Macbeth themes and characters
revision
Macbeth
In the beginning of the play Macbeth was portrayed as a "good being" he
fought for his country and for his king. Shakespeare describes Macbeth in
such quotes as "for brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name" and
"What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won.". These types of quotes in
the play seem to be placed with the so called "Good guys" when they
achieve or accomplish something that is great. The thoughts of killing the
king only began after the three witches had made the three predictions.
When Lady Macbeth had read her husbands letter about what the witches
had promised. Lady Macbeth waited until Macbeth arrived home and
pushed him to make the predictions come true. Macbeth knew the
murder of Duncan is wrong but Lady Macbeth pushes him to act. Macbeth
is a Scottish general and the thane of Glamis who is led to wicked
thoughts by the prophecies of the three witches, especially after their
prophecy that he will be made thane of Cawdor comes true. Macbeth is a
brave soldier and a powerful man, but he is not a virtuous one. He is
easily tempted into murder to fulfill his ambitions to the throne, and once
he commits his first crime and is crowned King of Scotland, he embarks on
further atrocities with increasing ease. Ultimately, Macbeth proves himself
better suited to the battlefield than to political intrigue, because he lacks
the skills necessary to rule without being a tyrant. His response to every
problem is violence and murder. Unlike Shakespeare’s great villains, such
as Iago in Othello and Richard III in Richard III, Macbeth is never
comfortable in his role as a criminal. He is unable to bear the
psychological consequences of his atrocities.
Lady Macbeth
Macbeth’s wife, a deeply ambitious woman who lusts for power and
position. Early in the play, she seems to be the stronger and more ruthless
of the two, as she urges her husband to kill Duncan and seize the crown.
After the bloodshed begins, however, Lady Macbeth falls victim to guilt
and madness to an even greater degree than her husband. Her
conscience affects her to such an extent that we imply she eventually
commits suicide. Interestingly, she and Macbeth are presented as being
deeply in love, and many of Lady Macbeth’s speeches imply that her
influence over her husband is primarily sexual. Their joint alienation from
, the world, occasioned by their partnership in crime, seems to strengthen
the attachment that they feel to each another.
The Three Witches
Three “black and midnight hags” who plot mischief against Macbeth using
charms, spells, and prophecies. Their predictions prompt him to murder
Duncan, to order the deaths of Banquo and his son, and to blindly believe
in his own immortality. The play leaves the witches’ true identity unclear—
aside from the fact that they are servants of Hecate, we know little about
their place in the cosmos. In some ways, they resemble the mythological
Fates, who impersonally weave the threads of human destiny. They
clearly take a perverse delight in using their knowledge of the future to
toy with and destroy human beings.
Banquo
The brave, noble general whose children, according to the witches’
prophecy, will inherit the Scottish throne. Like Macbeth, Banquo thinks
ambitious thoughts, but he does not translate those thoughts into action.
In a sense, Banquo’s character stands as a rebuke to Macbeth, since he
represents the path Macbeth chose not to take: a path in which ambition
need not lead to betrayal and murder. Appropriately, then, it is Banquo’s
ghost—and not Duncan’s—that haunts Macbeth. In addition to embodying
Macbeth’s guilt for killing Banquo, the ghost also reminds Macbeth that he
did not emulate Banquo’s reaction to the witches’ prophecy.
King Duncan
The good King of Scotland whom Macbeth, in his ambition for the crown,
murders. Duncan is the model of a virtuous, benevolent, and farsighted
ruler. His death symbolises the destruction of an order in Scotland that
can be restored only when Duncan’s line, in the person of Malcolm, once
more occupies the throne.
Macduff
A Scottish nobleman hostile to Macbeth’s kingship from the start. He
eventually becomes a leader of the crusade to unseat Macbeth. The
crusade’s mission is to place the rightful king, Malcolm, on the throne, but
Macduff also desires vengeance for Macbeth’s murder of Macduff’s wife
and young son.
Malcolm
The son of Duncan, whose restoration to the throne signals Scotland’s
return to order following Macbeth’s reign of terror. Malcolm becomes a
serious challenge to Macbeth with Macduff’s aid (and the support of
England). Prior to this, he appears weak and uncertain of his own power,
as when he and Donalbain flee Scotland after their father’s murder.
