How does Shakespeare present the character of MAcbeth in the play “Macbeth”?
In the play Macbeth, playwright Shakespeare explores the dynamic nature of Macbeth as he
is glorified as brave and heroic at the beginning of the play, however by the end he dies with
the title of a tyrant and an abomination to the Jacobean society. This is due to his
overambition to achieve the highest title and his enjoyment of inducing violence in innocent
people, thus also going against God Himself for his sinful actions. All of this led to Macbeth’s
self-destruction and ultimately his hamartia, due to the immense amount of guilt he was left
with by the end of the play, which highly affected his sanity and priorities.
At the beginning of the play, during Act 1, Macbeth is addressed by the title of “brave
Macbeth”, as “he deserves that name”. Macbeth was seen in a positive light by all of the
characters because he was a successful battle warrior, who had the courage to kill the
enemy and thus serve the King and honour his country. The adjective “brave” connotes that
he was dedicated enough to serving his King that he was willing to put his life at risk to fulfil
his job and purpose. However, this juxtaposes with the rest of the play from a myriad of
different scenes; from how his own wife emasculated him for being a coward, to the fact that
he ends up betraying his country and killing the King that he was supposed to be loyal to due
to his overambition and belief in the supernatural. After he encountered the witches and they
bestowed three prophecies upon him as a reward, his ambition and determination started to
grow as he desperately wanted to become King. This also marks the start of his downfall,
and the change in his character from being the respected and honourable warrior, to being
the “tyrant” that Macduff seeks to eliminate. The noun “tyrant” implies that he was not only
someone who betrayed his country, he was someone who went against the expected and
respected nature of man, as he lacked equity since his decisions were primarily based on his
own satisfaction, thus displaying ignorance to the wellbeing of others, which is also reflected
in the murder of his best friend Banquo. By this point, Macbeth had started to lose any moral
principles, and gave in to the fear of the possibility of Banquo’s children becoming Kings and
thus dethroning him, and the distrust he had in Banquo, as he feared he would expose his
cruelties to the world. This paranoia becomes even more heightened in the events that
follow Banquo’s death, as he began hallucinating Banquo’s ghost. Macbeth was so revolted
that he commanded the ghost to “never shake thy gory locks at [him]”. The adjective ‘gory’
not only symbolises the brutal manner in which he committed the murder of his friend, but
also signifies the way he views his own actions now, as regret and guilt start to drown him in
an ocean that he will never be able to resurface from. Moreover, these constant
hallucinations that he experiences further prove his lack of sanity and his affiliation with the
supernatural, which in the Jacobean Era was highly believed to be linked to Satan.
Therefore, a Jacobean audience may make a link between his hallucinations and Hell, and
believe that Macbeth has given into the dark side due to his action of regicide. Shakespeare
cleverly crafted Macbeth’s character to be dynamic in order to convey the clear message of
the consequences of regicide. As this play was written for King James by Shakespeare, it
was used as a warning to people against the act of regicide, following the “Gunpowder Plot”,
a plot that attempted to kill King James. Through this message, it is clear that Shakespeare
is trying to preserve the safety of the King.
Furthermore, the theme of overambition is thoroughly explored through the character of
Macbeth. Although he was heavily influenced by his wife and the witches into committing his
In the play Macbeth, playwright Shakespeare explores the dynamic nature of Macbeth as he
is glorified as brave and heroic at the beginning of the play, however by the end he dies with
the title of a tyrant and an abomination to the Jacobean society. This is due to his
overambition to achieve the highest title and his enjoyment of inducing violence in innocent
people, thus also going against God Himself for his sinful actions. All of this led to Macbeth’s
self-destruction and ultimately his hamartia, due to the immense amount of guilt he was left
with by the end of the play, which highly affected his sanity and priorities.
At the beginning of the play, during Act 1, Macbeth is addressed by the title of “brave
Macbeth”, as “he deserves that name”. Macbeth was seen in a positive light by all of the
characters because he was a successful battle warrior, who had the courage to kill the
enemy and thus serve the King and honour his country. The adjective “brave” connotes that
he was dedicated enough to serving his King that he was willing to put his life at risk to fulfil
his job and purpose. However, this juxtaposes with the rest of the play from a myriad of
different scenes; from how his own wife emasculated him for being a coward, to the fact that
he ends up betraying his country and killing the King that he was supposed to be loyal to due
to his overambition and belief in the supernatural. After he encountered the witches and they
bestowed three prophecies upon him as a reward, his ambition and determination started to
grow as he desperately wanted to become King. This also marks the start of his downfall,
and the change in his character from being the respected and honourable warrior, to being
the “tyrant” that Macduff seeks to eliminate. The noun “tyrant” implies that he was not only
someone who betrayed his country, he was someone who went against the expected and
respected nature of man, as he lacked equity since his decisions were primarily based on his
own satisfaction, thus displaying ignorance to the wellbeing of others, which is also reflected
in the murder of his best friend Banquo. By this point, Macbeth had started to lose any moral
principles, and gave in to the fear of the possibility of Banquo’s children becoming Kings and
thus dethroning him, and the distrust he had in Banquo, as he feared he would expose his
cruelties to the world. This paranoia becomes even more heightened in the events that
follow Banquo’s death, as he began hallucinating Banquo’s ghost. Macbeth was so revolted
that he commanded the ghost to “never shake thy gory locks at [him]”. The adjective ‘gory’
not only symbolises the brutal manner in which he committed the murder of his friend, but
also signifies the way he views his own actions now, as regret and guilt start to drown him in
an ocean that he will never be able to resurface from. Moreover, these constant
hallucinations that he experiences further prove his lack of sanity and his affiliation with the
supernatural, which in the Jacobean Era was highly believed to be linked to Satan.
Therefore, a Jacobean audience may make a link between his hallucinations and Hell, and
believe that Macbeth has given into the dark side due to his action of regicide. Shakespeare
cleverly crafted Macbeth’s character to be dynamic in order to convey the clear message of
the consequences of regicide. As this play was written for King James by Shakespeare, it
was used as a warning to people against the act of regicide, following the “Gunpowder Plot”,
a plot that attempted to kill King James. Through this message, it is clear that Shakespeare
is trying to preserve the safety of the King.
Furthermore, the theme of overambition is thoroughly explored through the character of
Macbeth. Although he was heavily influenced by his wife and the witches into committing his
