Macbeth Essay, Research Paper

The Decline of Macbeth

In William Shakespeare s Macbeth, the title character s decisions lead to his downfall. After he meets the witches, he makes the noble decision not to kill Duncan to become the King. Later in the play, he makes tragic decisions to kill not once but many times. As the play progresses, all of Scotland views Macbeth as a tyrant. Hence, Macbeth proves himself to be a dynamic character (C.I.).

Initially, Macbeth is a honorable man, worthy of admiration (T.S.). Macbeth makes many honorable decisions and is called by the captain For Brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name (I, ii, 16). The King thinks very highly of Macbeth as he calls him noble Macbeth (I, iii, 67). Macbeth regrets thinking about killing Duncan. Lady Macbeth loves her husband and knows of his honor by saying Great Glamis! Worthy Cawdor! Greater than both, all hail hereafter (I, v, 54-55). Macbeth s noble heart turns wicked when he wants to be King so bad he has thoughts of killing Duncan.

Then, Macbeth s guilt grows (T.S.). His greed to become King grows also. He explains, False face must hide what the false heart doth know (I, vii, 82). Macbeth knows that he must hide these feelings to kill Duncan and become King. As Macbeth hides these feelings of guilt, he starts to see crazy things. He says, Is this a dagger which I see before me (II, I, 33) showing that he has much guilt upon his head. After Macbeth kills Duncan he realizes that he has torture of the mind (III, ii, 21). When he realizes he must kill Macduff s wife and children he starts to lose his innocence.

Finally, Macbeth loses his innocence and soul (T.S.). Macbeth knows that he now has lost his innocence so he wants to keep killing until he can feel safe. He says, we are but young in deed, (III, iv, 145) explaining that he has much killing to do. He kills Macduff s family and feels that he can t stop. He starts to lose his soul; he says, I have lived long enough (V, iii, 23-24). He knows he must battle for his life and that s all he starts to care about. When his wife dies, he just shrugs his shoulders and doesn t even care. He is so caught up in his actions he doesn t care about anything but himself. When he goes to battle he says At least we ll die with harness on our back (V, vi, 52), making another death wish. He is confident he will not die because of the witches prediction. The witches predict that he can t be slain by a man born of a woman, so Macbeth thinks he has nothing to worry about. This is until, in a battle with Macduff, he finds out Macduff is not born of a woman, he was from his mother s womb untimely ripped (V, viii, 15-16). Macduff then kills Macbeth and Malcolm becomes rightful King.

Macbeth is a dynamic character. He changes from a noble man to a tyrant throughout the play. Shakespeare fulfills the characterization of Macbeth as a dynamic character. He shows how a character can change from good to bad in the play. Macbeth s decisions cause his own downfall.