Duncan appraises Macbeth by holding Lady Macbeth by the hand and saying “We love him highly and shall continue our graces toward him” (I,iv,364, 29-30) believing that Macbeth is a loyal man that has such a great heart; considering that he risked his life to save Scotland: something that the Thane of Cawdor was supposed to do. Macbeth, a dark evil soul, uses the promotion and honor of Duncan as a stepping stone to begin his destroying of Scotland. Instead of being happy with the honor that king Duncan gave him the honor of Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth gets greedy and wants more than what is granted to him, “If chance will have
Essentially, they are both great mean who have a position in society but each has a fatal flaw. Macbeth’s fatal flaw is ambition and Jekyll’s fatal flaw is professional vanity. Shakespeare presents Macbeth’s sense of evil through soliloquy and imagery, and Stephenson presents Jekyll’s evil through different types of narrative non-linear, third person, first person narrative and imagery. At the start of the play the tragic hero Macbeth is portrayed as loyal to the King and a brave solider. Macbeth is portrayed as a "good being" because he fought for his country and for his king.
From the beginning, Macbeth is a brave and loyal soldier. This must be true for his captain even proclaims that deserves to be called “Brave Macbeth.” Macbeth proved himself as a soldier, taking charge in the battlefield and exemplifying loyalty to his country. Succeeding as a soldier is the ultimate proof of one’s character. So how does the most brave and loyal find himself a man full of deceit and greed? Perhaps it was the time of period, the Age of Reason.
He is lead by ambition into situations and finds himself with no way out; this is what kills Macbeth. In order to consider the changing relationship between Lady Macbeth and her husband we must first analyse what each individual is like when they are not influenced by the presence of the other. To effectivley explore the impact that they have on each other we must first analyse their personalities and actions when they are not together. Our first impression of Macbeth is given by the ‘Sergeant’. We are able to see from this text that Macbeth is a man who is extremely brave, courageous, valiant, and is also seen in a good light by the people who are around him: “For brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name” Because this quotation does not come from either Macbeth or his wife, we are able to conclude that Macbeth is seen in a good light by others.
The king should be patient, have justice, mercy and lowliness. Both Edward, who we will speak about later and Duncan are seen as saintly figures in this play while Macbeth has a horrible soul and is bound to hell. Duncan is a man of prayer while Macbeth cannot pray at all. The king’s most important duty is to protect his people which Duncan does, unlike Macbeth who turns against his people with a reign of terror. This shows just how Kingship is a good force shown by Duncan in this play.
Hamlet's apparent psychological state as the play progresses changes from that of a scholar, to that of a madman, though contradictorily this change is in itself a deceptive act. Polonius, a lord and right hand to the King, is involved in a large amount of lying and deception. Polonius manipulates his children to benefit his social status and relationship with the King and has no moral objections at any time. Commonly a co-conspirator to Polonius' spying plots is the King, Claudius. Claudius, Hamlet's uncle is the most serious offender of lying and deceit.
The Macbeth we first encounter is an important and valued member of his society and the favorite of his king. His bravery and loyalty are celebrated and, though fierce in battle, we are led to believe that his is a fundamentally good and virtuous nature. By the plays end, however, he has 'supped full of horrors' and is regarded as a 'hell-hound' by his peers. In my opinion, key to this tragic downfall is Macbeth's relationship with his wife, Lady Macbeth, and the influence they exert upon each other. Within this relationship there is rarely true equality - one partner almost always has undue power or influence over the other.
A Tragic Hero Ambition is a good servant, but a poor master and the only way to control ambition, is to have self control. William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, is the tragic tale of Macbeth, a once virtuous man, who when corrupted by power and greed is driven from his status as well respected warrior, to a dishonest, unloyal murderer. Macbeth’s gluttony, pride, and ambitions led him to turn into an unstable, callous man who would stop at nothing just to gain power. His greed to achieve more power resulted in the merciless killings of his king, best friend, and other innocent civilians. His criminal actions lead up to his tragic ending of life, “They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly, / But bear-like I must fight the course,” (V, vii, 1-4).
In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is depicted as loyal and trustworthy in the eyes of his King, Duncan, and his duties. Macbeth explains that he is satisfied with serving his duties to the King as “the service and the loyalty I owe, in doing it, pays itself” (1.4.22-3). With the title Thane of Glamis, Macbeth is seen as a warrior hero fighting bravely and earning victory in battle against Norway. He is described as “valor’s minion” (1.2.19), the servant of courage and “Bellona’s bridegroom” (1.2.54), the husband of war, which epitomize his heroism and give the assumption that his physical characteristics include strength and manly beauty. In Macbeth’s defeat against Norwegian forces, the sergeant relates Macbeth’s courage to the King saying Macbeth did not simply kill his enemy, he “unseam’d him from the nave to the chops, and fixed his head upon our battlements” (1.2.23-4), which foreshadows Macbeth’s own death.
The King of Scotland says, “What be hath lost, noble Macbeth hat won” (1.2. 67). Through this quote it shows that the king holds Macbeth in high regard and trusts him. The King of Scotland is Duncan, Macbeth’s best friend, who he later betrays. During the beginning of the play Macbeth is very loyal to Duncan and would do anything he asked of him.