Macbeth Character Analysis Essay

During the second and third acts of Shakespeare’s play Macbeth’s psyche begins to display an inability to heal after he performed the deed of murdering Duncan. It seems that Macbeth has suffered a severe psychological break as he is no longer able to restrain his darker thoughts from materializing into actions. In his lust for power, Macbeth has traded the simplest joys of his former life for those of a haunted man. As time progresses, Macbeth seems more and more willing to sacrifice servants, friends, or even those he considered family in order to secure or increase his status. This leads the audience to the forlorn conclusion that Macbeth has reached a level of madness that surpasses even the sociopathic desires of his wife.

Shakespeare engineered a most impressionable character in Macbeth who easily succumbs to the extensive magnitude of opposing constraints. This character is Macbeth, who is the protagonist in the play and husband to a conniving wife, who in the end is the sole cause for Macbeth 's undoing. Conflicting forces in the play compel internal conflicts within Macbeth to thrive on his contentment and sanity as he his torn asunder between devotion, aspiration, morality and his very own being. He has developed a great sense of loyalty from being a brave soldier; however, his ambition soon challenges this allegiance. As his sincerity begins to deteriorate, his own sanity starts to disintegrate until the point where he cannot differentiate between reality

Despite committing a number of abhorrent crimes, Macbeth’s morality is definitively ambiguous, or “grey,” “because he is so acutely aware of the horror of his crimes” (Charney). Even before his transgressions take place, Macbeth is aware of the “physiological and psychological” consequences the murder will have on him, “forsee[ing] the effects” of his wrongdoings with rightfully placed apprehension (Charney). This sorrowful character is not the one first introduced to the audience, as Macbeth is depicted as an exalted hero in Duncan’s army; however, though his visage morphs into one of a tyrant. During his metamorphosis into seemingly amoral ruler, Macbeth does not take pleasure in the carnage he inspires, contributing to the adversity faced through his remorse. Conversely, Macduff, who may be considered the protagonist by some, is not presented as wholly virtuous.

In William Shakespeare 's play 'Macbeth ', Macbeth changes dramatically from Act 1 to Act 5. While in Act 1 Macbeth is seen as a noble and loyal warrior which contrasts to Act 5 where he is described as a "coward" and a "tyrant". While Macbeth 's actions are promoted by the witches, Lady Macbeth and his own desire lead them to choosing the actions they undertake which drives Macbeth 's undoing. If it wasn’t for the manipulative behaviour of Lady Macbeth and the impatient ambition Macbeth displays, Macbeth may have never engaged in the actions which led to his own demise.

At the beginning of William Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ the protagonist Macbeth is described as ‘brave’, ‘noble’ and ‘honourable’, however Lady Macbeth’s and Macbeths desire for power consumes them. Macbeth’s ambition overrides his conscience and transformed his greatest strength into his greatest weakness. Macbeth’s inability to resist temptations that led him to be greedy for power, Macbeth’s easily manipulative nature which allowed his mind to be swayed, Macbeth having no self control and his excessive pride was what allowed him to renew his previously honourable and celebrated title into one of an evil ‘tyrant’. Macbeth is led by the prophecies of the witches after they foretell he will become the Thane of Cawdor. Not only the witches, but also his wife easily manipulate Macbeth as she attacks his manhood in order to provoke him to act on his desires.

MacBeth is the main character in Shakespeare's MacBeth and rightfully so. He is the character that changes the most and has the greatest impact on the story. MacBeth is the one whom the tragedy is placed on, and because of this it is his story. MacBeth's dynamic character changes throughout the play driving the story forward and showing the theme of visions of power create ambition in individuals.

Moreover, Macbeth was one of the first characters to feel a great deal of guilt in the play. An instance in which Macbeth's guilt showed through was when he said, “A dagger of the mind, a false creation,... I see thee still, and on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood”(II,I) Macbeth makes this statement to his wife after killing Duncan, because he still feels remorse for his actions. To continue, he has the impression that there are daggers covered in blood haunting him constantly reminding him of his actions.

Though first confused by the dagger, he later concludes that is a figment of his imagination from a guilt-ridden mind. The intensity of the dagger hallucinations experienced by Macbeth increases as he states that his eyes are “made the fools o’ the other senses,” showing that his eyes perceive visions of which he knows not to be there (2.1.56). He later reasons that it is the “bloody business which informs/Thus to mine eyes,” as the reason he sees this dagger is due to the murderous journey he

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, masculinity is not axiomatic, rather, it is constantly challenged and redefined by different characters throughout the play. After the murdering of King Duncan, Lady Macbeth ridicules Macbeth for behaving weak and naïve, by saying “my hands are of your color, but I shame to wear a heart so white” (2.2.63-64). Even after committing the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth’s masculinity is challenged, since he experiences feelings of guilt, shame and fear, all of which do not fall under the Macbeths’ definition of manhood. Lady Macbeth criticizes Macbeth, because even though she also plays a role in the killing of king Duncan, Macbeth, who is supposed to be brave, fearless and undaunted, cowers like an infant and allows his conscience to to guilt-trap him, proving that he is not evil, heartless or manly enough.

Lady Macbeth is calling to the spirits to assist her murderous ideations and to do that make her less of a women and more like man which will then fill her with deadly cruelty. This supports how she feels, about needing to be manly to commit these horrible

Macbeth is very rational at the beginning of the novel and makes decisions that he know’s would help other people plus himself, later on after the murder of Duncan his rationality decreases, his mind goes crazy and he kills people for no reason, this illustrates his good morals and values being destroyed. Before the killing of Duncan, Macbeth is very reasonable, and notices the good from the bad, the smart from the dumb, so every little detail catches the eye of him. Therefore, when the three witches come over to him he is amazed at there beauty and willfulness, “speak if you can. What are you”(1.3.50)? The way the witches praise and talk to Macbeth makes him feel powerful and almost as their leader.

The Tragedy of Macbeth incorporates character development to present William Shakespeare’s motive; throughout the play it allows the audience to see the message the play relays. The play is a tragedy and it specifically shows the tragedy of humans as they self destruct. There is a use of literary devices to create different aspects of each character allowing them to portray different images of themselves that wouldn’t be noticed initially. Compared to how the audience views each character in the beginning of the play, the image develops into something new as different aspects are revealed. The characters and their continuous changes become the essence of the play. The development and new aspects of each character leads to Shakespeare’s motive.

Macbeth thought once he had enough power, everything would be perfect. However, Macbeth was never able to settle and kept wanting more, which left him unfulfilled and dissatisfied. Since Macbeth was never able to find this release, the stress and guilt of his past actions destroyed him. Macbeth’s schizophrenia darkened his thoughts

Macbeth is a Shakespearean play about a man called Macbeth who becomes evil in a rise to power. The play has many characters who change throughout, in ways more than one. These changes add layers and meaning to the drama and are shown in many ways. A very important character in this play by William Shakespeare is Macbeth, who starts off as Thane of Glamis, and extremely loyal to King Duncan. This character’s first scene of the play is him after killing a traitor to King Duncan. This good side of Macbeth eventually deteriorates, however, as he fights for power and kingship by killing not only King Duncan, but many others. He ends up as a much hated king who is eventually killed. The character of Macbeth shifts from a favourable, loyal person to one that is destructive and consumed by power. This idea is analysed by Shakespeare by the way of his power in his marriage, how he involved himself with the witches, and how willing he was to do things.

Macbeth is an evil, psycho tyrant who abuses the power that is given to him. But Macbeth had not always been that way. Did you know Macbeth was a war hero? Macbeth was an ambitious man, usually ambitious is consider a good trait to have. In Macbeth particular case ambition caused him to lose control of his mind and humanity.