More handpicked essays just for you.
Character development in Shakespeare
Ways identity is reinforced in literature
Characters And Characterization In Shakespeares Works
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Macbeth “The play is about identity, not good and evil. Macbeth is a character developed far more than any other, and his destruction is truly tragic.” Can you describe the play in these terms? One of the main questions that comes up when thinking about Macbeth is do the characters occupy the play to tell a historical story, or does the drama exist as a prop to explore the physiological nuances of the character Macbeth. It could be argued that the character of Macbeth, his complex physiological states, his weakness of character, the part that people around him and his wife play in the development of character, and destiny are truly the central themes of the play. At the beginning of the play Macbeth is praised by many people and looked up to as a war hero. “For brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name” 1:2:16. He is well respected by the king and even chosen by him to be the new Thane of Cawdor. Even Macbeth knows that he is at a good point in his life “I have bought golden opinions from all sorts of people” 1:7:33. So we form an opinion that he is a great man. We are able to make a connection with Macbeths because Shakespeare takes us into his mind. When Macbeth is equivocating about killing King Duncan we can see that he has a working conscience and that he is not a bad guy. Macbeth is the only character in the play that we can be sure has an active conscience. Shakespeare presents all the other characters with faults. Macduff leaves his family to be murdered and in act 4:3 Malcolm lies to Macduff and tells him it was the only lie he ever told. If the play was about good and evil the good characters would not be given these vices and we would not get to see Macbeth’s conscience. Macbeth’s weakness of character is ... ... middle of paper ... ...cbeth started making decisions to kill people he was finally thinking for himself and taking control. He is becoming a strong decisive king that knows what he wants. By the time he has to fight Macduff Macbeth has grown into an honourable person. When he threw down his shield it was a sign that he was fighting for himself and was not afraid anymore. Macbeth was not evil he was just a man struggling with his identity and trying to be something he was not. He new nothing other than how to be a soldier and he was good at it. In the end he realised it was the only way he could win his battle. “I’ll fight till from me bones me flesh be hacked. Give me my armour.” 5:3:33. Even though Macbeth had become hated and thought of as a tyrant to others he had won his own battle. This becomes clear when at the end of the play Macbeth feels proud to say “My name’s Macbeth.” 5:8:6.
The proposition that “Macbeth is a villain in whom there is little to admire'; is an inadequate judgement of Macbeth’s character. Macbeth is not consciously and naturally malevolent, and there are many aspects of his character and his downfall which serve to support this. Macbeth was not only a victim of his own actions, but also of the human condition and the extremely powerful forces of both his wife and fate. Throughout the play the audience undoubtedly experiences feelings of horror at Macbeth, but we are also driven, through an understanding of his character, to admiration and sympathy. This would not be the case if Macbeth was a totally vile and reprehensible villain, and thus the tragedy of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is clear.
Macbeth is like every other human being. He has the potential to do evil. He has a tragic flaw, or an Achilles Heel. [[ although I agree with you it’s worth keeping in mind the fact that many other people might not like to think of themselves like this – you may need to argue a little more to explain how we are all caught up in this web of evil]]Macbeth’s is Ambition and Greed. Anyone that spurs his intent and ambition will create a chain of deadly consequences. In this case, the witches triggered the evil and hatred that exists within.
“The Tragedy of Macbeth” goes into the darkest and deepest morals of any Shakespearean play. Each character in the play portrays a very important role and each character gives off their own form of sincerities towards the advancing plot. Macbeth
Before being transformed into a murderous monster, Macbeth is a model Scottish noble. He shows great loyalty and devotion to both King Duncan and his country in his fight against the Scottish rebels. He also fights with great courage, which he draws from knowing that he serves a good and virtuous cause. He is modest when confronted with his achievements, in contrast to the arrogance that he displays after becoming king. He loves Lady Macbeth, an emotion he will eventually lose by the end of the play. Most of all, he fears what his greed and ambition can lead him to become, and he feels dubious about acting on them.
In the beginning Macbeth was such a nice guy. That all changed when he met the three witches. When Macbeth first meets the witches they say two things that begin Macbeth's trail of evil. "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cowdor!" I iii 49, is the first thing that leads to the trail. The second is, "All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!" I iii 50. These two predictions told by the witches caused great ambition to happen within Macbeth. Lady Macbeth finds out about the predictions, and drives Macbeth's ambition even harder. Lady Macbeth tries to get Macbeth to kill King Duncan, because she wants Macbeth to be king. "He that's coming/ must provided for: 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 mastedom." I v 65-69, this is a quote from Lady Macbeth explaining to Macbeth that when King Duncan come to stay, they will kill him. After Macbeth killed Duncan he killed the King's guards, so no one could question them. All this was just the beginning of a walk down an evil trail.
Macbeth’s villainy is shown when he kills Macduffs family and consorts with the witches but Macbeth is also a man of action, brave and daring. Macbeth killed Macduffs family because Macduff fled to England “His wife his babes, and all unfortunate souls”. Macbeth also consorts with witches in this scene to find out what will happen to him and his kingdom “Even till destruction sicken-answer me / To what I ask you.”. Macbeth is not all bad just because he does this he is also a brave and daring man of action.
Macbeth is swaying between the forces of good and evil. He wants to stop killing but he also wants to become king and in his mind the only way to do that is to kill whoever is in his path, saying “I am in blood/ Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more,/ Returning were as tedious as go o'er.” (3.4.168-170). Macbeth is already deep into this situation and if he were to turn back now, it would cause him greater hardship than relief. Macbeth has been dealing with this inner conflict ever since he was told by the weird sisters that he is fated to become king. This conflict ties everything together, between fate versus free will and sane or insane. Macbeth started the play as being a glorified war hero, however as time moved on he transformed into a bloodthirsty tyrant. Macbeth has gone through so much that he has shifted into a guilty man haunted by nightmares and hallucinations but will not stop until he gets what he came for. Macbeth has gone so far into the void of guilt that his name has now fell into infamy, as shown by quote by Young Siward saying “The devil himself could not pronounce a title/ More hateful to mine ear.” (5.7.10-11). Macbeth had already grown a name for himself while he kept his innocence, however with all the killings macbeth has made, he has done nothing but shame his name. Macbeth name to others is more hateful and there is nothing that Siward would rather do than to end Macbeth’s life, thus ending all the guilt and evil inside
Shakespeare's play "Macbeth" is considered one of his great tragedies. The play fully uses plot, character, setting, atmosphere, diction and imagery to create a compelling drama. The general setting of Macbeth is tenth and eleventh century Scotland. The play is about a once loyal and trusted noble of Scotland who, after a meeting with three witches, becomes ambitious and plans the murder of the king. After doing so and claiming the throne, he faces the other nobles of Scotland who try to stop him. In the play, Macbeth faces an internal conflict with his opposing decisions. On one hand, he has to decide of he is to assassinate the king in order to claim his throne. This would result in his death for treason if he is caught, and he would also have to kill his friend. On the other hand, if he is to not kill him, he may never realize his ambitious dreams of ruling Scotland. Another of his internal struggles is his decision of killing his friend Banquo. After hiring murderers to kill him, Macbeth begins to see Banquo's ghost which drives him crazy, possibly a result of his guilty conscience. Macbeth's external conflict is with Macduff and his forces trying to avenge the king and end Macbeth's reign over Scotland. One specific motif is considered the major theme, which represents the overall atmosphere throughout the play. This motif is "fair is foul and foul is fair."
Right from the beginning of the play you can tell that Macbeth is loved by everyone. King Duncan has awarded him the title Thane of Cawdor for his courageous and outstanding efforts in a battle against Ireland and Norway, praising Macbeth by calling him a great barbarian. This comes
Firstly, the protagonist of the play is a monster due to the murders he committed. Throughout the play, we encounter that he has killed Duncan for power, Banquo and more. To prove this, Lady Macbeth says to Macbeth “That I may pour my spirits in thine ear,/ And chastise with the valour of my tongue/ All that impedes thee from the golden round” which indicates that his
Macbeth’s life is a tragic story about how he was deceived and molded into an evil man. His evil, sparked by lady Macbeth, began with the murder of king Duncan. Macbeth’s heart couldn’t handle the sin but Lady Macbeth forced him to change his mind. Macbeth’s evil was a result of his overconfidence, guilty conscience, and his human nature, all of which are traits that could be seen in any person in search of power.
Throughout the play, Macbeth is constantly torn between good and evil. His whole life he is believed to be a good man, so this decision to most wouldn't even be a conflict. They would assume that he'd be a good, loyal, and honest man until the day he died. Macbeth crossed paths with three ugly witches. He may have not known at the time but the witches planted a seed in Macbeth causing his soul to turn away from good eternally.
Throughout the play of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth is supposed to be a likeable character until he kills the king. By committing this heinous act, Macbeth instantly becomes a villain and continues to commit murderous acts, all stemming from his first terrible mistake. One of his motives consists of choosing power over integrity, therefore he kills the king. Another reason why Macbeth is a villain is because he continued to kill innocent people to hide his doings. Lastly, since Macbeth is a villain and murderer, he deserves to be condemned and disdained.
Macbeth is a tragic character, fallen from the great general he once was. If he lacks something, though, it is not conscience. He never forgets his crimes, and he is anything but a common man; he is complex, as conflicted as A.C. Bradley’s interpretation of him. If McCarthy is correct in any of her assertions, though, it would be that Macbeth is a play about nature. Shakespeare plumbs the depths of human nature, of man’s innate desires, and procures a disturbing reality. Macbeth is not a simple character, but the same can be said for anyone; no one is as plain as he or she may seem. As such, the fate of Macbeth is, in the end, the fate of any man.
Macbeth is a very complex character whom reflects man's thirst for power through the drastic changes of his personality; thus being one of the slightest reasons in which make this intriguing character, greatest of all Shakespearean’s well-known works.