Describe the character of Macbeth in detail Essay

Describe the character of Macbeth in detail, showing clearly in what modal value his character changes as a result of the action of the play. librate c arfully why you feel Macbeth is a tragic hero and whether you feel any sympathy for him.NOTES* Beginning honest noble valiant brave allegiant* End unlesscher non honest, loyal still brave and prepared to fight till his death at least well go out with harness on our spinal column he has become cruel and hardened I pass on almost forgotten the taste of precaution. He is corrupted by supply and greed* So What Changes Him? o Witches give him ideao Wife encourages him/builds on ideao Ambition/determination to be kingo Once he starts killing, he cant stop* Macbeth kills Macduffs family turning point for L. Macbeth she realises what she has turned her husband into.* He can no worn-out-out control his ambition and it takes control over his actions* In the very first scene when we meet the witches, we see that Macbeth is near connected to them, because they are talking somewhat him, reflexion they go away meet him and talk to him there to meet with Macbeth. However, this is strongly contrasted in the next scene when we hear Duncan talking favourably about Macbeth, saying that he fought bravely and is to be rewarded for his loyalty oh valiant cousin, worthwhile gentleman, they smack of honour both* Although it may seem from the start that Macbeth is weaker than his married woman, this is not evermore the case she never actually kills anyone she pull ins Macbeth to kill Duncan because she thinks Duncan looks like her father when he sleeps had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had take formt.* Glamis and Thane of Cawdor the great is behind. Here we see Macbeths own ambition before his wife has intervened. Also, before he talks to his wife, he considers the witches and if they are telling him the uprightness or if they are effective evil, and he also thinks about ways he could fulfil their prophecy, the murderer of Duncan being one of them my thought, whose murder is yet scarce fantastical.* Dramatic irony just as Duncan and Malcolm are talking about deceit and saying how theres no art to find the heads construction in the face, Macbeth enters. We pick out he is already deceiving people.* He starts to become evil when, in act 1 scene 4, he thinks about killing Malcolm. Here he starts to rhyme as well, like the witches, a sign of him changing stars hide your fireswhen it is done to see* When Macbeth and his wife are discussing Duncans murder, Macbeth is unsure about it we will speak further except his wife keeps encouraging him.Macbeth by William Shakespeare is a play about deceit, ambition and betrayal, in which some of the characters change dramatically because of the fast-moving action of the play. One of these characters is the plays tragic hero, Macbeth himself. Macbeth as we see him at the end of the play is barely placeable as the same man we m eet at the beginning he has turned from a loyal, noble man to a cruel and hardened blunder, driven mostly by his own ambition to become King. Because Macbeth is a true tragic hero and we can clearly see all his near qualities as well as his bad ones, we do feel some sympathy for him as well.This play is set in Scotland, where Macbeth is a gallant Thane who is recognised and rewarded by King Duncan for his heroic efforts in battle. However, Macbeth is given the idea by three witches that someday he himself will be King and, especially by and by speaking to his wife on the matter, he becomes determined to fulfil the witches prophecy and claim the throne of Scotland. Although, this is not easy and Macbeth resorts to murder and begins to kill anyone who might pattern a threat to him, and this eventually leads to his own death.From the very first scene, we see that Macbeth is somehow connected to the supernatural as the three witches speak of meeting Macbeth and talking with him the re to meet with Macbeth. However, this is contrasted is the next scene when we hear Duncan speaking favourably of Macbeth, saying that he fought bravely and is to be rewarded for his loyalty o valiant cousin, worth(predicate) gentleman, they smack of honour both (Macbeth and Banquo). Therefore, before we have even met Macbeth ourselves, we have a mixed opinion of him is he a valiant and worthy gentleman or does he have a darker side to him as the witches suggest?The answer to this question is that he has both qualities, but they each organize separately. During the course of the play, we see Macbeth quickly changing from a gentleman to a butcher.The first magazine we meet Macbeth is with the witches, and his first words so drop dead and fair a day echo the witches in the first act fair is foul and foul is fair. This gives the immediate impression that he is closely connected to them, and in his first soliloquy he is giving second thoughts to what the witches said about his future and he is clearly ambitious from the start Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor the greatest is behind.Although Macbeth is intellection about the witches words and already considering the possibility of murdering Duncan, he makes it clear he would never actually do it my thought, whose murder is yet but fantastical. In the next scene, Duncan and Malcolm talk about deceit and they say that there is no art to find the minds construction in the face, when, ironically, Macbeth walks in he is hiding his thoughts about the witches and we know he will be deceitful when he murders Duncan stars hide your fires,let not demoralize see my black and deep desires.Again, when talking to gentlewoman Macbeth, he is still unsure of the idea. She is trying to persuade him that Duncans death would be best but he still says we will speak further and he is worried about someone finding out what he will have done if we should fail, and it is easy to see that Macbeth is a nigh(a) and moral person.In Macbeth s first major soliloquy he weighs up both sides of the argument, thinking about how much Duncan trusts him and thinks he is a good man hes here in double trust. Macbeth knows that Duncan is also a good man, and a wonderful king, and it would not be right to kill the king simply because of his own greed, but his ambition to be king leads him on.Macbeth knows that people have golden opinions of him, and he likes being looked upon in such a way, and he does not really want to loose that he knows that he will if he carries out this murder, and these opinions would be cast aside so soon. However, Macbeth is now determined, although not as much as his wife, to become the King of Scotland and he says that the however thing leading him on is his ambition I have no spurbut only vaulting ambition.Just before, and after, Macbeth murders Duncan, he is at his weakest and feels very culpable. His imagination begins to play on him. In the moments leading up to the murder, his thoughts are filled with evil he imagines seeing a dagger cover in blood is this a dagger I see before meor art thou but a dagger of the mind, a insincere creation?, and he imagines actually killing Duncan I seegouts of blood. He thinks that nature seems dead and he thinks of wolfs, ghosts, and witches all symbols of evil. Once Macbeth has murdered Duncan, he still imagines things he claims to hear voices telling him that he will never sleep again sleep no more Macbeth does murder sleep and he cannot wash the blood stains off his march ons will all great Neptunes ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, to which his wife replies,a little water clears us of this deed (only to prove herself wrong later).When Duncan is discover dead by Macduff, Macbeth acts surprised and livid the wine of heart is drawn,thexpedition of my violent love outran the pauser, reason.However, this may not be just an act Macbeth could really be feeling that way, and he is angry with himself for what he has done when he sees other peoples reactions. Hence, Macbeth travels to Scone and is crowned King of Scotland.Even though Macbeth has achieved what he wanted to be king he does not stop killing. He fears Banquo knows that he killed Duncan, so Macbeth is now suspicious of Banquo, as Banquo is of him there is none but he, whose being I do fearTherefore, the only option Macbeth sees is to kill Banquo, so he arranges for three men to murder Banquo and his son, Fleance, on the night of a banquet. He tells them that he cannot murder Banquo himself because the risk of infection of being found out is too great certain friends that are both his and minewail his fall.This is the point at which we see a major change in Macbeths character he is still nervous and slightly afraid, but is now a little more positive(p) and he organised the murder by his own free will and without any help he did not need his wife to set it up or to assist him, whereas et the murder of Duncan it was she who organised everythin g. Lady Macbeth did not even have any knowledge of Banquos murder before it took place and she asks Macbeth what is to be done? and Macbeth tells her to be innocent of the knowledgetill thou applaud the deed.Macbeth is pleased to hear of Banquos death, but the news of Fleances evade troubles him then comes my fit againI am cabined, cribbed, confined. We can see that Macbeth does still have a conscience when he is at the banquet, as he sees the ghost of Banquo in the hall the graced person of Banquo preset and he talks to it thou canst not say I did it never shake thy gory locks at me so it is clear that Macbeth still has remorse for what he has done and he cannot hide it, despite his wife telling him to look like thinnocent flower, but be the serpent undert and he said himself that the false face must hide what the false heart doth know.Macbeth speaks to his wife alone after the banquet, and he says that he will visit the witches again and from now on he will kill anyone who might get in the way of him keeping the throne we are yet but young in the deed, so we can see Macbeth changing again, this time becoming more confident. This is the last time that he and his wife see each other.Macbeth goes to see the three witches again and his confidence is boosted even more. The witches plan, and succeed, to make Macbeth over-confident and this will be his down fall. They show him three apparitions, each telling him something the first is an armed head (which is actually his own) and it tells him to beware Macduff, the second is a child covered in blood (Macduff) who tells him no man born(p) of a woman shall harm Macbeth, and the third, a crowned child with a tree in its hand (Malcolm) tells him that Macbeth shall never be vanquished until Great Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane hill. Finally, a procession of eight kings passes with Banquo following behind them. These apparitions, especially the second and third, make Macbeth more confident in himself and he thinks he cannot be killed by anyone.With his newfound confidence he vows to continue killing, as he cannot be stopped the very firstlings of my heart shall be the firstlings of my hand, and with the knowledge of Macduff travelling to England, Macbeth turns to murdering every other member of Macduffs family give to the edge othsword his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls.As Lady Macbeth grows weaker, Macbeth grows stronger. Lady Macbeth is now the one feeling guilty, and she begins sleepwalking and hearing foul whisprings, just as Macbeth was before. Macbeth heads into battle against the English army, knowing that his way of behavior is falln into the sere. He has now become hardened and does not care for much, except his wife when the doctor brings him news of Lady Macbeths illness, Macbeth asks him to make her better cure her of thatperilous stuff which weighs upon the heart, so we can clearly see that he still loves her and cares about her, and has not yet completely lost everyth ing that was good about him.Despite this, Macbeth is now a more cruel and, in a way, evil man and he says he has almost forgot the taste of fears, and he is not surprised to hear of his wifes death she would have died hereafter. He thinks about life and how it is a brief candle and now his life has lost its meaning, so he might as well die fighting lifes but a walking shadow, a poor playerthen is heard no moresignifying nothing. Macbeth knows he is going to die when he hears that Birnam wood is moving toward Dunsinane but still he is brave bear-like I must fight the course.Macbeth meets with Macduff outside the castle, where he learns that Macduff was not born of a woman and he can kill him. Now Macbeth knows for sure that he will die there and then and he could have just let Macduff kill him, but he decided to fight bravely till his death at least well die with harness on our back.Macbeth is truly a tragic hero as he had many of the qualities needed to be king he was a good ma n noble, brave, loyal, feel for and loving toward his wife, and he never lost the will to fight bravely, no matter what the outcome may be. However, he changed in a very curt space of time to become cruel and hardened, influenced, first by the witches, then by his wife. Because of this, we do feel sympathy for him because he was good man who was changed by supernatural beings, but also partly by his own ambition. This is a tragic tale of how ambition can tarnish a person and make their life seem pointless, or as Macbeth saidLifes but a walking shadow, a poor playerThat struts and frets his hour upon the pegAnd then is heard no more. It is a taleTold by an idiot, full of sound and furySignifying nothing.