Character Analysis Of Macbeth

What circumstances has dictated that a person be marked a tyrant? This question is most commonly answered by how a person flaunted their given power. Throughout the course of history, the notion of obtaining power has been a common theme. Kings have invaded lands, nobles have betrayed their leaders, and Princes have killed their fathers all in the name of everlasting power. The question, however, is why humanity has had an unquenchable thirst for power. Many playwrights have explored this particular motif in their plays. The character Macbeth from Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth is a prime example of this characterization. Macbeth has the scourge of the earth and his motivation for his actions unethical. Although Macbeth actions were sinful,

The story mainly focuses on Macbeth’s subsequent actions that help to drive the story. However, in major contrast to most protagonists, Macbeth was not considered to be a hero. Lord Macbeth was described as being “damned in evils” (IV.iii.58-59) due to his maleficent rule of Scotland. Although not a protagonist, Macbeth was considered to be the main character of the play. Macbeth dominated every scene that he was in and dictated whether a character had to right to live or die. Throughout the course of the play, Macbeth is demonstrated to change greatly in demeanor. He begins the story being hesitant to commit crimes, as demonstrated by his hesitant nature to kill King Duncan “We will proceed no further in this business” (I.vii.31). However after Macbeth heard the witches prophecies, he switched his actions to actively condemning people to be killed, “The moment on‘t; for ‘t must be done tonight” (III.i.136) This change in mood from that of a collected demeanor to that of a ruthless killer helped Shakespeare establish Macbeth’s dynamic disposition. While Macbeth is demonstrated as an anti-hero, there are those who demonstrated the other side of the spectrum. While Macbeth was characterized as being cruel and dishonest, Banquo was honest to his king and did not seek further power, but rather accepted his rewards from King Duncan. Banquo is established as Macbeth’s foil mainly on the basis of the

Macbeth was used to go against the stereotypes one would expect from a Scottish lord. While Macbeth was brave and courageous in the face of battle, he was too emotionally weak to carry out his actions. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth believed that he should have accepted his rewards from King Duncan and that he should “dare do all that may become a man” (III.vii.136) It was only when Lady Macbeth pressured him into proceed the act that Macbeth’s personality switched. Macbeth’s act of regicide turned his attitude to that of paranoia and disillusionment. Shakespeare also expanded the play through his use of the name “Macbeth” as the main character. Shakespeare derived the name of Macbeth from a historical king, King Mac Bethad. The play derives many parallels between Mac Bethad and Macbeth. King Mac Bethad led an army of soldiers that slayed King Duncan and Mac Bethad was also killed by a person named Malcolm during an invasion of England. (Historic Figures) Shakespeare molded the kingly actions of King Mac Bethad into his own supernatural interpretation of the affair. In the play, Macbeth’s descent into cruelty was demonstrated to be an incredibly rapid change. After Macbeth learned of the Witches’ prophecies, he was determined to seize the throne and slayed countless individuals to achieve that goal. His shift in character was not very subtly as the reader can draw comparisons between