Macbeth Analysis 44 Essay Research Paper The

Macbeth Analysis 44 Essay, Research Paper

The Protagonist, Macbeth

Macbeth is a classic tragic figure brought to ruin by his own greed,

guilt, and fear. Shakespeare intensifies Macbeth’s tragic nature by

showing him to be a valiant hero in the beginning of the play. He is

a courageous warrior and one of King Duncan’s best generals. In

the second scene of the play, Macbeth has just won his most

important battle and saved Scotland from the Norwegian King. To

honor his bravery, King Duncan gives Macbeth the title of Thane

of Cawdor. This is one of the first steps to Macbeth’s undoing, for

he longs to be more than just a thane. His innate greed is first

inflamed by three wicked witches who prophesy to Macbeth that

he will become Thane of Cawdor and then King of Scotland. When

the first prophecy comes to pass, Macbeth immediately begins to

long for greater power. He realizes that in order to seize the throne

from the king, he will have to murder him. Being a basically kind

man, he is horrified at his own thoughts and decides murder is

beyond his capability. He decides to let fate take its course, and if

he is meant to be king, it will happen. But the seed of greed has

been planted, and Macbeth is a rash man.

In the fifth scene of the play, another side of the early Macbeth is

developed. He is shown to be a loving husband who values his

wife and calls her ” his dearest partner in greatness,” sharing what

he is with her. They are obviously close, for he immediately writes

a letter to Lady Macbeth and tells her about the prophecies of the

three witches, for he wants to please her and give information

about “what greatness is promised thee.” It is Lady Macbeth who

further inflames Macbeth’s greed that was planted by the three evil

witches. As soon as she reads Macbeth’s letter, she decides King

Duncan must be killed so her husband can become king and she

can become queen. There is no hesitation or indecision about her

lust for power. Her only fear is that Macbeth is “too full of the milk

of human kindness” to plan a murder. Therefore, she will take

matters into her own hands and manipulate her husband into

acquiescence. She tells Macbeth that immediate action should be

taken, for “the future is in the instant.” She carefully lays the plans

for her husband to murder Duncan on the very same night, as the

king sleeps in their castle. Trusting the ability and judgment of his

wife, Macbeth consents with some reluctance.

Macbeth struggles with his agreement to murder Duncan, for

Macbeth sees the good in people, and Duncan is a worthy and

humble king; Duncan is also a kinsman and a guest in his castle.

Macbeth, who can be truthful with himself early in the play,

acknowledges that it is only “vaulting ambition” that makes him

consider the vile deed. As his wife suspected, he is really too kind

by nature to carry through with murderous plans. He tells Lady

Macbeth, “We will proceed no further in this business.” She will

not listen to her husband, but strikes out at his strong sense of

vanity and pride in his manliness and calls him a fearful coward, in

sharp contrast to the brave warrior he believes himself to be. Then

a new trait of Macbeth, that haunts him through the rest of the

play, is depicted. He is truly a fearful man: not afraid of murdering

(he has murdered many on the battlefield), but afraid of being

caught. The manipulative Lady Macbeth, who is more self-

confident than her husband, believes they will not fail and

convinces Macbeth that the plan must be completed. Macbeth is

obviously not as strong-willed as his wife.

Before the murder ever takes place, Shakespeare further develops

the depth of Macbeth’s fear, which is the man trait that leads to his

self-inflicted downfall. As the time of the execution draws near,

Macbeth’s fears give way to imaginative hallucination. He believes

he sees a dagger hanging in front of his face; but when he reaches

for it, he cannot grab it, and it taunts him further by dripping blood.

It is the first of many incidents when Macbeth’s fears fan the

flames of his imagination. It will happen again when he hears

voices calling to him to “Sleep no more” and when he sees

Banquo’s ghost sitting in his chair at the royal banquet.

After the murder is committed, Macbeth’s fear grows greatly and is

compounded by deep feelings of guilt. When Lady Macbeth tells

him to return the bloody daggers to the king’s chambers, the

troubled Macbeth says, “I am afraid to think what I have done;

Look on it again, I dare not.” The irony is that Macbeth’s

conscience will make him look at the murder over and over again

with no escape. Macbeth senses the depth of guilt immediately.

When he looks at his bloody hands, he realizes that all of the water

in the ocean

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