Macbeth character overview -
- The characters in Macbeth are relatively small but each has an important part to play
in the unfolding drama
- Many of the characters are from the Scottish ruling class. Other characters are servants
or soldiers and even even supernatural being
- The central characters, the Macbeths, have a strong influence over the lives of the
other characters, and they in turn are influenced by the words and actions of others
Main characters -
- Macbeth
- Lady Macbeth
Secondary characters -
- Banquo
- Macduff
- The Witches
Minor characters -
- Duncan
- Malcolm
- Donalbain
- Fleance
- Seyton
- Lady Macduff
- The porter
- Hecate
Macbeth -
- Macbeth is a complex character who changes throughout the course of the play
- He is clearly a brave warrior and leader at the start of the drama but he falls victim to
the witches’ predictions. It is unclear whether they plant ideas in his mind or whether
they simply highlight thoughts that he has already had
- In a series of soliloquies, he had repeatedly questioned himself about the motives of the
killing of the King but then is eventually persuaded to continue by Lady Macbeth who i
shown to be very forceful
- Having committed murder, he finds himself caught in an evil spiral in which he
couldn’t escape
- Over the cause of the play, his actions become less heroic and more cowardly as he
continues to murder and terrorise others in order to hold on to his power
- Towards the end of the play, when he realises that he is doomed, he briefly turns to his
old heroic self
- Ambitious -
, - How is Macbeth like this -
- At the start of the play, Macbeth is Thane of Glamis.
- He quickly becomes the more powerful Thane of Cawdor and then
murders his way to become and remain king of Scotland
- The witches’ predictions seem to waken the ambition already in him and
was also spurred on by his wife
- Evidence -
- ‘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. Stars, hide your fires; / Let not
light see my black and deep desires, / The eye wink at the hand. Yet let
that be, / Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.’ (Act 1 Scene 4)
- Analysis -
- Macbeth is clearly worried by the strength of his own ambition which he
refers to as ‘black and deep desires’
- He knows there will be obstacles in his way but is determined to get
round them
- He just hopes that nobody will see what he is doing which is why he
wants the stars to stop shining
- Brave -
- How is Macbeth like this -
- At the start of the play, Macbeth shows that he is a mighty warrior when
he leads the Scottish troops to victory over an invading force
- The king, Duncan, rewards Macbeth by making him Thane of Cawdor
- At the end of the play, when he is aware he is about to die, Macbeth
regains some of his old bravery, as he faces Macduff in single combat
- Evidence -
- ‘For brave Macbeth-- well he deserves that name -- / Disdaining
fortune, with his brandished steel, / Which smoked with bloody
execution, / Like Valour'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'chaps, / And fixed his head upon our
battlements’. (Act 1 Scene 2)
- Analysis -
- The captain describes Macbeth’s actions on the battlefield particularly
when he seeks out and kills the traitor Mcdonwald
- The captain uses a number of strong verbs and adjectives to show how
brave Macbeth has been, including - ‘banished’, ‘smoked’, ‘carved’,
‘unseemed’ and ‘fixed’
- The characters in Macbeth are relatively small but each has an important part to play
in the unfolding drama
- Many of the characters are from the Scottish ruling class. Other characters are servants
or soldiers and even even supernatural being
- The central characters, the Macbeths, have a strong influence over the lives of the
other characters, and they in turn are influenced by the words and actions of others
Main characters -
- Macbeth
- Lady Macbeth
Secondary characters -
- Banquo
- Macduff
- The Witches
Minor characters -
- Duncan
- Malcolm
- Donalbain
- Fleance
- Seyton
- Lady Macduff
- The porter
- Hecate
Macbeth -
- Macbeth is a complex character who changes throughout the course of the play
- He is clearly a brave warrior and leader at the start of the drama but he falls victim to
the witches’ predictions. It is unclear whether they plant ideas in his mind or whether
they simply highlight thoughts that he has already had
- In a series of soliloquies, he had repeatedly questioned himself about the motives of the
killing of the King but then is eventually persuaded to continue by Lady Macbeth who i
shown to be very forceful
- Having committed murder, he finds himself caught in an evil spiral in which he
couldn’t escape
- Over the cause of the play, his actions become less heroic and more cowardly as he
continues to murder and terrorise others in order to hold on to his power
- Towards the end of the play, when he realises that he is doomed, he briefly turns to his
old heroic self
- Ambitious -
, - How is Macbeth like this -
- At the start of the play, Macbeth is Thane of Glamis.
- He quickly becomes the more powerful Thane of Cawdor and then
murders his way to become and remain king of Scotland
- The witches’ predictions seem to waken the ambition already in him and
was also spurred on by his wife
- Evidence -
- ‘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. Stars, hide your fires; / Let not
light see my black and deep desires, / The eye wink at the hand. Yet let
that be, / Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.’ (Act 1 Scene 4)
- Analysis -
- Macbeth is clearly worried by the strength of his own ambition which he
refers to as ‘black and deep desires’
- He knows there will be obstacles in his way but is determined to get
round them
- He just hopes that nobody will see what he is doing which is why he
wants the stars to stop shining
- Brave -
- How is Macbeth like this -
- At the start of the play, Macbeth shows that he is a mighty warrior when
he leads the Scottish troops to victory over an invading force
- The king, Duncan, rewards Macbeth by making him Thane of Cawdor
- At the end of the play, when he is aware he is about to die, Macbeth
regains some of his old bravery, as he faces Macduff in single combat
- Evidence -
- ‘For brave Macbeth-- well he deserves that name -- / Disdaining
fortune, with his brandished steel, / Which smoked with bloody
execution, / Like Valour'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'chaps, / And fixed his head upon our
battlements’. (Act 1 Scene 2)
- Analysis -
- The captain describes Macbeth’s actions on the battlefield particularly
when he seeks out and kills the traitor Mcdonwald
- The captain uses a number of strong verbs and adjectives to show how
brave Macbeth has been, including - ‘banished’, ‘smoked’, ‘carved’,
‘unseemed’ and ‘fixed’
