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MACBETH "Macbeth" is one of Shakespeare's best-loved plays. The title character is a tragic figure who is easily misled and often misunderstood. Macbeth is a complex character who shows us countless aspects of his personality throughout the play, as he transforms from an ambitious and noble man to a blood thirsty and merciless maniac. We can still sympathise with Macbeth after all the dreadful crimes that he commits because we see in full detail his susceptibility to his wife's ruthless ambitions and the superstitious predictions of the witches. Before we even meet Macbeth we discover that he is a valiant man. Duncan, the King of Scotland, shows immense admiration and respect towards Macbeth. He declares, "For brave Macbeth well he deserves that name". Shakespeare begins the play with three witches upon a moor. He knew at that time - people were fascinated with witches and witchcraft. This story line would engross his audience from the very beginning. Shakespeare was also trying to curry favour with royalty, as he knew James I was interested in the supernatural and he had even published a book in 1597 called "Demonology". The first sign of Macbeth's susceptibility is shown when he and Banquo encounter the witches. The witches predict that Macbeth and Banquo's descendants will become kings. Macbeth believes what the witches have prophesised, revealing his gullible side. We see this when he says, "stay you imperfect speakers". We can see that Banquo is a foil to Macbeth because he unusually for the time - does not believe the old hags. Banquo's response contrasts with Macbeth's and presents Macbeth in a bad light. Macbeth displays his certainty that he will become king when he says, "Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor. The greatest is behind." Macbeth shows that he can be scheming when he says that Malcolm, King Duncan's son, "is a step, on which I must fall down, or else o'erleap, for in my way it lies." He feels he must take matters into his own hands and kill Malcolm as he is the heir to the throne. I sense that he has become jealous of Malcolm and considers him as an obstacle to overcome. He also makes out that killing Malcolm is part of his quest to become king - almost as if it is his challenge.
William Shakespeare's play Macbeth is a five-act drama that shows a clear example of how pride, greed, and power can alter a man's actions and personality. The taste of power blinds the story's main character, Macbeth. Sparked by Lady Macbeth, he becomes heartless and cruel as he kills anyone who is a threat to his power due to his paranoia of losing the throne. This fear ironically leads to his downfall and loss of the throne. The theme of the story is deceit and evil and how they affect a man's decisions.
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tragedy in which the main characters are obsessed by the desire for power. Macbeth’s aspiration for power blinds him to the ethical implications of his dreadful acts. The more that Shakespeare’s Macbeth represses his murderous feelings, the more he is haunted by them. By analyzing his hallucinations it is possible to trace his deteriorating mental state and the trajectory of his ultimate fall. Throughout the play Macbeth is never satisfied with himself. He feels the need to keep committing crime in order to keep what he wants most: his kingship. The harder Macbeth tries to change his fate the more he tends to run into his fate. His ambition and struggle for power was Macbeth’s tragic flaw in the play. Macbeth’s rise to the throne was brought about by the same external forces that ensure his downfall.
Macbeth is an interesting character as he is a respectable man at the beginning of the play however this all changes once he is granted the thane of cawdor as the prophecy the witches made has come half true to him.
Macbeth rides in a hurry to get home on his horse to talk to Lady Macbeth about her thoughts on the matter. She is totally convinced that Macbeth should kill the king and take his thrown. However Malcolm, the King's son, has already been crowned Prince of Cumberland. Macbeth sees this and drops most thoughts of conspiracy. Lady Macbeth sees this and convinces herself to convince him to commit this crime. She uses a bombardment of arguments to do this against Macbeth. She questions his man hood, and talks about what she would do if she were in his position. Ruthlessly describing scenes of a hardened heart, Lady Macbeth becomes the major factor on Macbeth's decision.
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a play centred around opposing forces trying to gain power in the succession for the throne of Scotland. Macbeth, in the beginning, is known to be a noble and strong willed man, who is ready to fight for his country. However, one may see that Macbeth has a darker side to him, he is power hungry and blood thirsty, and will not stop until he has secured his spot as King of Scotland. Though Macbeth may be a tyrant, he is very nave, gullible, and vulnerable.
The play shows how he evolves as a person. Although we are presented with his declination from good to evil, we can see his human side throughout the play, which makes it a tragedy. The themes of ‘Macbeth’ are ambition, effects of evil, and violence. Once Macbeth’s ambition has ‘set the ball rolling’, events happen quickly in the play as it gathers momentum. The themes are demonstrated mainly by the language of the play. As in Shakespeare’s time, plays were performed in daylight with very few props. Ambition is something that everyone can identify with, and ‘Macbeth’ is a interesting study of how ambition can destroy you, so the audience is interested in Macbeth’s character. Our first impression of Macbeth is of a heroic, famous, popular man who is well liked by the King, Duncan. Duncan refers to Macbeth as ‘noble Macbeth’.(Act 1 Scene 2 L67) Macbeth craves the title of king greatly, but realizes that he will have to commit some horrible crimes to get that position. Macbeth is tempted to follow through with the acts because of two sources of external evil - the witches and his wife, Lady Macbeth. Macbeth was already ambitious, but this was only heightened by the women as they made those desires appear as though they were achievable. This sets into motion the first of three great crimes.
Macbeth is the main character in William Shakespeare's play Macbeth. Macbeth goes through drastic changes throughout the play. He changes from good to evil. Many different things cause these changes.
In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is described as being “valiant”. He is a skilled warrior, who is loyal to his king and his country. Almost single-handedly, he wins the war for Scotland. He defeats many of the enemy soldiers, including a traitor, all in the name of his king. But, when three witches encounter Macbeth and his friend Banquo, Macbeth’s ambition begins to grow. They tell Macbeth that he will be Thane of Cawdor and King. Soon after, Macbeth meets with King Duncan. He informs Macbeth that he is the new Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth is astonished, and from then on he is obsessed with being king. His ambition begins to become ruthless when Duncan proclaims that his son Malcolm is the Prince of Cumberland, and therefore, the heir to the throne: “The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step/On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap, /For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires;/Let not light see my black and deep desires:/The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be/Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.” (I,iv,48-53) At this moment, Macbeth, realizing that they stand in the way of the witches’ prophecies, decides that both Duncan and Malcolm need to die for him to be king. As soon as Macbeth kills Duncan, he enters into a world of evil. Later in the play, Macbeth’s ambition becomes increasingly ruthless. He kills his best friend Banquo, and almost kills Banquo’s son, Fleance, because he believes they would stand in the way of his reign. The witches told Banquo “Thou shall get kings, though thou be none.” (I,iii,67) This means that Banquo himself would not be a king, but that his successors would be. Macbeth tries to prevent this by killing Banquo and his son Fleance.
Macbeth knows that Duncan must be killed if he wants to acquire the throne, and the thought of Duncan’s murder is very disturbing to him. Macbeth desires to become king, but his ambition is halted when he thinks of the consequences that follow if he were to get his wish. However, when Malcolm was chosen to become Prince of Cumberland, Macbeth knew that if he did not take any action then he wouldn’t be king. The reader can see that the ruthlessness that lies in Macbeth is coming out when he says “The Prince of Cumberland – that is a step on which I must fall down or else o’erleap, For in my way it lies. Despite the fact that Macbeth is a ruthless individual, Lady Macbeth makes him look like a saint.
Following the meeting with the witches, Macbeth begins to think about killing Duncan and taking the throne by force. Macbeth becomes concerned with the witches prophesies and wants to learn more, as we can see from what he says after they leave, "Would they have stayed!" (1.3.82). After this, he begins thinking about his desire to be king. We can see that he is thinking about murdering Duncan from his soliloquy, "Stars, hide your fires, /Let not light see my black and deep desires;" (1.5.50-51). Macbeth has begun his path to corruption.
In Act I, Scene I three witches plan to meet MACBETH upon a heath. They announce the major theme of the play: appearances can be deceptive.
In the story of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth is one of the main characters. At the beginning of the play Macbeth is very loyal and honorable. By the end of the play Macbeth is insane and has no remorse for the sin he commits against the king.
Macbeth is put together with many character traits. He is a very complex character. In the beginning Macbeth was brave and loyal. He won the battle of Norway and became the Thane of Cawdor. For brave Macbeth disdainding fortune with his brandished steel which smoked with bloody execution( ACT1 SC2 LNS18-20). Macbeth is also a gullible man, when he runs into the witches he believes them when they say, all hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter(act1 sn2 line 50) . He is so gullible to what these witches said that he killed his best friend Banquo and nearly kills Banquo's son. Macbeth also was convinced by his wife to kill Duncan. Macbeth conscious becomes guilty after he kills Duncan when he said, will all great neptunes ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?(act2 sn2 lines 79-80). He is thinking that nothing can take back the murders he had committed.
Macbeth shifts from being loyal and courageous to a murderer executing a treacherous plan to kill the current king due to supernatural suggestions that he would be king himself. Macbeth is discussed as a man worthy of recognition by other characters in act one scene two. In this scene, the Captain states: “For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name)” (1. 2. 18). Macbeth is being praised for his courage and loyalty to Scotland and the king. This first impression is hastily contrasted after hearing the prophecy of the witches stating he will be “king hereafter” (1. 3. 53). Immediately after hearing this, Macbet...
Macbeth is a very complex character whom reflects man's thirst for power through the drastic changes of his personality; thus being one of the slightest reasons in which make this intriguing character, greatest of all Shakespearean’s well-known works.