Changes of Macbeth
At the beginning of the play, Macbeth was described as a noble, and worthy gentleman, who was also a loyal subject of the king. The first of the witches' prophecies bring out his ambitious nature, but he struggles with killing the king. By attacking his manhood, Lady Macbeth convinces him to commit the first of his evil deeds. Macbeth's evil deed causes him to suffer from fear and guilt, which leads to even more evil crimes. Then Macbeth becomes paranoid, suffering from hallucinations and sleeplessness. He becomes less human as he tries over and over to establish his manhood. His ruthlessness in killing Banquo and Macduff's family shows how perverted his idea of manliness really is. Macbeth's degeneration is also seen in the collapse of his marital relationship. They love and have a mutual respect for one another at first. Lady Macbeth becomes more and more unimportant to her husband after killing Duncan, however. He leaves her out of the plan to kill Banquo, Fleance, and Macduff's family. Macbeth allows the witches to take the place of his wife by allowing them to boost his ego, thinking any man cannot harm him. Macbeth is, of course, mistaken about the witches' prophecies, but this just that he now allows his evil nature to control his actions. By the end, Macbeth has degenerated into evil personified, totally inhumane in his actions. In Beowulf, heroism is violent and includes fighting Grendel, his mother, and the dragon. In this epic poem, you’re a fighter in your youth and you share your plunder with those around you. So, when you get old you will be taken care of. I think Beowulf’s heroism is really seen at the end of the epic poem, he is older and he should be taken care of but he goes and fights the dragon. The younger men have fled but he stayed to protect his people even though it was his time in his old age to be protected. Emerson states, “A man who is a hero has a warlike attitude towards external evil,” or “A man who is a hero declares that he can