Macbeth's Character Changes

In the play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare, Macbeth demonstrates his hamartia which causes the downfall of his character. Macbeth, from the tragic play “Macbeth” most certainly demonstrates the character of a typical tragic hero. Firstly, Macbeth begins the play demonstrating his noble character, his goodness, and the fact that he is well loved. Secondly, as the play progresses, the three witches act upon Macbeth and his desire for power creates his tragic flaw and leads him to the destruction of his character. Finally, the ambition of Macbeth and the influence of Lady Macbeth produce the ultimate destruction of Macbeth and those around him.

The tragic flaw of all tragic heroes. For Macbeth and several other characters in the play, it was ambition. When the witches first predict that Macbeth will be the king of Scotland, he states that, “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, / Shakes so my single state of man” (1.3.152-53). The witches never mention murder, but the prophecies bring out Macbeth’s vaulting ambition that will be his downfall. However, while Macbeth is the prime example, he is not the only instance of this flaw. Lady Macbeth also suffers from her ambition. When Macbeth first writes to Lady Macbeth to tell her about the witches prophecy she begins to scheme. She believes Macbeth is too kind to act in the way necessary to become king, but she isn’t letting that stop her. She tells Macbeth, “Look like th’ innocent flower, / But be the serpent under ‘t” (1.6.76-78). However, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth suffer from this attribute. After Duncan’s murder, Lady Macbeth laments, “Naught’s had, all’s spent, / Where our desire is got without content” (3.2.6-7). While Macbeth tries to fix his unhappiness with more murder, Lady Macbeth succumbs to her guilt. In Macbeth’s final speech after learning of his wife’s suicide, he claims that life is “a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing” (5.5.29-31). However, if Macbeth truly believes that life is meaningless, then what was the point of his guilt? What was the point his his wife’s death? That all his ambition was useless is what cements Macbeth’s belief in the futility of

A tragic hero can be described as a character obtaining heroic qualities that is, at the same time, destined for their own downfall. Unfortunately, Macbeth is an example of a character that has this title. In Shakespeare’s time during the writing of the play was the reign of King James of England, and the play ‘Macbeth’ reflects on Shakespeare’s own relationship with this king. Someone of great honour, respect and nobility often times is bound to have some sort of flaw to them, and in the case of Macbeth, a tragic flaw that is responsible for the dark pathway to absolute self-destruction and utter madness. In the play

Shakespeare represents the character of Macbeth, a man consumed with ambition. This ambition consumes him and shows that he is victimised by his own desires for power. Shakespeare represents his character as a nobleman; a characterisation that the audience can relate to and empathise with, however, as the play continues, he starts to degenerate, resulting in compassion from the audience. This is due to his ambition pushing him towards fulfilling the prophecies. ‘I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition’ (Act 1, Scene 7), displays that Macbeth acknowledged the overbearing nature of his own ambition, disregarding his better judgement and moral code, betraying his conscience. Macbeth wanted to become king and with being spurred on by Lady Macbeth’s persuasion, he fulfilled the prophecies foretold, representing him as a tragic

In the beginning of Macbeth by Shakespeare, Macbeth is shown as a devoted husband, valued general, and loyal subject/ friend to the king. As the play unfolds, Macbeth’s character begins to change. He once was brave and manly, but towards the end he becomes ruthless and violent. Though, Macbeth is greatly respected by many, he definitely changes throughout the play. He goes from being a man who’s kind and selfless, to a male who loses his manhood and becomes vicious.

Throughout the play, Macbeth develops from a relatively good character, to a greedy murderer. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is seen as a brave warrior by King Duncan, who then bestows the title ‘Thane of Cawdor’ upon Macbeth. Macbeth’s character begins to change after he is encountered by three witches who reveal prophecies to him. After Macbeth discovers that he will be named king, he and Lady Macbeth develop a plan to kill King Duncan. However, Macbeth begins to have doubts of their plan, and says “we will proceed no further in this business.”(I.vii.31) This tells the reader that Macbeth still possesses some humanity, and believes that they should not follow through with the plan. After Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to kill king,

Meet the Author: William Shakespeare was born in April, 1564 in England. His birthday is on April 23rd, also the day he passed away. He is one of the best poets in the world. His works have been famous worldwide. There are several translations and variations of his works.

The character of Macbeth was initially one exalted by honour and bravery. This is shown in the beginning of the play, in the wounded captain’s eulogy of Macbeth’s actions: “For

Macbeth- At the beginning of the story, Macbeth is the Thane of Glamis. Macbeth starts out as a fair character. His character changes throughout the story after being by 3 witches told him he will become Thane of Cawdor. He is tempted a lot by wanting to commit murder so he can claim his title. After his first crime, he became the King of Scotland.

In the play of Macbeth, Macbeth seems to change throughout the play. He went from being someone’s friend; to being someone's worst enemy. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a devoted husband, and a well respected Thane; who has shown great loyalty to King Duncan. Soon after, Macbeth was encouraged by the prophecy (the three witches) and Lady Macbeth to murder King Duncan to take his throne.

The people you surround yourself with will influence your mindset in a significant way, especially the people closest to you. The persuasion that others put on MacBeth will change his reputation in a major way. Lady MacBeth is the main cause for these changes in his character. Without her consistent conjectures MacBeth would probably not have became the loathed man before his death.

Throughout the play, there are definite changes to the character of Lady Macbeth. We first meet her during Act 1, Scene 5 reading a letter from Macbeth. She reads about the prophecy of him being the future king. She thinks that Macbeth is far too kind to do something bad to achieve what he wants. Here we can already see that she seems to be an ambitious, fearless, and cold person who would do anything to achieve what she wants. When the messenger tells her that the king is coming to their castle, she has a speech asking the "spirits that tend on mortal thoughts" to "unsex me [Lady Macbeth] here, and fill me to the toe-top full of direst cruelty." She asks for her conscience and any human emotions to be gone so that she can commit the crime.

ii. 12). This shows that Lady Macbeth has a heart deep inside her. Lady Macbeth plays an important role in Macbeth’s degeneration because she knows that she has a strong and dominant power over her husband using her power, she encourages Macbeth to do what he has to do to get rid of King Duncan. He thinks that Duncan is a great King and considers him to be a good friend. Macbeth is lost in his thoughts, his “good” side and “bad” side are in a fight “But Macbeth is not a merely a cold- blooded… he nearly persuades himself to reject the plan,” (Principal Topics, 238). Finally, Macbeth gives in to Lady Macbeth and decided to kill Duncan while he is visiting Macbeth’s castle the same night. After Macbeth had killed Duncan, he regrets what he had done “…I am afraid to think what I have done; Look on’t again I dare not.”(Shakespeare, II. ii. 51). Following the format of a tragic hero, Macbeth suffers from a tragic flaw. At this point of the play, the audience can note the change in Macbeth’s character.

As “Innocent flower,” (Shakespeare 25) Macbeth begins to change drastically, developing a completely new identity, his transformation is quite obvious as he goes from innocent to the “serpent under [the flower]” (Shakespeare 25). Macbeth has no morality to govern his actions furthermore. The soldier is caught going against his moral beliefs as he represses all emotions that are caused by his actions in killing; consequently, the guilt that is accumulated inside of him begins to take over, caused by the initial push which began his redevelopment. Simply stated, Macbeth’s obsession in gaining power acted as a push causing his psychological state to spiral downhill. Macbeth’s mind “whose murder yet is but fantastical” (Shakespeare 19); consequently, the idea of murder was barely a thought that was going through his

The play commences with Macbeth fighting honorably to protect the king and the citizens of England from atrocities, Macbeth fought two battles in one day, he felt defeated and weary but he achieved