A Comparison of Characters in Macbeth and The Tempest

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Recommended: Discuss Macbeth as a Shakespearean tragedy

The main characters in a story all have very similar characteristics as the main characters in other stories. The main characters in Macbeth and Tempest are both faced with similar dilemmas that they solve in similar ways, yet each one had their own unique way of going about it. Prospero and Macbeth are both trying to proclaim their power as leader, or king, and they each have to figure out if they should, and how they should solve the problem. Macbeth and Prospero are both very important characters in the texts Macbeth and Tempest and share, but also differ, in some qualities and traits.
Macbeth is a character that is persuaded easily by the people around him throughout the text Macbeth. Like many of Shakespeare’s characters, he is of some importance in the community. Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s many tragedies, which are all similar in some ways. “It was in William Shakespeare’s later period, after 1600, that he wrote the tragedies Hamlet, King Lear, Othello and Macbeth. In these, Shakespeare’s characters present vivid impressions of human temperament that are timeless and universal.” (Jeet) His tragedies are all based off of at least one person who pretty much just messes everything up. Macbeth is this character, however he doesn’t think it all up by himself. “Lady Macbeth is Shakespeare’s most evil feminine creation.” (Mabillard) Lady Macbeth is the one who in the end persuades Macbeth to go through with him plan. Macbeth thinks a lot of his wife, which is one of his characteristics, which is usually a good thing except for in this play. Because he loves her and believes her so much, she listens to her ideas about what supposedly has to be done, and he obeys her in a sense. “He that's coming/Must be provided for: and you...

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...power is what gets people killed just like what happened in these two stories, and in many more of Shakespeare’s other stories and plays.

Works Cited

Heiner, Stephen, ed. Stephen Heiner. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. .
Jamieson, Lee, ed. Prospero. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. .
Jeet, Oken, ed. William Shakespears Writing. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. .
Mabillard, Amanda, ed. Intoduction to the Characters in Macbeth. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. .
Solomon, Andrew, ed. Forgiveness and Reconciliation. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. .

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