Macbeth Essay
In the play ‘Macbeth’ by William Shake-Spear we can clearly see how the character of Macbeth changes throughout the play. At the start of the play Macbeth is a great commander in the Scottish army who is decent and above all else, loyal to king Duncan. But as the play goes on we see Macbeth change into a scheming and murderous villain who stirs up the deaths of his finest friends and allies. Macbeth has a wife with which his relationship clearly changes throughout the play. At the start Lady Macbeth is clearly in control and she can manipulate Macbeth in to doing things that he knows is wrong. However later in the play Macbeth begins to ignore Lady Macbeth, and though they live together, they do not have anything to do with each other. This shows a huge change in their relationship. Macbeth’s greatest friend is Banquo who is another commander in the Scottish army and at the start of the play they are very close. Later Banquo starts to suspect Macbeth as a traitor of Scotland. This builds fear in Macbeth and he now sees Banquo as his enemy.
At the start of the play Macbeth has been fighting in the war against the rebels. Word gets to King Duncan that Macbeth has been a brave and loyal soldier to the king. “For brave Macbeth- well he deserves that name...” This is praising Macbeth on his valour during the war for the king. Shake-Spear is also building up the fact that Macbeth is a great hero. However, as the play goes on Macbeth changes from being a loyal hero to an evil scheming villain. “The castle of Macduff I’ll surprise, give to the edge of the knife his wife, his babes.” This immediately tells us that he has gone from being a hero to being a villain because he actively stirs up the murders of innocent women and children, out of pure spite for Macduff. This shows that he has gone from being a hero to a villain.
Macbeth has a wife. His relationship with Lady Macbeth also changes throughout the play. At the start of the play Lady Macbeth clearly wears the pants in the relationship, and she also uses manipulative techniques to get Macbeth to do what she wants such as when she is trying to convince Macbeth to murder king Duncan she says “Art not without ambition, but without the illness that should attend it.” Here she is insulting Macbeth which is therefore insulting his masculinity. He proves to Lady Macbeth that he is a man by going through with the plan to kill King Duncan. Lady Macbeth has manipulated Macbeth into doing what she wants him to do. Later on in the play Macbeth begins to care less about his wife until he eventually ignores her completely. This is shown very clearly at the end of the play when Lady Macbeth meets a truly awful fate and dies in the castle grounds. When a servant tells Macbeth of his wife’s death, Macbeth replies “she should have died hereafter.” This clearly shows that he does not truly love or even care about his wife as he shows no sadness. He does not even make sure the servant is telling the truth. Macbeth’s relationship with his wife has changed hugely; he has gone from being dependant on her to make all the decisions to losing all care for her.
Banquo is Macbeth’s greatest friend at the start of the play. They have served together in the war against the rebels and at the kings’ side for a long time. They were truly best friends; they would go on rides together and have long conversations with each other. One night at Macbeths castle Banquo hears a noise and demands who goes there. Macbeth replies “A friend.” Banquo immediately realises that it is his friend Macbeth and they have one of their long conversations in the darkness. This is used to show that Macbeth and Banquo are truly friends and that they both trust each other. However later in the play when Macbeth is crowned king Banquo begins to suspect Macbeth of treason, saying “Thou hast it now King, Cawdor, Glamis, all, and I fear thou play’dst most foully for’t.” Macbeth begins to fear that Banquo will figure out that he killed King Duncan. Macbeth decides to have Banquo killed and meets with some murderous villains. “Both of you know Banquo was your enemy...So is he mine.” Macbeth tells the murderers. This immediately tells us that Banquo and Macbeth have gone from being best friends with each other to being enemies.
In conclusion the character of Macbeth has changed greatly throughout the play. At the start he was praised by the king, had a strong relationship with his wife and was best friends with Banquo. He then changed into a murderous villain who killed many people, stopped caring about his wife and had his best friend Banquo murdered. However at the end of the play Macbeth is killed for his crimes. This shows that crime doesn’t pay. Macbeth is a typical rise and fall tale, where the hero has risen up and come into a position of great power but because of a series of unfortunate events he has fallen and usually must pay for his crimes. Though ‘Macbeth’ was written about 500 years ago there are still rise and fall stories even today, a common example of this is Tiger Woods, however in this case it wasn’t as murderous. The character of Macbeth changed greatly throughout the play and that it once again emphasises that it is a rise and fall story, and also that crime doesn’t pay.
By James Boag
At the start of the play Macbeth has been fighting in the war against the rebels. Word gets to King Duncan that Macbeth has been a brave and loyal soldier to the king. “For brave Macbeth- well he deserves that name...” This is praising Macbeth on his valour during the war for the king. Shake-Spear is also building up the fact that Macbeth is a great hero. However, as the play goes on Macbeth changes from being a loyal hero to an evil scheming villain. “The castle of Macduff I’ll surprise, give to the edge of the knife his wife, his babes.” This immediately tells us that he has gone from being a hero to being a villain because he actively stirs up the murders of innocent women and children, out of pure spite for Macduff. This shows that he has gone from being a hero to a villain.
Macbeth has a wife. His relationship with Lady Macbeth also changes throughout the play. At the start of the play Lady Macbeth clearly wears the pants in the relationship, and she also uses manipulative techniques to get Macbeth to do what she wants such as when she is trying to convince Macbeth to murder king Duncan she says “Art not without ambition, but without the illness that should attend it.” Here she is insulting Macbeth which is therefore insulting his masculinity. He proves to Lady Macbeth that he is a man by going through with the plan to kill King Duncan. Lady Macbeth has manipulated Macbeth into doing what she wants him to do. Later on in the play Macbeth begins to care less about his wife until he eventually ignores her completely. This is shown very clearly at the end of the play when Lady Macbeth meets a truly awful fate and dies in the castle grounds. When a servant tells Macbeth of his wife’s death, Macbeth replies “she should have died hereafter.” This clearly shows that he does not truly love or even care about his wife as he shows no sadness. He does not even make sure the servant is telling the truth. Macbeth’s relationship with his wife has changed hugely; he has gone from being dependant on her to make all the decisions to losing all care for her.
Banquo is Macbeth’s greatest friend at the start of the play. They have served together in the war against the rebels and at the kings’ side for a long time. They were truly best friends; they would go on rides together and have long conversations with each other. One night at Macbeths castle Banquo hears a noise and demands who goes there. Macbeth replies “A friend.” Banquo immediately realises that it is his friend Macbeth and they have one of their long conversations in the darkness. This is used to show that Macbeth and Banquo are truly friends and that they both trust each other. However later in the play when Macbeth is crowned king Banquo begins to suspect Macbeth of treason, saying “Thou hast it now King, Cawdor, Glamis, all, and I fear thou play’dst most foully for’t.” Macbeth begins to fear that Banquo will figure out that he killed King Duncan. Macbeth decides to have Banquo killed and meets with some murderous villains. “Both of you know Banquo was your enemy...So is he mine.” Macbeth tells the murderers. This immediately tells us that Banquo and Macbeth have gone from being best friends with each other to being enemies.
In conclusion the character of Macbeth has changed greatly throughout the play. At the start he was praised by the king, had a strong relationship with his wife and was best friends with Banquo. He then changed into a murderous villain who killed many people, stopped caring about his wife and had his best friend Banquo murdered. However at the end of the play Macbeth is killed for his crimes. This shows that crime doesn’t pay. Macbeth is a typical rise and fall tale, where the hero has risen up and come into a position of great power but because of a series of unfortunate events he has fallen and usually must pay for his crimes. Though ‘Macbeth’ was written about 500 years ago there are still rise and fall stories even today, a common example of this is Tiger Woods, however in this case it wasn’t as murderous. The character of Macbeth changed greatly throughout the play and that it once again emphasises that it is a rise and fall story, and also that crime doesn’t pay.
By James Boag
