concept of the tragic hero and through his realistic characterisation of Macbeth portrays the issue of heroism. Macbeth's status in society as Thane of Glamis and according to King Duncan 'valiant cousin, worthy gentleman', all expressions of praise, positions Macbeth on the brink of possible downfall. Macbeth is a person of higher social

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.

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

The Tragedy of Macbeth, is a story of a man whose ambitions have brought him to commit treason and murder. The three points which contribute greatly to Macbeth’s downfall are the prophecy which was told to him by the witches, Lady Macbeth influenced and manipulated Macbeth’s judgment, and finally Macbeth’s long time ambition which drove his desire to be king. Although he was so far courageous and brave and he is seen as the hero at the beginning of the play, his sky high ambition causes his damnation. And ultimately he becomes a tragic hero. Macbeth is a tragic hero because he exhibits all the characteristics of a tragic hero: a high social rank, a tragic flaw, and a complete ruin/death.

A tragic hero must also have a tragic flaw; which Macbeth certainly does. His flaw is his ambition. In Act 1, scene 7, line 25 Macbeth says very clearly that his reason for killing Duncan is his ambition. It states, “I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition.” His motivation is ambition. And it is easy to see that his ambition is very strong, but when he achieves his goal through ambition, it is never enough for him. It becomes less about accomplishing a task, and more about finding tasks to satisfy his ambition. Following that quote, he says, “which o’erleaps itself And falls on th’ other.” This is saying that by using ambition as motivation, people get ahead of themselves before they know what they have done, they are falling toward demise. Macbeth predicted exactly

This character can be easily identified as a tragic character based on the facts of Macbeth having a high status with nobility and his major tragic flaws. The real point of a tragic hero is the lessons behind the character. There seem to be two lessons with Macbeth. The first lesson behind Macbeth is to not let others stir minds into believing a certain way. Each person has the free will to decide a decision.

Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most dynamic tragic heroes. A tragic hero is person who possesses the characteristics of a hero, but suddenly that hero’s world is rattled by some sort of evil doings in my words. First, Macbeth started out being a hero because he was a loyal and noble warrior in King Duncan’s army. Second, Macbeth’s mind was corrupted and influenced by the three witches and their predictions. Finally, Macbeth world is completely turned around when his evil doings caught up to him to bring his life to a tragic end. Macbeth was intended for a desired future, however his ambition got the best of him which crushed his dreams.

First, Macbeth is a tragic hero because of his nobility. In the beginning of the story, Macbeth is the Thane of Glamis. In Scottish history, a thane is a man of nobility who owns royal-given land. However, after hearing the prophecy of the three witches that he would not only be Thane of Cawdor, but the king of Scotland as well, Macbeth immediately begins to feel the lust for power steadily growing inside him. It is when Macbeth learns that Duncan, the current king of Scotland, has made his son Malcolm heir to the throne that it occurs to Macbeth that he could become king himself if he killed Duncan. At this point in the story, however, Macbeth’s conscience is strong, and he casts aside those thoughts as heinous and disgraceful.

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

William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth tells the story of the noble thane, Macbeth, becoming corrupted due to his rise of power. Macbeth, who is the centre character, qualifies as a tragic hero. People are able to identify with Macbeth, see his nobility before corruption, and witness him acquire new knowledge from his dark story.

Like every tragic hero, Macbeth suffered from a flaw. In his case, his flaw was his strong ambition, combined with a thirst for power. Ambition alone is not a bad trait, but when added with a lust for power, this ambition can become dangerous. At the beginning Macbeth was seen as brave Macbeth and shown as a loyal and brave solider on the battle field. That ambition always resided within him but did not cause a problem until the prophecy was made by the witches.

Macbeth is the play of a warrior’s rise to power and tragic downfall based in medieval Scotland. Macbeth, a successful soldier, is the main character of the play whose goal is the kingship of Scotland. Three witches inform Macbeth in the beginning of the play that he will become the next king of Scotland. The witches also predict that the kings after Macbeth will not come from his descent, but actually from Banquo. While in the beginning Macbeth wants to just sit back and wait for fate to happen, but when King Duncan nominates his on Malcolm as the next king Macbeth wants to spring into action. Macbeth is not completely sure what he should do, but his wife persuades him that regicide, the murder of the king, will be the fastest way for her

William Shakespeare was widely known as one of the greatest writers in the English language. His work consisted of many plays, sonnets, and poems, all written in different genres. One of his most famous pieces in particular, the Tragedy of Macbeth, was written as exactly what it sounds, a tragedy. A tragedy, in simple, is a play concerning the downfall of one character. In this specific piece, it was the story of a great person, Macbeth, with some major flaws that will eventually lead to his downfall. At the beginning of this play, he was a brave and ambitious man, but as it progressed, greed and selfishness took over him and made matters go from good to bad and bad to worse.

A man can possess many things wealth, power, honor and in the 11th-century woman, contrary to the belief of the times women cannot be possessed for they are the determinants of fate and this shown through lady Macbeth being the catalyst for his transformation. Over the course of the play he becomes an entirely different person than he once was, he goes from a hero figure to a deceitful murderer that has a very narrow focus on becoming king and drives himself crazy with the prediction that he will become king. Macbeth betrays his own values, those close to him, and any moral compass that once existed within him. Throughout the play Macbeth does not stray from his ways in order to satisfy himself, he goes down the reckless path to become king in order to please his wife and this eventually leads to his demise. Machiavelli states “...fortune is a woman and if she is too submissive it is necessary to beat and coerce her”(pg.81 The Prince). Due to the fact that Macbeth plays the passive role in their relationship and his own life when it comes to mobility he enables his wife to take over as a master of his fate. This occurs not only in the play Macbeth, it occurs in Madea, in Greek mythology through the story of Pandora's box and in the book of the city of ladies where it is proved that woman are drivers of fate through men, simultaneously they are able to manipulate fate on their own through virtuous actions such as invention or through divine intervention. The theme of the