The Character Of Macbeth Essay Research Paper

The Character Of Macbeth Essay, Research Paper

The Character of Macbeth

The play ‘Macbeth’ is a portrait of one man, Macbeth, showing how he changes.

Although we are presented with his deterioration from good to evil, we can see

his human side throughout the play, which makes it a tragedy. It is the

shortest of Shakespeare’s tragedies, and has a very fast pace. Once Macbeth’s

ambition has .set the ball rolling’, events happen quickly in the play as it

gathers momentum. The themes of .Macbeth’ are ambition, effects of evil, and

violence, shown 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 compelling study of how ambition

can destroy you, so the audience are 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 refers to Macbeth as .noble Macbeth’.(Act 1 Scene 2

L67) Macbeth is tempted by two sources of external evil – the witches and his

wife, but he was already ambitious, and they only increased this by making his

ambitions seem like they could be reality. The war hero becomes a murderer and

then dies a shameful and violent death. Shakespeare creates an atmosphere of

evil and darkness mainly through his language, although scenes containing

violent actions or the witches are often played in darkness. Shakespeare uses

poetry (verse) as opposed to prose, as poetry often contains more metaphors and

imagery, which he used to create a feeling of darkness and evil. The language

gives an insight into the character of Macbeth – we see his ruthlessness and

cruelty, but also fear, doubt and some scruples.

Macbeth’s first words, .So foul and fair a day I have not seen’ (Act 1:3 L36)

immediately associate him with the witches because they say in the first scene .

fair is foul and foul is fair’ (1:1 L12), so evil is brought to mind. Macbeth is

connected with the supernatural in the audience’s mind from the onset. This is

the first thing that is not consistent with Macbeth’s image of a war hero.

In an aside later on in Act 1:3, Macbeth reveals that he is thinking of killing

Duncan. Asides are very important because they give the audience an insight into

the character’s mind. Once the audience knows how the character thinks, they

tend to sympathise with him, which is another reason why .Macbeth’ is a tragedy.

The aside follows closely Macbeth’s desires and doubts – he does not know

whether .this supernatural soliciting’ is good or bad, but he dearly wants to be

king. He describes the murder that he is imagining to be .horrible’(1:3 L137)

and .makes my seated heart knock at my ribs’ (1:3 L135), showing that the whole

idea disgusts and horrifies him, as it would any man who was brave and noble,

but Macbeth cannot stop thinking about it, showing that he is considering the

idea and is drawn to it, and that he has ambitions to be king within him already.

Macbeth is drawn to darkness, because he believes that it will hide his evil

deeds. This is first shown when he says .stars hide your fires, let not light

see my black and deep desires’ ( 1:4 L50). Macbeth is afraid that people will

realise that he wants to be king and is prepared to kill for it, so he calls on

the stars to hide their light, so people cannot see what he is thinking. This is

again in an aside, so the audience are the only ones who know what Macbeth is

thinking. Asides and soliloquies help the audience understand Macbeth and also

paint the scene. The audience can see that he has become yet more drawn to evil.

Evidence that Macbeth has a human side and is very worried is found in a long

soliloquy – a speech where Macbeth is alone on stage so we can again see what

Macbeth is thinking. He is worried about his eternal soul, and what his

punishment will be in Heaven if he kills Duncan. He thinks of reasons why he

should not kill Duncan – .He’s here in double trust: First, as I am his kinsman

and his subject, strong both against the deed; then, as his host he should

against his murderer shut the door, not bear the knife myself.’(1:7 L12-16) This

shows that Macbeth is not totally evil, but his ambition spurs him on. Later in

the scene, Macbeth decides not to commit the murder, but Lady Macbeth taunts him

until he gives in, showing that he is weak, and Lady Macbeth is much the more

dominant of the two. Lady Macbeth had said earlier .I fear thy nature, it is too

full o’th’milk of human kindness’ (1:5 L14-15), showing that she knew that

Macbeth was not strong enough or evil enough to murder Duncan on his own, and

she would have to push him into it. This shows that Macbeth was decent, but not

strong minded.

As the time for Duncan’s murder draws nearer and nearer, Macbeth becomes more

and more nervous, and i

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