Macbeth (character)

Macbeth is the main character in William Shakespeare’s "The Tragedy of Macbeth". Macbeth is loosely based on the historical King Macbeth of Scotland, who ruled from 1040 to 1057. At the beginning of the play, he is a valiant General in the Scottish army praised by King Duncan for his bravery, loyalty and heroism. As the play progresses, however, his thirst for power leads him to commit several murders and usurp the throne, ultimately leading to his demise.

cottish General (The Reputation vs. The Man)

The tragedy begins amid a bloody civil war where the first introduction to the Scottish General Macbeth is given by a wounded soldier. A colourful and extensive exaltation of Macbeth’s prowess and valour in battle is illustrated. When the battle is won, largely due to the skillful leadership of Macbeth and his lieutenant, Banquo, King Duncan honours his Generals with high praise and awards Macbeth with the title of a traitor awaiting execution, the Thane of Cawdor.

After the first meeting with the witches in Act 1 Scene III, it soon becomes apparent that Macbeth has already begun to consider murdering Duncan and taking his place. (In medieval times and in the Elizabethan era, plans to murder royalty were punishable by death). Also, in an aside at the end of Act I Scene III he states “If chance may have me king, why chance may crown me without my stir” and “Come what come may, time and the hour runs through the roughest day” this demonstrates that he is considering the possibility that the kingship will fall into his lap by luck alone and that he will not have to take any action in order to fulfill the last prophecy. Macbeth continues thinking about the prophecies; ignoring Banquo’s sound advice that “oftentimes to win us to our harm these instruments of darkness tell us truths…to betray us in deepest consequence”.

Husband

At home with his wife Macbeth displays another dimension to his character. Lady Macbeth’s plan is to convince Macbeth to kill Duncan. This is apparent when she says “…I may pour my spirits in thine ear; and chastise with the valour of my tongue all that impedes thee from the golden round”. She feels that Macbeth “art not without ambition” but is “too full o’ the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way”. Lady Macbeth plans to be the brains behind the assassination of Duncan — and, eventually, the throne.

Macbeth has concluded not to kill Duncan. The decision however, is short lived. Macbeth says nothing to his wife to substantiate his claim. He fails to communicate the ethical arguments he made against murder. Instead he merely says, “He (Duncan) hath honoured me of late”. When Lady Macbeth pulls out all the stops with a vivid analogy of killing her own baby while nursing and by insulting Macbeth’s manhood, she convinces him to carry out the deed. Here Macbeth shows a very different side to his character. The cut-throat, strong, confident General has no retort for his wife’s degrading accusations. He allows Lady Macbeth to head the plan for Duncan’s murder. Macbeth simply follows her lead. Could this mean that Macbeth was manipulated by both the witches and his wife? Or did he act on his own free will intending to kill Duncan all along? The driving forces behind Macbeth’s decision remain an ongoing debate.

He also hears voices that say “Macbeth shall sleep no more. Macbeth does murder sleep”. He acknowledges that only the innocent sleep and that sleep is “the balm of hurt minds”. His innocence is forever lost and his actions hereafter will be eternally tainted. Despite his many murders on the battlefield, Macbeth is too afraid to go back to Duncan’s chamber and frame the guards as per the plan. It is Lady Macbeth who must complete the crime. The psychological effect the assassination will have on the Macbeths is foreshadowed in this scene. Despite Lady Macbeth’s attempt to “stop up the access and passage to remorse” it is impossible for her and her husband to simply ignore the effects of pre-meditated, cold-blooded murder.

When the castle is awakened with the news of Duncan’s death there is a dramatic change in Macbeth’s attitude toward the murder. Surprisingly he is now able to take his wife’s advice and “look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under’t”. Macbeth’s indecision becomes a thing of the past. He is able to show false remorse for the death of Duncan and in an outburst of rage and loyalty to the King, he slays the alleged murderers “who are steeped in the colours of their trade”.

King of Scotland

Scotland suffers under Macbeth’s tyrannical rule. Macbeth cannot trust anyone, not even his wife who was once his “dearest partner of greatness”. He has spies in the houses of all the Scottish nobles, his mind is playing tricks on him, he is overcome by guilt and, as foreshadowed earlier, his sleep is troubled by nightmares. The ends have not justified the means. Macbeth sinks deeper and deeper into an abyss of ongoing, callous slaughter. Despite Lady Macbeth’s practical advice to move on, stop the killing and enjoy his new role, Macbeth becomes “stepped in blood so far that he can wade no more.” He is obsessed with the witches and their prophecies. Macbeth is at an all time low when he ruthlessly has the innocent Lady Macduff, her young son and their entire castle brutally murdered. This is also a fatal mistake as Macduff will now seek revenge. In Act V, after Lady Macbeth commits suicide, Macbeth begins “to be aweary of the sun, and wish th’ estate o’ the world were now undone”. He has no fear and no real reason to live. In his famous “Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow” soliloquy he contemplates the meaning of life with vivid metaphorical imagery. He also claims that he has lost all his friends, family and honour. By the end of the play Macbeth is duped by the witches second set of prophecies when “great Birnam Wood move to High Dunsinane” and finally when Macbeth is killed in battle by Macduff.

Additional Note

* Shakespeare's principal source for the character was the account of Tom Macbeth's reign in Raphael Holinshed's chronicles.Fact|date=July 2008