William Shakespeare's Portrayal of Macbeth

William Shakespeare's Portrayal of Macbeth

Macbeth was written by Shakespeare between 1606-1611. The story takes

place in Scotland, where a brave soldier ‘Macbeth’ is predicted to

become king. After being urged on by his wife, Macbeth kills the king

and claims his right to the throne. After a few days’ people begin to

become suspicious and eventually Macbeth has is comeuppance.

Shakespeare wrote in a time where women were inferior to men, people

lived in a patriarchal society. So many of his plays resulted in a

young boy playing the part of what would have been a woman.

Shakespeare gripped audiences with compelling plays such as Romeo and

Juliet which combine the sad story of death, with the emotional

portrayal of a first love. In many of Shakespeare’s plays intriguing

love stories become tangles up in violence, deceit and anger. Out of

all his plays, ‘Macbeth’ captivated and still does huge audiences. The

way Shakespeare gets the audience to sympathize with a cold blooded

murdered is truly great.

Reading through the first pages Shakespeare portrays Macbeth as a

courageous warrior with huge respect from his fellow soldiers. However

this image does not last long as Macbeth is introduced to the three

evil witches. They convince him he will become King and Macbeths shift

in character starts from there. Along with the witches, Lady Macbeth

is viewed by some as pure evil. She convinces him to murder Duncan-he

succumbs to the supposed inferior. At this point Macbeth can be seen

as a coward and gutless. Despite this, Macbeth continues to shift

character but not for the better. In this essay I will discuss if

Shakespeare portrays Macb...

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...itches may have tricked him into doing

certain things, but most men would be brave enough to stand up in the

face of evil. This portrays Macbeth as being a cowardly man and

performing things rather unlike himself. I think that Lady Macbeth is

seen in a negative light due to the simple imagery Shakespeare used

when talking about her

“There is no light, thee one half world” Act 1, scene 5, line 33

Darkness here can be seen to represent evil, which usually ties in

when Lady Macbeth is around.

Overall Shakespeare’s Macbeth combines an eloquent tale of portrayal,

deceit and murder with the gripping inner story of one mans lust for

power. It is a great tale which the leading character is show in two

lights- a monster and a victim. I enjoyed reading this play, and I

hope to continue reading Shakespeare other pieces.