Preview

Macbeth

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
571 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Macbeth
The play, Macbeth, by William Shakespeare takes plays during the 11th century and is perceived as a tragedy because of its dramatic composition. Shakespeare’s dark and intense characters throughout the play brought out the true meaning of good and bad by using murder, the need of protection, and the desire of power. Shakespeare uses Macbeth to represent the difference between a kingship and a tyranny. In the play, Macbeth, the central character evolves from a hero into a tyrant, which displays the variance of a kingship and a tyranny.
In the beginning of the play Macbeth is portrayed as a hero for his brave actions on the battlefield and by showing his respect toward the Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth’s heroic attitude and gestures were very beneficial to him in the beginning of the play. During Battle Macbeth fought nobly for this king by slanging many enemies, including Macdonwald. When the king of Scotland, Duncan, was informed that Macbeth fought with great courage, he decided to promote him to the Thane of Cawdor. Before Macbeth was aware of his promotion, he still thought he was only the Thane of Glamis, which is when the Three Witches approached him and Banquo in the woods. The Three Witches chanted that Macbeth was the Thane of Cawdor, and Macbeth replied, “The Thane of Cawdor [is alive]. He also asked them to not “[dress him] in borrowed robes.” Macbeth was being respectful to The Thane of Cawdor by not misrepresenting himself. Macbeth is shown as a hero for defending his king nobly during battle and not representing himself in a higher ranking.
Towards the middle of the Play, Macbeth revealed evil characteristics that changed him from a hero into a tyrant. Macbeth changed from a hero into a tyrant by using murder to gain more power and protection. Once Macbeth was promoted to the Thane of Cawdor, Lady Macbeth and him desired more power. They wanted to become king and queen of Scotland. Macbeth resorted to killing Duncan in his sleep to become king

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The play "Macbeth" shows how the character Macbeth changes through the choices he makes. Throughout the play, it describes how Macbeth changes into a tyrant after hearing his prophecy.…

    • 328 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    At the beginning Macbeth outwardly looks strong and not the sort of man to be swayed by three evil beings. He has status he is not a nobody, he is already a thane. However, the Witches prophecy that he will become Thane of Cawdor and then King of Scotland lights a spark of ambition and greed for greater power. The audience of today often have mixed feelings about the use of the witches. However, the audience that Shakespeare was writing for believed in witches and was very scared of them. Through his use of the…

    • 1001 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Macbeth vs. King Henry Viii

    • 2528 Words
    • 11 Pages

    As the play opens, we see Macbeth as a strong solider who is loyal to his king and fights with no mercy, but he soon gets corrupted by the witches prophecies that sparked his ruthless ambition. The witches told him that he will be named the Thane of Cawdor and then king, and soon after the first prophecy comes true. Macbeth is made Thane of Cawdor because of his valiant efforts in the war, and when he tells his wife about the weird sisters and what had happened her strong will easily influences him to kill Duncan. Macbeth’s wanting to become King was the first demonstration of his ambition, he even says, “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition,”(41) and ambition in this time period was not looked upon as a good trait.…

    • 2528 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The audience then find that in Scene two of Act one, the three witches have met upon a heath. Macbeth described the day as “so foul and fair a day I have not seen”, this could be recognised as a description of Macbeths feelings, but as the witches make predictions about Macbeth, maybe Macbeth himself, could be predicting his own feeling in the future. The three witches hail Macbeth as Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor and “king hereafter”; this confuses Macbeth. He then calls them liars “imperfect speakers” , and tells them he is Thane of Glamis, “But how of Cawdor?”. Macbeth then goes on to describe Duncan as a prosperous gentleman,…

    • 2265 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shakespeare's Macbeth is a splendid tale of tragedy sprung from greed and ambitions. Unlike Shakespeare's other tragedies of Othello and King Lear, where Iago and Edmund were true villains, Macbeth was depicted as a man who possessed goodness; however, misguided by his lust for power and wealth. Macbeth's ambition was his ultimate flaw, compelling him to succumb to the worst of his nature, and eventually led him to his downfall and inevitable death.…

    • 866 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shakespeare’s bloody and tragic play Macbeth, written in the seventeenth century, portrays blind ambition, appearances can be deceiving and corruption of power. It follows the reasons behind Macbeth’s downfall. The play analyzes how other outside forces can easily change the path of ones desires and decisions. The witches’ intrusion, Lady Macbeth’s manipulation and Macbeth’s dark desires all interfere and manipulate Macbeth’s decisions. He goes from being praised as a noble soldier to a traitor and corrupt king. In the play, Macbeth commits many terrible crimes; however he is solely not responsible for all of them. The outside factors manipulate his decisions and are responsible for his downfall at the end.…

    • 1813 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shakespeare's Tragedy of Macbeth is a play analyzing evil in people, and the nature of that evil. It also shows the struggle that people have when deciding on a certain action to take, or a struggle with a decision already made. In the play, Shakespeare uses Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to portray some of the different types of evil that can manifest in a person.…

    • 740 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth

    • 557 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Macbeth is one of the greatest tragedy themed plays by William Shakespeare. One of the main themes of Macbeth is that Ambition does not stop once you start thinking about it.…

    • 557 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth

    • 912 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Lady Macbeth and Macbeth create their own tragedy by inciting ambition, and power-hungry obsession that fatalistically corrupts their minds. In the play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth begins the downward spiral with her ambition, pushing Macbeth into wanting to become King. Macbeth then becomes obsessed with becoming King and gaining and maintaining power. These situations lead to both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s corruption, and ultimately, their deaths. In the characters of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, Shakespeare demonstrates that unrestrained ambition and the dogged pursuit of power have severe consequences.…

    • 912 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages

    William Shakespeare in The Tragedy of Macbeth written in the 17th century dramatizes the tragic hero and Macbeth’s tragic flaw of ambition, which ultimately results in his downfall. Shakespeare wrote this play to show how too much ambition can have adverse consequences on the human condition. This tragedy follows the true story of a historical Macbeth, an eleventh century king of Scotland who usurped the throne after killing his predecessor. In The Tragedy of Macbeth, ambition is Macbeth’s tragic flaw that permeates the dramatic structure. The tragic flaw serves to develop him as a character over the course of the play. Macbeth begins the play as a very strong and well respected and honored man and develops into a very evil person and ends the play meeting his death with courage and bravery. His ambition causes these developments. Shakespeare used Macbeth’s tragic flaw and his development over the course of the play to portray the theme of too much ambition can cause someone to do awful things they wouldn’t do otherwise.…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth

    • 1691 Words
    • 7 Pages

    In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth the main theme of loyalty is explored throughout the play by main characters. Loyalty can be defined as faithfulness or unwavering devotion to a person or cause. Duncan, Banquo, Macduff and Macbeth are all essential characters who are given opportunities to express their loyalty, however it is the different ways in which these characters choose to be loyal or disloyal that shape the play as a whole. It is the character’s loyalty and/or disloyalty that construct the course of the play. The theme of loyalty interrelates the over arching themes of guilt and masculinity throughout the play.…

    • 1691 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Demise of Macbeth.

    • 1351 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The story begins after Scotland achieves a glorious victory in a bloody military battle, led by Macbeth who is a military general and the Thane of Glamis. We first meet the characters Macbeth and Banquo as they stumble upon the weird sisters, who greet them with their prophecy that Macbeth will be Thane of Cawdor, and King. “All Hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! All Hail Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!”(Act 1, Scene 3, Line 50-53) Banquo doesn’t take them seriously, but Macbeth is intrigued by their words and believes what they say. “Stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more…” (Act 1, Scene 3, Line 70). The contemplation of their prophecies allows this idea to plant itself within Macbeth’s subconscious. The king calls Macbeth to his castle and names him the Thane of Cawdor, as a reward for his valor in battle, and therefore confirms the first part of the prophecy. Macbeth immediately begins to believe the witches and considers the possibility of becoming king. This is where the first traces of evil are seen in him, as he first contemplates the idea of killing Duncan to become king. “If chance will have me King, why, chance may crown me, without my stir” (Act 1, Scene 3, Line 143).…

    • 1351 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth

    • 514 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Macbeth is introduced in the play as a strong fighter on the battle field but shortly after turns into a soldier that is easily considered to be weak. When Macbeth is on the battlefield fighting against Norway he gains respect as a soldier because he shows qualities of a leader. “For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name—Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel, Which smoked with bloody execution, Like valor’s minion carved out his passage Till he faced the slave; Which ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him, Till he unseamed him from the nave to th' chops, And fixed his head upon our battlements.(Shakespeare, Line 16).” In The beginning of the play it is easy to see how Macbeth could be seen as respectable, strong soldier because on the battlefield he fought hard and killed a lot of people. He put his life out for his king and his country and anyone who risks their own life for someone or something else demonstrates deep care. The play progresses when Macbeth is told by three witched that he could not be killed by someone who was born from a women which leads Macbeth to let his guard down from everyone, inferring that no man can kill him. Macbeth is shocked to find that Macduff is ripped out of his mother’s womb and is defeated by this information. “Accursèd be that tongue that tells me so, For it hath cowed my better part of man! And be these juggling fiends no more believed, that palter with us in a double sense, that keep the word of promise to our ear, And break it to our hope. I’ll not fight with thee (Line 17).” Because Macbeth’s ego got in the way of his values as a soldier, It led him to become weak to an opponent, who before it would have been easy to kill. The witches prophecies allowed him to trust that he would never be harmed by someone women born, not allowing him to accept the technicalities that not everyone was born through natural labor. From Beginning to End, Macbeth’s ambition allowed his strength as a soldier to weaken.…

    • 514 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeths Downfall

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages

    At the beginning of the play Macbeth is portrayed as a loyal, brave and loving man. Macbeth's loyalty and bravery is shown when one of the Scottish nobles, Angus, is sent from Duncan to pronounce him Thane of Cawdor. "And for an earnest of a greater honor,/ He bade me, from him, call thee Thane of Cawdor,/ In which addition, hail, most worthy thane,/ For it is thine"(1.3.105-108). This quote shows that Macbeth was recognized for his loyalty to his country, and in return the King named him Thane of Cawdor.…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Macbeth

    • 1251 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In the entertainment world, portraying women as evil forces is very popular. By doing so it adds entertainment value to the film and or novel. After reading the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare it has become evident that women are portrayed as dangerous forces that emasculate and ruin men. Lady Macbeth questions the manhood of Macbeth, convinces and manipulates him into doing things, and her actions lead to Macbeth’s eventual death, proving the point that she is the most evil female force in the whole play.…

    • 1251 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays