macbeth character essay

William Shakespeare

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The Character of Macbeth – Essay

Antonious Mekheail

Shakespeare never fails to stun an audience with a complex yet entertaining character. His play of Macbeth is no exception. One might judge Macbeth to be the valiant hero of the play, to the audiences surprise and bewilderment, he is also the villain. To create such a character requires an unparalleled plot and great writing skill. Macbeth’s character is expressed in a way that relates to the audience. His moral transformation from valiant to vile, his moral hesitation and his torturing conscience are all elements that condemn Macbeth but at the same time evoke the audience’s sympathy.

Macbeth is merely mentioned by the witches at the start of the play. We first meet “Brave Macbeth” while at work as a thane protecting his king from rebels and Norwegian invaders. “Valour’s minion…ne’er shook hands, nor bad farewell to him till he unseamed him from the nave to th’chaps” . A very detailed account of Macbeth as a warrior is given by an injured officer to Duncan. From this source it is proven how brave and courageous Macbeth is. “Cannons overcharged with double cracks…memorise another Golgotha” . This establishes that Macbeth is accustomed to killing and death, on the battlefield that is, but he is not a murderer.

“Bellona’s bridegroom” is also a “Valliant cousin” to the king of Scotland himself, which proves to be a loyal servant of somewhat royal blood. He is also conveyed as noble and worthy of praise: “what he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won” . A title is not a trifle for a reward, which proves that Macbeth is a sublime character loved by all. However not everyone is perfect, even Macbeth has some deep forgotten desire that will eventually come to surface through catalysts in the plot, and will led him to his pitiful demise.

Macbeth’s currently established character is put into question when it is discovered that he is so easily corrupted by the prophecy of the three wired sisters. Despite the good news of his promotion, Macbeth is shocked and frightened. The witches have awakened the long dormant vaulting ambition for him take hold of the crown. This puts into question if he was innocent and pure initially or was he stained with deep and dark desire to usurp the crown: “stay… speak… would they have stayed” . The fact that Macbeth wanted the witches to stay puts into question his loyalty to sovereign.

Even though the witches are evil characters, Macbeth does not want to believe in this. The first part of their prophecy came true, maybe the crown will be his after all. He is blinded by their equivocation and by his vaulting ambition: “Why do I yield to such a suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs” . Macbeth is slowly goaded into the thought of murder which shows that he was initially a little corrupted by his dormant ambition. However he does not succumb easily to this ghastly deed; his morals and his noble nature are in vicious conflict with his ambition. He is being torn apart by his desire for the crown and his moral prevention to achieve it. “chance may crown me without my stir” . Finally Macbeth mediates by hoping there to be a way to achieve kingship without murder.

The corruption of Macbeth is accelerated by an event and a character. Duncan proclaims Malcolm heir to the throne. To his un-awareness, this was Duncan’s greatest mistake as it gives Macbeth a motive for the murder. Now it is a “step” which he must “o’er leap for in my way it lies” . Now he realises that “chance” will not crown him without his inevitable “stir” . Even though Macbeth now has a motive for murder he is still in moral turmoil. “We’d jump the life to come” . Macbeth is bewildered, will he be able to trade his soul in the next life for kingship in this one. His intimacy with himself proves to him that his only motive for this murder is his bare ambition to be king: “I have no spur/ to prick the sides of my intent, but only/ vaulting ambition” . In his vacillation he decides not to carry out the deed.

This decision infuriates Lady Macbeth and she kills him morally. “was the hope drunk/ wherein you dressed yourself” . Lady Macbeth uses reverse psychology by insulting her husband’s manliness: When you durst do it, then you were a man” . This flawless tactic works well on Macbeth and he is won over by her “undaunted mettle” . “I am settled and bend up each corporal agent to this terrible feat” . The verb “bend” shows the struggle in him to carry out the act, it goes against his nature. The decision for the murder is nevertheless Macbeth’s. Although Lady Macbeth is the catalyst he must ultimately take full responsibility for his own actions.

The murder of Duncan may be depicted as the point of no return for the character of Macbeth. He is now frail and quite paranoid just after the murder, this contrasts with him being confident and brave on the battlefield; killing then seemed normal to him, but murder, he feels that he has condemned his soul. “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” . The amount of guilt that Macbeth feels is unbearable to any man, which shows that he has not completed the course of his moral deterioration. Macbeth has now become a tyrant that will suspect everyone, even those closest to him.

The crown has defiled Macbeth and he realizes that it only brings sadness and despair. Macbeth is even jealous of Duncan who is dead that he is resting in peace and him who is unable to even sleep is living in torment torn by guilt and paranoia. A new feature of the new Macbeth is also hypocrisy: “fail not our feast” . Macbeth sends off Banquo with a warm farewell and probably a smile. Here Macbeth is following his wife’s advice: “look like the innocent flower but be the serpent underneath” . Another trait acquired by Macbeth, again from Lady Macbeth is the power of manipulation. Macbeth appeals to the murders’ desire for revenge and mocks their patience for tolerating such injustice rendered to them by Banquo. Macbeth has also become cold and calculating in nature, even human life does not seem to posses any value to him. Terms like: “business” and “work” in reference to the murder and his attitude towards the innocent child Fleance, is merely another obstacle to Macbeth’s security. All of this reinforces his cold clinical attitude towards people and his morally corrupt attitude.

Macbeth has also become dead inside. When Macduff flees the realm of Scotland for England to conspire with Malcolm against Macbeth, Macbeth resorts to the most cowardly and ruthless of ways to punish Macduff for his insolence. Macbeth murders Macduff’s family. He has become so heartless that murder seems like a hobby to him. This is in stark contrast with the Macbeth whom the thought of murder “shook my very state of man” .

A final turning point that affects the character of Macbeth, is the death of his spouse. Although Macbeth has committed monstrous deeds, he is not a monster. In fact he feels, which is quite surprising, sadness and compassion towards the tragedy. Life now seems to him utterly futile, a slow inexorable progression toward death: “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing” . One cannot help but feel at least some sympathy for Macbeth. He has been equivocated upon by the witches, his wife died, all of Scotland scorns him and he is carrying an unimaginable burden of guilt. However he still retains some of his original traits. In his fight against Macduff Macbeth refuses to go down without a fight: “ I will not yield to kiss the ground before young Malcolm’s feet… “hold, enough”” . A formidable warrior indeed. Even when the entire world is against him he holds his head high with pride.

“Macbeth” would not have been the masterpiece of literature that it is without such a character. Notice that Macbeth is the protagonist, and also the antagonist. Hero and villain. Good and evil. Macbeth is not the average character which just defeats the villain and the play ends happily ever after; he is much more complex than that, much more alive. His transformation from the loyal, virtuous, moral individual to the abomination of a tyrant and finally to the heartbroken, empty individual. The moral turmoil that is experienced by Macbeth and his deep, delving sense of guilt proves him to be somewhat of a good person. But his heinous acts of murder and manipulation show the dark side of his character which is solely fuelled on his one flaw: his vaulting ambition. Macbeth was not originally a murderer, but he was bound to become one eventually. The turn of events at the end of the play also suggest that the spirit of Macbeth will live on, as most likely Macduff will become another Macbeth. Macbeth is a skilfully created character that possesses more than one personality within him; this is what makes him remembered by all, it makes him immortal.

Notes on Character Sketch of Macbeth in English

Back to: Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Table of Contents

Rage for Power

Macbeth is a character raging for power for its own sake. In the play, at the very beginning, one gets to know of the glory of his bravery and immense capacity to bring victory as a general in the army of King Duncan. But his very first meeting with the three witches reveals to us his all-pervading ambition for power.

Macbeth’s very first dialogue in the play, “ so foul and fair a day I have not seen ” repeats what the three witches say earlier and it reveals to us the contradictory state of his mind.

The same prophecy makes Banquo clarify his conscience while Macbeth unties the knot to his ambition. Harold Bloom said that Macbeth is a tragedy of imagination. It may mean that Macbeth suffers his tragic fall because of the unchecked imagining of power. 

Macbeth suffers from the horror found in his own thoughts. Unlike other villains, he never delights in the evil in him. Intensely aware of his wickedness, he goes on doing things much worse than his previous acts.

After listening to the prophecy of the three witches, he has already imagined himself in the position which he must have been lusting after unknowingly since ever. When Duncan declares Malcolm as the heir to his kingdom, it automatically springs him to actions.

He becomes a killing machine. Lady Macbeth has to just mock his manhood, it clears his confusion and he follows the misdeed to the end.

In the play, his character begins at the highest point where features like strength, ambition, power work in a positive mode but with each Act everything good in him subverts further until a declaration of madness is made.

Shakespeare has great faith in order. Through Macbeth, he seems to be warning us of unchecked ambition. Macbeth with all his determination starts acting in a way which is unnatural for the established order.

The play declares its sympathy for primogeniture, the right of inheritance belonging to the eldest son. When the three witches confront him with the prophecy, he presses on them to “ tell me more.” 

He commits regicide without many second thoughts apart from his instinctive questioning of conscience. While Banquo doesn’t want to believe in the three witches, wondering “ can the Devil speak true? ”, it is Macbeth who goes on imagining the path to make it come true like the prophecy just confirmed what he had been aspiring for.

Banquo’s Warning

Banquo warns him that such “ instruments of darkness tell us truths…to betray us in deepest consequence ” but to no avail, he is further conveniently manipulated by Lady Macbeth.

By Act III , Macbeth has full command over his misdeeds. It says, “ Blood will have blood .” He kills Banquo without even noticing any of his goodness. His ambition has no principle to it. His imagination can accommodate the whole ocean of Neptune when he reveals his guilt after his first murder in the play.

His thoughts are vivid and full of such visual images. His imagination aids to his “ vaulting ambition ” which “ overleaps itself .” Macbeth has a great capacity for love. With Lady Macbeth, he makes a great practical couple. His passion for Lady Macbeth, his “ partner in greatness ” is one great unselfish passion.

Her death shocks him to compare life to the idiot’s tale, a poor player. It is hard for us to decide whether he is a man of action or he is a thinker or a dreamer thrown out of his context.

He never contemplates defeat, rather in the end he says “ I will not yield to kiss the ground…yet I will try the last.. ” Towards the end, his pride and the faith in his invincibility dominantly marks his character.

Macbeth Essays

There are loads of ways you can approach writing an essay, but the two i favour are detailed below., the key thing to remember is that an essay should focus on the three aos:, ao1: plot and character development; ao2: language and technique; ao3: context, strategy 1 : extract / rest of play, the first strategy basically splits the essay into 3 paragraphs., the first paragraph focuses on the extract, the second focuses on the rest of the play, the third focuses on context. essentially, it's one ao per paragraph, for a really neatly organised essay., strategy 2 : a structured essay with an argument, this strategy allows you to get a much higher marks as it's structured to form an argument about the whole text. although you might think that's harder - and it's probably going to score more highly - i'd argue that it's actually easier to master. mainly because you do most of the work before the day of the exam., to see some examples of these, click on the links below:, lady macbeth as a powerful woman, macbeth as a heroic character, the key to this style is remembering this: you're going to get a question about a theme, and the extract will definitely relate to the theme., the strategy here is planning out your essays before the exam, knowing that the extract will fit into them somehow., below are some structured essays i've put together., macbeth and gender.

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Macbeth Character Flaws

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Published: Mar 5, 2024

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Macbeth and Violence — Example A Grade Essay

Here’s an essay on Macbeth’s violent nature that I wrote as a mock exam practice with students. Feel free to read and analyse it, use the quotes and context for your own essays too!

It’s also useful for anyone studying Macbeth in general, especially with the following exam boards: CAIE / Cambridge, Edexcel, OCR, CCEA, WJEC / Eduqas.

Thanks for reading! If you find this resource useful, you can take a look at our full online Macbeth course here . Use the code “SHAKESPEARE” to receive a 50% discount!

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For more help with Macbeth and Tragedy, read our article here .

THE QUESTION

Starting with this speech, explore how far shakespeare presents macbeth as a violent character. (act 1 scene 2).

Debate: How far is Macbeth violent? (AGREE / DISAGREE)

Themes: Violence (break into different types of violence)

Focus: Character of Macbeth (what he says/does, other character’s actions towards him and speech about him)

PLAN — 6–8 mins

Thesis – Shakespeare uses Macbeth to make us question the nature of violence and whether any kind of violent behaviour is ever appropriate

Point 1 : Macbeth has an enjoyment of violence

‘Brandished steel’ ‘smoked with bloody execution’

‘Unseam’d him from the nave to’th’chops’ ‘fixed his head upon the battlements’

Context — Thou shalt not kill / Tragic hero

Point 2 : Macbeth is a violent character from the offset, but this violence is acceptable at first

‘Disdaining Fortune’ ‘valiant cousin/ worthy gentleman’

‘Worthy to be a rebel’

Context: Divine Right of Kings / James I legacy

Point 3:  The witches and Lady Macbeth manipulate that violent power

‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’ ‘so foul and fair a day I have not seen’

‘Will these hands never be clean?’ ‘incarnadine’

‘Is this a dagger I see before me?’

Context: Psychological power — Machiavelli / Demonology

(Point 4) Ultimately, Macbeth is undone by violence in the end

Hubris — ‘Macduff was from his mother’s womb untimely ripp’d’

‘Traitor’ ‘Tyrant’

‘Life is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing’

Context: Violence for evil means is unsustainable, political unrest equally is negative and unsustainable — support James

Macbeth is certainly portrayed as a violent character from the offset, but initially this seems a positive trait: the Captain, Ross and others herald him as a great warrior, both an ally and valuable asset to Duncan and his kingdom. Furthermore, Duncan himself is overjoyed at Macbeth’s skill in battle. Yet, as the play progresses and Macbeth embarks upon his tragic fall, Shakespeare encourages us to question the nature of violence itself, and whether any kind of violence is truly good. Ultimately, Shakespeare demonstrates that Macbeth’s enjoyment of violence works against him, as it is manipulated by the evil forces at work in the play, and it ends in destroying not only himself but his entire life’s work, reputation and legacy.

Firstly, Macbeth is established as a character who embraces violence, though he uses it as a force for good in the sense that he defends Duncan and his Kingdom against traitors and the King of Norway’s attack. In the play, it is interesting to note that Macbeth’s reputation precedes him — despite being the central focus of the tragedy, we do not meet him until Act 1 Scene 3, and so this extract occurs before we have seen the man himself. The Captain’s speech begins with the dramatic utterance ‘Doubtful it stood’, creating a sense of tension and uncertainty as he recounts the events of the battle to Duncan and the others. Yet, the tone of the speech becomes increasingly full of praise and confidence as he explains how Macbeth and Banquo overcame ‘Fortune’, the luck that went against them, and their strong willpower enabled them to defeat ‘the merciless Macdonwald’, the alliteration serving to underscore the Captain’s dislike of the man, while the adjective ‘merciless’ implies that the traitor himself was also cruel and violent. The sense that Macbeth enjoys the violence he enacts upon the traitor is conveyed through visual imagery, which is graphic and quite repellent: ‘his brandish’d steel… smoked with bloody execution’ and ‘he unseam’d [Macdonwald] from the nave to th’chops’. The dynamic verb ‘smoked’ suggests the intense action of the scene and the amount of fresh blood that had stained Macbeth’s sword. Furthermore, the verb ‘unseam’d’ suggests the skill with which Macbeth is able to kill — he does not simply stab the traitor, he delicately and expertly destroys him, almost as if he’s a butcher who takes pleasure in his profession, and indeed at the end of the play Macduff does call him by this same term: ‘the dead butcher and his fiend-like queen’. Interestingly, much of the violence that occurs in the play happens offstage, Duncan is murdered in between Acts 2.1 and 2.2., as are Banquo and Macduff’s family. Even in this early scene, the audience hear about the violence rather than experiencing it directly. This suggests perhaps that for a Jacobean audience at a time of political instability, Shakespeare wanted to discourage the idea or enjoyment of violence whilst still exploring the idea of it in human nature and psychology. Furthermore, a contemporary audience would be aware of the Biblical commandment ‘thou shall not kill’, which expressed that violence and murder of any kind was a sinful act against God. Therefore, we can see that Macbeth is established as a tragic hero from the offset, though he is a successful character and increasing his power within the feudal world, this power is built upon his capacity for and enjoyment of violence, which will ultimately cause him to fail and in turn warn the Jacobean audience against any kind of violence in their own lives.

We could also interpret Macbeth as inherently violent, but under control of his own power at the beginning of the play, an aspect of himself which degenerates under the influence of evil. Though he is physically great, he is easily manipulated by the witches and Lady Macbeth, all of whom are arguably psychologically stronger. The use of chiasmus in the opening scene — ‘fair is foul and foul is fair’ is echoed by Macbeth’s first line in Act One Scene 3: ‘so foul and fair a day I have not seen’. Delving deeper into the meaning of these lines also reveals more about Shakespeare’s opinions on the inherent nature of violence; though the language is equivocal and can be interpreted in many ways, we can assume that the witches are implying that the world has become inverted, that ugliness and evil are now ‘fair’, what is seen as right or normal in Macbeth’s violent world. Macbeth uses similar lines, but with a different meaning, he is stating that he has never seen a day so ‘foul’, so full of gore and death, that was at the same time so ‘fair’, so good in terms of outcome, and positive for the future. Shakespeare is perhaps exposing an inherent paradox in violence here, that war and murder is thought by many to be noble if it leads to a positive political outcome. Furthermore, Lady Macbeth encourages and appeals to Macbeth’s sense for violence by directly associating it with masculinity and male traits that were considered noble or desirable in the Jacobean era. She questions him just prior to Duncan’s death, stating ‘I fear thy nature is too full o’th’milk of human kindness / to catch the nearest way’, using ‘milk’ as a symbol of femininity to imply his womanly and cowardly nature, while in turn asking evil spirits to ‘unsex’ her and fill her with ‘direst cruelty’. In this sense, it could be argued that Shakespeare is commenting on the connections between nature and violence, perhaps a Jacobean audience would have understood that Macbeth fighting for the king was an acceptable outlet for his violence, whereas Macbeth using violence for personal gain and Lady Macbeth’s wish to become more masculine, and therefore more violent, are all against the perceived view of natural gender and social roles of the time. Overall, we could say that the culture itself, which encourages Machievellian disruption and political vying for power through both women and men stepping out of the social norms of their society, encourages more violence and evil to enter the world.

Alternatively, it could be argued that Shakespeare uses Macbeth’s success through violence to criticise the nature of the Early Modern world, and so it is not Macbeth’s violence itself which is at fault, but the world which embraces and encourages this in him. Duncan responds to the Captain’s speech by exclaiming ‘valiant cousin’ ‘worthy gentleman!’, demonstrating his extreme faith in Macbeth’s powers. The Captain additionally terms him ‘Brave Macbeth’, stating ‘well he deserves that name’, suggesting that the general structure of the world supports violent and potentially unstable characters such as Macbeth, enabling them to rise to power beyond their means. Interestingly the downfall of Macbeth is foreshadowed early on in this extract, as the term ‘worthy’ is also applied to the traitor in the Captain’s speech, when he states Macdonwald is ‘worthy to be a rebel’, the repetition of this adjective perhaps subtly compares Macdonwald’s position to Macbeth’s own, as Macbeth’s own death also is similar to the initial traitors, with his own head being ‘fixed…upon the battlements’ of Inverness castle. Through this repetition of staging and terminology, we realise that the world is perhaps at fault more than Macbeth himself, as it encourages a cycle of violence and political instability. Though there is a sense of positivity in extract as Duncan has succeeded in securing the throne and defeating the traitor, the violent context in which this action occurs, being set in 11th century feudal Scotland, suggests the underlying political unrest that mirrors the political instability of Shakespeare’s own time. The play was first performed in 1606, three years after James I had been made King of England (though he was already King of Scotland at this time), and in 1605 there had been a violent attempt on his life with the Gunpowder Plot from a group of secret Catholics who felt they were being underrepresented. Shakespeare’s own family were known associates of some of the perpetrators, so it is likely that he intended to clear suspicion of his own name by creating a play that strongly supported James I’s Divine Right to rule. In this sense, we can see that the concept of a cycle of violence that is created through political instability is integral to Shakespeare’s overall purpose, he is strongly conveying to the audience that not only is Macbeth’s personal violence sinful, but the way in which society encourages people to become violent is terrible and must be stopped, for the good of everyone.

In summary, Macbeth is established from the offset as a violent character, who takes pride and pleasure in fighting and killing. However, Shakespeare is careful not to make this violent action central to the enjoyment of the play (until the very end, when Macbeth himself is defeated), to force us to engage with the psychology of violence more than the physical nature of it. Though the women in the play are passive, Lady Macbeth and the witches prove to incite violence in Macbeth’s nature and lead ultimately to more evil entering the world. Finally, we can interpret the violence of the play as a criticism of the political and social instability of Jacobean times, rather than it being purely Macbeth’s fault, Shakespeare is exploring how the society itself encourages instability through the encouragement of Machiavellian ideas such as power grabbing, nepotism, greed and ambition.

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Essay: How does Shakespeare present the character of Macbeth?

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Macbeth is a play written in 1606 by William Shakespeare. This play was about a man named Macbeth who receives prophecies from three witches, that end up altering his life. He starts off as an honourable warrior, who later gets ravaged by guilt with an over-ambitious nature which eventually leads him to his death. At the beginning of the play, Shakespeare introduces the character of Macbeth as a faithful and courageous soldier, who is supportive of his king. In act 1.2, Captain honours Macbeth through a compelling speech where he reinforces his bravery for fighting in the battle between Scotland against the Norwegians. The deliberate use of a dash, a punctuation mark which creates emphasis in the sentence and highlights some key information about Macbeth – he deserves the label of “brave.” This reveals that King Duncan had nothing but praise for Macbeth from his heroic actions. Following this, Macbeth is personified as a ‘valour’s minion’ which is suggesting that Macbeth is a servant for bravery, displaying his courage. The noun ‘valour’ depicts Macbeth as an act of heroic courage and determination, however, the word minion describes Macbeth as a servant or follower. Duncan also reinforces Macbeth’s bravery with the characterisation, “O valiant cousin, worthy gentlemen,” Duncan is making Macbeth’s victory known to all as he is given the title of Thane of Cawdor, this gives Macbeth a positive reputation and Shakespeare is building up Macbeth’s character to look good. Additionally, this fortifies King Duncan’s appreciation of him and that he takes trusts in Macbeth. The significant line “what he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won” told by the King depicts that one man’s failure is another man’s success – essentially McDonald, the previous Thane of Cawdor who lost his position because he was a traitor, this meant that Macbeth would take his place. Again, Macbeth’s bravery is reinforced when the evocative adjective “noble” is used to emphasise Macbeth’s worthiness of his title. This is further exemplified through the line “and with his former title greet Macbeth.” The King is placing his trust in Macbeth by giving him a greater title. This is ironic as Macbeth will later kill and betray Duncan to take his place as King. Macbeth’s continues to get praise when he is referred to as “Bellona’s bridegroom” by Ross. Bellona was the Roman goddess of war, Ross is complimenting Macbeth’s skills on the battlefield. In this part of the play, Shakespeare explores loyalty and trust as he reveals Macbeth and King Duncan’s strong relationship as Macbeth is given a new title, showing that they have trust with one another. Later in the play, Macbeth starts to get manipulated by Lady Macbeth and the witches, as a result causing him to feel overwhelmed by guilt. Lady Macbeth is controlling and tries to trick Macbeth into killing the King in hopes of getting something out of it. She tries to manage Macbeth’s emotions as she says, “thou wouldst be great; art not without ambition” and “infirm of purpose!”. Lady Macbeth is manipulating him and urging on his ambition, causing him to feel overwhelmed with guilt through the actions he has committed. The disyllabic conjunction ‘wouldst’ is in the future tense, basically, she is stating he could be great if he had ambition. The line “infirm of purpose,” is essentially addressing him as a ‘coward’. By doing this, she hopes to provoke him enough so he would try to prove her wrong, to convince her that he is strong enough. In the end, her clever influences worked on Macbeth as later they end up perpetrating regicide. The audience would now view Macbeth as an ominous person as he is able to do such a thing. Yet, Macbeth still believes he made the right decision, so he is trying to assure himself that he is still innocent as he did nothing wrong. At this part of the play, Shakespeare starts to reveal Macbeth’s emotional side as he starts to feel guilty for what he did. Both he and Lady Macbeth are apprehensive about what will happen next. Macbeth reveals his guilt of killing the King when he utters “but wherefore could not I pronounce ‘Amen’” he admits to betraying God which is why he is incapable of saying the word Amen. Shakespeare continues to reinforce this idea, as Lady Macbeth starts shaming Macbeth, “my hands are of your colour, but I shame to wear a heart so white.” She is saying that Macbeth is wrongful because of his actions. The reflective noun ‘white’ relates to pureness and innocence – so she is accepting that she is guilty as she doesn’t want to associate herself with anything pure. At this point, the audience might be starting to dislike Macbeth’s character. Towards the end of the play, Macbeth had a clear desire for dominance and success and he is determined to do whatever it takes to achieve this goal. The intensity of his ambition causes turnovers in Macbeth’s actions, including deceiving those he is closest to. Macbeth is doubting his lack of motivation when he speaks “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on th’ other”. His only justification for killing Duncan is his ‘ambition’ and for him, that is a good enough reason. The reference to a horse personifies Macbeth as an animal of strength and perseverance. Also, the perfunctory adjective ‘vaulting’ and the repressed noun ‘spur’ both signify the morality of his ambition. Shakespeare continues to divulge Macbeth’s ambition after Macbeth has committed Banquo’s murder when he speaks “tis better thee without than he within” in act 3.4. This imagery is truly Macbeth stating that Banquo’s blood is better of on his face, rather than in his veins. Also, this explicates how his ambition has taken over as he feels no sorrow for the death of his best friend. Macbeth’s ambition maintains as he says “stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires”. Macbeth uses this metaphor in his depiction of the contrasting nouns ‘light’ and ‘black’ to show his real intentions. The juxtaposition of the words light and dark highlight Macbeth’s mental state. Primarily, he doesn’t want the good and pure to know his evil plans. Furthermore, Macbeth uses the alliteration ‘let light’ and ‘deep desires’, to reinforce his zeal towards these messages. Following this, Macbeth’s over-ambitious nature has caused him to gain abrogating traits as a king. He is addressed as a ‘tyrant’ throughout the rest of the play. The line “this tyrant. whose sole name blisters our tongues, was once thought honest” explains the audience that he has lost support from his country. Malcolm is stating that a man who was once great, has now betrayed everyone and will continue to do so. In conclusion, Shakespeare presents the character of Macbeth in a variety of ways. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is portrayed as a brave and loyal soldier who fought to protect his country. Later on, he starts to believe the witches prophecies which leads to a major downfall. He gets manipulated by Lady Macbeth and the witches into killing King Duncan, so he could take his place on the throne. From there on, his only goal is to keep his crown, this obsession is what causes his death. 2019-2-18-1550500018

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