Untitled Essay, Research Paper

Macbeth was a true Shakespearean tragic hero. He had many noble qualities

as well as several tragic flaws. He was a courageous, brave and good nobleman

who was haunted by superstition, moral cowardice and an overwhelming ambition.

Progressively through the play, his flaws started consuming his qualities

until they are that can be seen of him. Macbeth was a courageous and strong nobleman. He and Banquo

were leaders of King Duncan’s army. His personal powers and strength

as a general won him the battle as described by the captain (I,2, “But

all’s too weak:/ For brave Macbeth — well he deserved that name –

/ Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel,/ Which smoked with bloody

execution,/ Like valor’s minion carved out his passage/ Till he faced

the slave;”). Macbeth was even undiscouraged when he was attacked by the

King of Norway, “assisted by that most disloyal traitor, the thane of Cawdor.”

Lady Macbeth convinced her husband to murder Duncan by putting his manhood

and courage at stake (I,7, “When you durst do it, then you were a man;/ And

to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man”). As Macbeth

started degrading he lost some bravery (IV, 1, “That I may tell pale-hearted

fear it lies”). In his fight with Macduff, some of his old courage and strength

returned.

Macbeth could be brave when it came to action but when

he started thinking he would hesitate and would have to be urged into action

by his wife or by the sense of security that he obtained from the prophecies

of the supernatural. He changed his mind five times before murdering Duncan.

The witches’ prophecy that he would be king made him decide to leave

it to “chance,” but Duncan’s announcement that Malcolm was to be his

heir made Macbeth realize that he would have to take a course of action for

the prophecies to come true. He changed his mind again before he reached

home until his wife persuaded him that it could be done safely. Then he changed

his mind again before finally being forced by Lady Macbeth to make up his

mind to commit the murder. Macbeth also did not fear the moral consequences

of his crimes (I,7, “We’d jump the life to come”). After the murder

of Duncan, Macbeth sinks into continuous moral degradation. He was in a savage

frenzy when he planned the murder of Banquo and Macduff’s family. His

morals sink so low that even his enemies said “Who then shall blame/ His

pester’d senses to recoil and start,/ When all that is within him does

condemn/ Itself for being there?”

Macbeth had great ambition and wished to stand well with

the world. He had absolutely no feelings for others and he only cared about

what others would think of him. The witches’ prophecies only encouraged

this ambition to be king. The witches who symbolized Macbeth’s evil

ambitions put his thoughts into actual words. The idea of murder had already

occurred to him (I,3, “great prediction/ Of noble having and of noble having

and of royal hope,/ That he seems rapt withal,” “My thought, whose murder

yet is but fantastical,” and I,7, “What beast wast then/ That made you break

this enterprise to me?”). Macbeth himself acknowledged his “vaulting ambition”

that would drive him to murder after Duncan evaded fate (I,3, “If chance

will have me King, why,/ Chance may crown me”) by announcing Malcolm as his

Successor.

Macbeth’s powerful imagination made him already victim

to superstition. His superstition was seen by his susceptibility to the

witches’ influence unlike Banquo who still was not sure about their

credibility. It was his superstition that made him so unquestioningly the

promises of the apparitions and rest so easily assured. It was all his

superstitions that made him cling to his belief in these promises when

circumstances became difficult. His imagination was so strong that when it

was left to roam uncontrolled his “function/ Is smother’d in surmise.”

This was seen in the “dagger” scene and in the panic which Macbeth suffers

after the murder of Duncan. This was also seen with Banquo’s ghost at

the banquet. His ensuing excitement put him in great danger of exposing his

crimes completely.

Macbeth loved his wife very much. At the beginning of

the play she participated avidly in his life and he informed her of everything

that was going on (for example he sent her a letter telling her of the

witches’ prophecies). He widely accepted her advice and ideas and they

were both avid partners in the murder of Duncan. Macbeth was very affectionate

with his wife and when he was speaking to her he often used words of endearment

(Dearest love,” “Dearest chuck” and “Sweet remembrancer”). At the end, he

was so weary from everything that was going on that when he received the

news of his wife’s death he accepted it with only a yearning

resignation.

Macbeth’s whole story after Duncan’s murder

was one of continuous character deterioration. Once he had begun his life

of crime he became further and further detached from his wife to the point

where she had lost all control over him. He had become so accustomed to violence

that he did not hesitate at all in the planning of Banquo and Fleance’s

murder (”The very firstling of my heart shall be/ The very firstling of my

hand”). He even went as far as to murder Macduff’s wife and family when

he knew that their death would not aid him in any way. He became so isolated,

to the point where he could not trust any of the other lords (”There’s

not a one of them but in this house I keep a servant fee’d”). His cruelty

and treachery ended up making all of Scotland suffer (”Sighs and groans and

shrieks that rend the air, are made, not mark’d”). Macbeth started as a courageous and brave general who

loved his wife very much. But because of the faults that must accompany every

tragic hero, he was led to his ruin by his overwhelming ambition, superstition

and moral cowardice. Macbeth changed from a noble hailed as the savior of

his country, a “valiant cousin,” a “worthy gentleman,” to a man of boundless

cruelty.