Macbeth Character Analysis

Shakespeare’s bloody and tragic play Macbeth, written in the seventeenth century, portrays blind ambition, appearances can be deceiving and corruption of power. It follows the reasons behind Macbeth’s downfall. The play analyzes how other outside forces can easily change the path of ones desires and decisions. The witches’ intrusion, Lady Macbeth’s manipulation and Macbeth’s dark desires all interfere and manipulate Macbeth’s decisions. He goes from being praised as a noble soldier to a traitor and corrupt king. In the play, Macbeth commits many terrible crimes; however he is solely not responsible for all of them. The outside factors manipulate his decisions and are responsible for his downfall at the end.

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.

In the play “Macbeth” the author furthers the ideas of ambition, manhood and violence throughout the play using a gender lens, mainly for masculinity in men. In the play “Macbeth” ambition plays a big role in the man characters life; Macbeth. In Act 1 scene 3, lines 125-129, “And oftentimes, to win us to our harm; The instruments of darkness tell us truth.” (Shakespeare 1.3.125-129). This quote stated by Banquo foreshadows Macbeth further into the play. Macbeth ends up killing King Duncan because he wants to be in power over the kingdom. When Banquo questions Macbeth about the killing of King Duncan, Macbeth’s ambition to kill Banquo skyrocketed. Macbeth didn’t want anybody to think or know that he ended up killing King Duncan for power. This started a cycle of death for Macbeth’s ambition to kill to stay in power. This example of ambition from “Macbeth” has a very similar motif from the movie called “The Mask You Live In”. In the movie, George Orwell states, “He wears a mask and his face grows to fit it.” The idea of the mask he wear fits his face helps us further the reason for men’s ambitions. Men’s ambitions are driven by power and dominance over people and prized possessions. For men to be able to gain power, they need to prove how masculine they are to society. In doing so they are dehumanizing their biological thoughts and feelings and turning them into artificial ones in order to be seen more powerful or dominate to the public.

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

Would you kill someone if that’s the only way you can get what you really want? From the time the witches told Macbeth that he will be the king of the Scotland, Macbeth becomes greedy and started making plan on how he can be a king. Later he kills King Duncan with the help of Lady Macbeth (Macbeth’s wife) and afterward he keeps on killing people. He even kill his friend Banquo because he thought Banquo was suspicious of him. But at the end of the play, Macduff kills Macbeth. The play Macbeth by William Shakespeare incorporates the elements of hamartia, peripeteia, and anagnorisis to demonstrate Macbeth’s fall from hero to tyrant.

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

Lady Macbeth, by nature, is a very ambitious person (maybe even more ambitious than Macbeth), and could even be described as ‘lacking humanity’. Due to Lady Macbeth having these cruel traits, and a burning desire to be queen, she forcefully pushes Macbeth into the murder of King Duncan. After hearing the witches’ prophesies, Macbeth knew that to fulfil them and become king, he would have to murder Duncan. However, Macbeth was still a loyal man, and had a great moral conflict as to whether or not he should kill the king. Even on the night when he and Lady Macbeth had agreed they would murder him, he was still not prepared to kill Duncan, as is shown when he said to Lady Macbeth, ‘We will proceed no more in this business. He hath honoured me of late’. However, Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth in to committing the murder, often by attacking his manliness and self-esteem. By making Macbeth feel like less of a man for not committing the murder, Macbeth was almost shamed by his wife into killing Duncan. The murder of Duncan is arguably the most significant event in the downfall of Macbeth, and it is unlikely that without Lady Macbeth, Macbeth would have followed through with the witches’

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

In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, trust is an important topic throughout the play and is displayed through the character Macbeth as he rises and falls from power. Shakespeare conveys the idea of trust though Macbeth. In the play, Macbeth may seem loyal and trustworthy, but he actually is a fraud and has evil intentions. He trustworthiness to other characters directly corresponds to the amount of power he has in the play. When Macbeth is talking to King about Macbeth’s amazing service to the King, he claims that, “The service and the loyalty I owe in doing it pays itself,” (Shakespeare, 1.4 25-26) Here, Macbeth claims that serving King Duncan in itself is a gift. This quote displays exemplary loyalty from Mr Loyal himself, Macbeth, as he is enthusiastic about serving the King. In this part of the play, Macbeth is trusted enough to gain power and move up the ranks, as he is trusted by all and doesn’t seem to be hiding anything.

Personality is a thing that all humans have that is really difficult to change. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Macbeth was a victim of this as he could not change his personality for the good. Although in the text Macbeth was perceived as an evil person, he was actually an inherently good person who was unable to overcome the influences and this lead to his downfall. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Macbeth is a good person who is influenced to make bad choices, demonstrating that his easily manipulated personality is the true cause of his downfall. This is supported by the fact that Macbeth was a noble and a thane before he made all the wrong choices, Macbeth was influenced by others to make wrong choices, and the ultimate fact that Macbeth has an easily manipulated personality; as proven in the text.

Shakespeare wrote Macbeth in 1606, during the reign of James I, who was James IV of Scotland before he became the King of England. James I was a sponsor of Shakespeare’s theatre, so it is clear that Shakespeare’s work was affected by James I’s sensitivities. Murder and intrigue was a part of the Scottish Reign when James was growing, and in fact James’s father was murdered when he was just a baby.

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tragedy about Macbeth’s vaulting ambition. Macbeth is an honorable general in Scotland’s military, the Thane of Glamis, and the Thane of Cawdor. The three witches give Macbeth and Banquo a prophecy saying Macbeth will be the King hereafter and Banquo will be the father of Kings. Taking what the witches said into consideration, Macbeth’s vaulting ambition consumes his mind and Lady Macbeth creates a master plan to murder King Duncan. Macbeth begins to regret what he has done, and is soon filled with paranoia. He feels like everyone is out to kill him; therefore, he kills everyone who suspects that he is the murderer of King Duncan. Macbeth’s attitude and motivations change drastically from the murder of King Duncan, and the murder of his friend Banquo. Macbeth attitude changes from regretful to unrepentant; his motivations alternate from needing to murder King Duncan because he is a bad king to murdering three guards and Banquo because they all suspect he murdered King Duncan.

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.