CHARACTERISATION

Ambitious

Macbeth is a brave warrior who is rewarded by becoming the Thane of Cawdor for
his bravery in battle. However, this doesn’t satisfy his ambition as he desires greater
power. Upon hearing the Witches’ prophecy, Macbeth becomes obsessed with
power which causes him to murder Duncan to claim the throne of Scotland.
Macbeth is so driven by his own personal ambition that he acknowledges the flaws
of his plan to kill Duncan and that it will result in his own demise, yet he lets his
ambition cloud his thoughts and carries out the murder of Duncan. However as the
play concludes, Macbeth loses his ambition as he rejects life having any
significance, illustrating that personal ambition was his downfall.

Brave

Macbeth is most comfortable on the battlefield. When Macbeth is fighting he

doesn’t have to think about his moral conscience and his personal ambition.
Macbeth clearly exhibits bravery when he fights for his country, this is
acknowledged by King Duncan who rewards Macbeth with the title of Thane of
Cawdor. Macbeth is characterised as a “valiant” warrior at the start of the play and
furthermore, Rosse calls Macbeth “Bellona’s bridegroom”. This is a metaphor that
compares Macbeth to Mars, the Roman God of War, showing that Macbeth is a
skilled warrior who’s ability can only be likened to the God of war. Macbeth dies in
battle against Macduff’s army in the final battle and Macbeth fights “bear-like” to
the end despite knowing he has no chance of victory, Macbeth is steadfast in not
yielding to his opponent.

Brutal

Macbeth’s dark desires and violent ambition overshadows all of his noble
characteristics, his dark desires drove him to become a ruthless and calculating
killer. Once Macbeth has the taste of murder, after being influenced by Lady
Macbeth, the murders that follow come more easily to Macbeth as he secures his
position as King. Macbeth has Banquo and Macduff’s family killed because he
thought they would threaten his position as king. These brutal murders illustrate
that Macbeth’s ambition is much greater than his sense of morality, indicating that
his nobility as a soldier has been surpassed by his dark desires.

Easily led

Macbeth is influenced by Lady Macbeth, she insults him saying he will be “more the
man” if he kills Duncan. As a brave soldier these insults will anger Macbeth, since
Lady Macbeth is questioning his masculinity. Consequently, Lady Macbeth’s
cunning behaviour persuades Macbeth to kill Duncan. Macbeth is very easily led by
the supernatural, especially the prophecy of the Witches. As the Witches’
prophecies start to unfold, Macbeth’s faith in them grows stronger and he becomes
convinced that what they say will come to fruition. Consequently, Macbeth refuses
to go back to his original ways since it challenges the prophecy of the Witches.

Moral

Towards the start of the play, Macbeth has a strong sense of right and wrong.
Macbeth focuses a great deal on the consequences of his actions because of earth’s
“judgement” and the “deep damnation” following death. Macbeth is initially
reluctant to kill Duncan because he knows that murder is wrong and that he is a
good King. However, Lady Macbeth’s ambition influences Macbeth and results in
him murdering Duncan. But after Duncan’s death, Macbeth struggles as he
experiences waves of terrible guilt and remorse for his actions. This illustrates that
despite his violent actions Macbeth can still comprehend that what he did was
wrong.
 MACBETH’S KEY THEMES

Manhood

As a warrior, Macbeth exhibits very traditional masculine traits including bravery and
strength. When Macbeth fights he is seen to be a courageous warrior who is willing
to lay his life down on the battlefield. Thus, Macbeth is awarded with the title of
Thane of Cawdor by Duncan for his bravery in battle. However, all too often
Macbeth’s manhood is called into question by his own wife as she manipulates him
to achieve her own ambition. As Lady Macbeth persuades her husband to kill
Duncan, she insults his manhood by calling him a “coward” and says that he will be
“more the man” if he murders Duncan. Lady Macbeth’s emotional blackmail of
Macbeth results in him murdering Duncan in an attempt to uphold his masculinity.

Good and Evil

Macbeth is a noble character with a strong moral conscious who carries out evil
deeds. Macbeth’s nobility is recognised at the start of the play where Duncan
makes him the Thane of Cawdor after seeing Macbeth’s potential for glory and
greatness. However, Macbeth’s ambition is so strong that it exceeds his virtue and
allows his wicked desires to flourish. After this Macbeth becomes even more evil as
he becomes accustomed to his dark desires and he isn’t fazed when orders the
murder of Banquo and Macduff’s family. Good and evil also encompasses the fight
for the crown of Scotland. Macduff raises an army to topple the evil King Macbeth
to allow the throne of Scotland to be pure and good once more.

Kingship

Macbeth gained the throne of Scotland unlawfully by murdering Duncan and

framing Duncan’s son’s Malcom and Donalbain. There is little that Macbeth is
unwilling to do in his desire to become king. However, upon being king Macbeth
cannot be described as a good ruler but rather as a tyrant. To consolidate his
position as King, Macbeth orders Banquo to be killed and Macduff’s family too.
Macbeth is undeserving of the title of King due to the way he gained the throne and
also because of the way he acts as king. Macbeth’s reign as king causes disruption
in the land of Scotland as the days turned to night and the horses began eating
each other, indicating a imbalanced natural order. Consequently, this is why the
throne of Scotland is eventually prised away from Macbeth in the final battle against
Macduff’s army.

Supernatural

The supernatural visions that Macbeth has are used to remind Macbeth of the guilt
of his actions. Macbeth’s visions are seen as ambiguous because they don’t provide
a clear message. Consider Macbeth’s vision of the dagger, it isn’t clear as to
whether it is encouraging him to kill Duncan or warning him against killing Duncan.
Supernatural themes are highlighted when Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost at a
banquet. Nobody else can see Banquo’s ghost so it indicates that Banquo’s ghost is
merely the guilty conscience of Macbeth. Macbeth’s vision of Banquo is frightening
for Macbeth, his fear results in him babbling away as he loses control of his speech.
Macbeth’s continuous encounters with the supernatural suggest signs of madness
as he is disturbed by the visions.

Loyalty and Betrayal

Macbeth’s loyalty is shown through his actions. At the start of the play, Macbeth is
loyal to his King and country as he fights for Duncan and gives him his “service and
loyalty”. However, this loyalty soon wanes as Macbeth lets his dark desires get in
the way of his loyalty as he betrays Duncan by murdering him. Macbeth’s initial
devotion and loyalty to Duncan makes the betrayal all the more shocking. As well as
betraying Duncan, Macbeth also betrays his own moral conscience. Macbeth had a
strong sense of right and wrong, but Macbeth’s ambition seems to have taken
priority ahead of this eventually resulting in his own demise where he rejects the
notion of life having any significance at all.
 MACBETH’S KEY QUOTES

“Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires.” Act 1, Scene 4

Explanation

Macbeth has his own aspirations of taking power from Duncan, through murderous
impulses after hearing the Witches’ prophecy, when he learns that Duncan is visiting
the castle. When Macbeth says, “Stars, hide your fires!” he wishes to remain in
darkness so that his “black and deep desires” can be hidden. Metaphors of light
and dark are used here, the darkness is used to illustrate Macbeth’s immoral desires
and the light is used as a divine force that critique’s Macbeth’s actions and desires.

“I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which
o’erleaps itself and falls on the other.”Act 1, Scene 7

Explanation

Macbeth questions whether he should carry out his plan to murder Duncan, he
notes that he is being driven by his personal ambition rather than prioritising the
good of his country. But Macbeth isn’t convinced by his own personal ambition and
he begins to assess what is causing him to act in this way and the consequences of
this action. But ultimately, Macbeth recognises that he will ignore this sense of
reluctance and he “o’erleaps” himself, thus falling to the flaws of his own ambition.

“Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me
clutch thee; I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision,
sensible to feeling as to sight? Or art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false
creation, proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? I see thee yet, in form as
palpable as this which now I draw.” Act 2, Scene 1

Explanation

As Macbeth thinks upon his plan to murder Duncan, he sees a dagger floating in
front of him and he ponders whether the dagger is real or if it is a figment of his
imagination. As Macbeth goes to clutch the dagger he finds that he cannot grasp it,
this confuses him greatly since he notes that it is impossible to have such a vision
yet he can see it so clearly in front of him, this is shown when Macbeth talks of the
dagger’s “palpable” quality and how much it resembles his own sword. The vision
of the dagger leads Macbeth to question what is fictitious and what is reality, the
vision of the dagger is merely a vision but it results in a truth of Macbeth’s coming
murder of Duncan.

“I am in blood stepp’d in so far, that, should I wade no more, returning were as

tedious as go o’er.”Act 3, Scene 4

Explanation

When Macbeth says “I am in blood” he means that he is deeply involved in murder

after killing Duncan and Banquo, Macbeth feels that the blood he has spilled is
flowing around him and that he is beginning to drown in it, this is illustrated where
Macbeth says, “should I wade no more”. The imagery of a pool of blood is used to
show Macbeth’s shame and guilt, Macbeth feels that his fate is sealed as a result of
his actions and that nothing he can do will change this. Macbeth states that
reverting to his original ways would be “tedious”, thus illustrating that he could turn
away from his murderous ways if he were more tenacious.

“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day
to the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools the
way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor
player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is
a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”Act 5, Scene 5

Explanation

As Macduff’s army approaches for the final battle, Macbeth claims that life has no
meaning and is just a monotonous series of events ending in eventual death.
Eventually, Macbeth’s ruthless nature has caught up with him and he rejects the
notion of his life having any significance whatsoever, this is shown when Macbeth
commands, “Out, out, brief candle!”.
 EXAM QUESTION PRACTICE

1. How does the character Macbeth exhibit the theme of betrayal?

2. How does the supernatural affect the character Macbeth?
3. Explore the ambition expressed by the character Macbeth.
4. Show how Shakespeare develops the character Macbeth.
5. How does Shakespeare present the character Macbeth?
6. Does Shakespeare present the character Macbeth as evil?