Maria Grubb-1st hour

Maria Grubb

English 11A- 1st block

Mrs.Wood

19 February 2016

Macbeth Characterization

The play Macbeth introduces many diverse characters, but the most dynamic of the men and women introduced was definitely Macbeth. Because he is the protagonist of the play, Shakespeare dived very deep into characterizing Macbeth and made his internal development quite pertinent. A requirement for a play to be a tragedy is having what seems to be a heroic character who over time reveals their tragic flaw. In this play, Macbeth is the tragic hero who eventually is overcome by evil in order to move the story along. Although Macbeth was first introduced as a brave and heroic character, he soon began to commit many murderous acts that caused the corruption within him to overcome the good, and all that was left of Macbeth was an entirely evil fiend.

From the very start of the play, Macbeth is rejoiced for his courage and for fulfilling his duties to the king and his subjects.  “Brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name- Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel, which smoked with bloody execution” (Shakespeare 1:ii, 16-18).  The king discusses how impressed he is by Macbeth and decides to award him for his boldness by naming him the Thane of Cawdor. With this newfound honor, Macbeth expresses his loyalty to the king and explains that the glory that comes from defending the kingdom is reward enough. Throughout the first half of act one, Macbeth seems to continually be noted for his honor and loyalty, but his personality soon began to change paths when he encounters three strangers.

The phrase loyal and brave Macbeth became questionable as he stumbled into the path of  three witches alongside his friend Banquo. The witches told Macbeth that his fate was to one day become king and it put very intriguing thoughts into his head. He questioned how it was possible that he could be king one day, and then to add to his “disbelief,” King Duncan appointed his son Malcolm to be the heir of his throne. In the fourth scene of the first act Macbeth exclaims “The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step on which I must fall down , or else o’er leap, for in my way it lies....when it is done, to see” (Shakespeare 1:iv, 48-53).  At this point in time, the “good” Macbeth is starting to question whether or not he could commit the awful deeds that would need to be done to become king which would include doing harm to both King Duncan and Malcolm. The three witches had also shared that Banquo’s sons would go on to be the king one day, and Macbeth wondered whether he could pull himself to betray his loyal partner in such a way. When Macbeth shares the news with his wife that one day he could possibly become king, she realizes that there is a small amount of evil within him and she hopes to draw that out so she may become queen. Lady Macbeth explains that her husband “look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t” (Shakespeare 1:v, 60-64) and she talks about how weak her husband is and how she believes that she can mix the serpent within him and his ability to be manipulated easily to make him turn on the king. It really didn’t take a whole lot of convincing for Macbeth to finally “do the deed” as his evil thoughts began to occur more frequently, and he eventually murdered King Duncan when he and his men came to visit their castle.

By the middle of the play, the small corruption within Macbeth had now become much larger due to his encounter with the witches and the manipulation of his wife that pushed him to kill the king. The evil within him had started to drive him mad but even with the troubling thoughts running through his mind he had a sense of guilt for betraying the king. King Duncan’s sons fled from the scene of murder and right away Macbeth became the king and his corrupt ways took over more and more of his personality and he strived to do whatever it took to keep his power. Macbeth makes a realization and says,  “And that which should accompany old age, As honor, love,....I must not look to have” (5:iii, 24-26). He knows of all of the awful deeds he has done and knows that he will never be able to have the true glory that a king should have. His wife begins to break down mentally at this point in the play and because the evil has taken over him so much he shows no sign of caring when his wife’s life comes to an untimely end. In the fifth act of the play Macbeth states “I have almost forgotten the taste of fears” (5:v, 9). By saying this, Macbeth is expressing that the good that would have made him fear in a situation like his is no longer present and the old him is almost completely forgotten. By the very end of the play, the truly brave and loyal Macbeth was completely vanquished and he was a wicked person who believed life to signify nothing.

Brave Macbeth who also appeared to be loyal from the beginning of the play got wicked thoughts placed in his head by the witches and his wife that pushed him to be completely depraved by the end of the story. King Duncan gave honor and glory to Macbeth for all of the strength that he showed but it seemed to not be good enough and he strived for more. Macbeth decided that he wanted to be the king and committed the act that turned him into a fearless man who no longer had a drop of kindness left in his body.