Macbeth from Macbeth

In William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth we find a guilt and fear-ridden usurper of the throne of Scotland. Let us study this character in this essay.

A.C. Bradley in Shakespearean Tragedy paints a portrait of Macbeth:

Macbeth, the cousin of a King mild, just, and beloved, but now too old to lead his army, is introduced to us as a general of extraordinary prowess, who has covered himself with glory in putting down a rebellion and repelling the invasion of a foreign army. In these conflicts he showed great personal courage, a quality which he continues to display throughout the drama in regard to all plain dangers. It is difficult to be sure of his customary demeanour, for in the play we see him either in what appears to be an exceptional relation to his wife, or else in the throes of remorse and desperation; but from his behaviour during his journey home after the war, from his later conversations with Lady Macbeth, and from his language to the murderers of Banquo and to others, we imagine him as a great warrior, somewhat masterfu...

Save time researching your next paper! This document provides excerpts from information published on topics suited for college-level research papers. Citations, in any style, can be crafted quickly with the information provided. We do the research, you do the paper. The Guilt of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

Characters in the Shakespearean tragedy Macbeth scarcely feel guilt - with two exceptions: Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. In this essay let's consider their guilt-problem.

In his book, On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy, H. S. Wilson comments regarding the guilt of the protagonist:

It is a subtler thing which constitutes the chief fascination that the play exercises upon us - this fear Macbeth feels, a fear not fully defined, for him or for us, a terrible anxiety that is a sense of guilt without becoming (recognizably, at least) a sense of sin. It is not a sense of sin because he refuses to

recognize such a category; and, in his stubbornness, his savage defiance, it drives him on to more and more terrible acts. (74)

Blanche Coles states in Shakespeare's Four Giants that, regarding guilt in the play:

Briefly stated, and with elaborations to follow, Macbeth is the story of a kindly, upright man who was incited and goaded, by the woman he deeply loved, into committing a murder and then, because of...

Length: 503 words (1.4 double-spaced pages) Rating: Red (FREE) ---------------------------------Macbeth: Macbeth - A Human To A Killer

In Shakespeare's play Macbeth the character Macbeth proves to be somewhat dynamic in his human representation. He starts off as being very human; he is actually a war-hero. However the seed of change is planted right away when he meets the witches and they tell him their prophecy of him becoming king. This makes Macbeth ambitious, and it leads to his demise. Once he kills Duncan the change rapidly begins to accelerate. By the end of the play, and Macbeth's killing spree, his transformation is complete and all of his human thoughts and feelings are gone. Macbeth changes from being a great individual to the focus of

everyone's fear and anger, because he loses his human characteristics of conscience and remorse.

As the play starts Macbeth is very human; he has feelings and friends and he is a war-hero. As time elapses, he begins to change into a ruthless killer, "a tyrant". Once he meets the witches and learns he will become king he begins to plot and think murderously. When he arrived at a plot to kill Duncan, and told Lady Macbeth, he realized it was the only way. However, in doing this he made a lot of people suspicious. This meant that more people would have to be killed, and this included the king's son who was next in line for the throne. At this point Macbeth experiences the first of a number of breakdowns, and he begins to lose his human characteristics. Macbeth begins to fall into a murderous rage after killing Duncan. He thought this would clear his name, but it only made things worse. Each person he has killed results in another that needs to be killed. With each kill Macbeth makes he loses feelings. Macbeth's conscience is soon deteriorated to nothing, and his killings are numerous. After killing Banquo and confronting his ghost Macbeth breaks down for the last time. At this point Macbeth's last shred of remorse are nearly gone. His wife dies and he barely cares, and then he orders Macduff's family to be killed. Macbeth is completely crazy at this point, and he begins to believe solely in the witches prophecy that he cannot be killed by "a man of woman born". This belief ultimately results in his demise. Macbeth kills a young soldier on his way to

confront Macduff, and he does not care one bit. Here he has become nothing but a cold-blooded killer, not the least bit human.

Macbeth's change from human to killer is his own doing. He allowed the evil that is within everyone to overwhelm him. His ambition and need for power put him through a transformation from hero to killer. Macbeth's conscience and feelings seemed to leave him. At first he needed Lady Macbeth to coax him into killing, and at the end he kills on impulse. After a number of mental breakdowns, Macbeth just loses it. At this point he stops representing anything human, and displays no human characteristics.

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MLA Citation: "Macbeth: Macbeth - A Human To A Killer." 123HelpMe.com. 03 Apr 2012 <http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=17204