Guilt, Ambition, And Tyranny In Shakespeare's Macbeth

Marisa Voisard

Mrs. VanMeter

C.P. English IV

28 October 2014

Macbeth: The psychological effects of guilt, ambition, and tyranny

The psychological effects of guilt, ambition, and tyranny are present very well in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. Macbeth, the main character, chooses to rule by fate. This decision appears to be the source of his problems. In this play it’s evident Shakespeare focuses on Macbeth’s life. A major focus is on his character change, mainly his mental deterioration throughout the course of the play. As the play begins Macbeth is portrayed as a brave, trustworthy soldier, loyal to the king. Macbeth is seen as a hero. Shakespeare leads readers to see just how strong Macbeth’s mental strength starts out. This is seen in the loyalness Macbeth shoes to king Duncan. However, we begin to witness the decline of Macbeth’s mental well-being. The first clue is the three witches. The three witches give to Macbeth three prophecies. The first prophecy was Macbeth becoming Thane of Glamis, the second was him becoming Thane of Cawdor, and the third was telling that he would become king. This is the first example of a

He allows the reader to understand the change in character Macbeth went through due to the stark contrast between his characterisation at the beginning of the play and that at the end. Shakespeare also shows the change through allowing the reader to form a comparison between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth 's characterisation throughout the story. Shakespeare makes the contrast so great that, after putting Macbeth 's behaviour at the end in context with the full story, the reader feels that he is not a cold tyrant but more so a tragic hero. This is as Shakespeare has put so much emphasis on his mental decline that the reader still finds that he had many good qualities which counteract his character in the ending. Macbeth is definitely a prime example of a tragic