Macbeth Character Analysis

Raunak Padore Ms. Nicole Magliaro English 12 9 April 2014 Macbeth’s Character Alterations Macbeth is a very gothic, persistent tale of a great general in the Scottish army who causes his own downfall by listening to the dark prophecies of the three witches and his wife, Lady Macbeth. Macbeth’s self-consciousness fails to play an important part in the murder of multiple kinsmen causing the death of his wife and his mental health. Macbeth is not necessarily a horrible leader; the problem with him is that his ambitions exceed his expectancies. Macbeth’s character has constantly evolved from the point he was introduced into the play. Initially he seems as an extremely humble person, but as he learns more about the prophecies, his hindsight fails to overlook the complications of his ambitions. Macbeth’s faith in the apparitions and the witches ultimately cause Macbeth’s downfall and the unnecessary death of his beloved kinsmen such as King Duncan and Banquo. Macbeth has three apparitions at different points in the tragedy. The first apparition is of “an armed head”(Shakespeare 35). The head is a representation of Macduff who will come to Scotland representing Malcolm, the future king. Macbeth is shunned when the questions the First Witch who tells him that the thoughts in his head are the right ones. She hits the nail in the head with Macbeth’s thought. When the First witch cries, “Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff; Beware the thane of Fife"(Shakespeare 37), Macbeth is sure of what is to come but he is too late to do anything to do anything about it since Macduff has already fled the place. Macbeth’s belief in the apparition causes an instillation of fear in his own self and his abilities are constantly being hindered when ... ... middle of paper ... ...d that his works were liked by the royalty since only a lot of the richer people enjoyed watching these shows since they required a lot of maturity and thinking to view the plays with meanings. To ensure this Shakespeare based the plays on the extremely rich and important people such as the King or the Queen. He managed to befriend Queen Elizabeth’s successor, King James and the play does slightly portray King James’ court at certain points. Shakespeare’s apparitions were completely influenced by King James’ court and he portrayed the apparitions extremely well. The apparition Macbeth sees of the procession of kings includes, in the original stage directions, a king holding a mirror. This is interpreted by some scholars to be a way of including England's current king (James, who did not allow references in plays to living monarchs) at the time in the lineup.