Sympathy for Macbeth in the First Two Acts of William Shakespeare's Play

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Sympathy for Macbeth in the First Two Acts of William Shakespeare's Play

Act one, scene two reveals Macbeth’s greatness, potential, courage and

most of all his loyalty to Scotland. The sergeant had just brought the

news that Macbeth had killed the ‘disloyal traitor,’ the Thane of

Cawdor in battle. The sergeant speaks of Macbeth as ‘brave’ and he

also say ‘well he deserves that name.’ This shows that Macbeth has a

good name within Scotland by the people and he is well respected. The

king himself calls Macbeth ‘noble’ and gives him the title of Thane of

Cawdor. This shows the trust and reliance that the king has for

Macbeth because the previous Thane of Cawdor was murdered because he

was a ‘disloyal traitor’ so this obviously means that the king has now

given this title to someone (Macbeth) who he thinks is worthy. This

all shows that Macbeth is a man of potential for greatness but somehow

takes the wrong path and ends up having a blackened name. This is a

way that has already created sympathy for Macbeth because he is a hero

in many peoples mind and something must have happened or provoked him

to change so dramatically.

The main cause for Macbeth’s change was the evil witches. He was

driven by the supernatural element. Any man would desire to receive a

higher position if he has the chance to get it and that’s what Macbeth

did. Macbeth says in act 1 scene 3 ‘Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor: The

greatest is behind,’ showing that he’s an ambitious man as he does not

celebrate his position of thane of Cawdor but is thinking ahead of

being King. There is nothing wrong in this because it’s only human to

be ambitious and because one of the prophecies of the witches had come

true, he was probably happily thinking that the second would also come

true. At this point of the play, there is still no wrong in Macbeth.

Shakespeare gives Macbeth asides and soliloquy’s which are really good

because the audience can get a real insight into Macbeth’s character

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