As the play progresses, it is evident that Macbeth is tempted by the witches and has become evil by the catalyst of their powers. The reader recognizes the mental weakness Macbeth really has even though he has power in ambition. The varying points of view of a play give the author more power for audience to become involved with the actions on stage. For example, Macbeth in one of his soliloquies says whole heartedly, "I am his kinsman and his subject," about the thoughts of killing Duncan only to be later plauged by vision of "thy blade and dudgeons gouts of blood." This first person point of view allows the audience to know Macbeth's thoughts that no other character in the play can.
A Tragic Hero, Formed From the Worst Macbeth was once a strong, confident, and self-asserting man. Unfortunately, during his quest for control over the crown, Macbeth took a few drastic turns that led him into a spiraling downfall into despair and failure. His misfortune even ended up killing him. Macbeth had all good intentions. He wanted to rule his country, a perfectly sane and moral goal.
The question of whether Macbeth is a villain or a tragic hero is a difficult question, and one which depends on how one understands the character. One popular argument about the play is that it charts Macbeth's fall from heroism into villainy. At the opening of the play, Macbeth demonstrates a fair amount of heroism. He has fought bravely and been loyal to his king. He embodies nobility and seems to possess virtue.
Macbeth is a Tragic Hero A tragic hero must be a great personality with a flaw in character that leads to his downfall at the end of the tragedy. Macbeth’s flaw is his "vaulted ambition." He is also a villain in the case that he is emerged in the blood of Banquo and Macduff's family. But Macbeth ends up as a tragic hero. Shakespeare developed Macbeth's role through three stages.
In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the noble soldier Macbeth strays to evil when given the opportunity to be king. With the influence of supernatural prophecies and his wife’s constant persuasion, the once loyal soldier is turned into a ruthless killing machine. By the end of the play, Macbeth turns in to a cold hearted tyrant and his once cruel and ambitious wife turns into a puddle of guilt. Through the use of rhetoric strategies, Shakespeare shows his readers the dramatic change in the nature of his characters. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is portrayed as a weak individual.
Cooney uses MacBeth to prove her thesis; whereas, Lee uses the character Bob Ewell to prove her thesis, and Shakespeare uses Tybalt to prove his argument. In the book Enter Three Witches, Cooney uses the character Lord MacBeth to prove that people who are power hungry and dislike others eventually meet a violent end. In the book, MacBeth is a king who gets his turn on the throne after the death of Scotland’s two previous kings. Lord MacBeth was a terrible and unfair king. He killed many people including innocent children in order to inherit his power.
Macbeth is an extremly complicated character to portray. His personality changes throughout the play beginning as an honurable war-hero and being praised highly by the King; making him Thane of Cawdor even though he was already Thane of Glamis. He then becomes a hesitant murderer, constantly distressed about his situiation ‘I am afraid to think what I have done’ to actively planning the murder of Banquo and showing little contrition for the death of his wife, Lady Macbeth ‘She should have died hereafter’ and becoming responsible for the massacre of Macduff’s wife and children.it is imperative that the actor playing Macbeth understands the intricacy of his character. He must also be able to show the contrast between Macbeth’s character in Act 2 Scene 1 and Act 5 Scene 5, in order to portray Macbeth, the actor must contemplate the mood and tone of what he is saying, his gestures and actions to match a certain phrase or speech. Also his facial expressions are very important.
Although Brutus has the characteristics of a great man such as; nobility, idealism and honesty, what makes him the tragic hero of Julius Caesar is his unassuming sincerity and trust. A tragic hero is defined as; (http://www2.cnr.edu/home/bmcmanus/poetics.html) usually of noble birth, hamartia (the tragic flaw that eventually leads to his downfall. ), peripeteia (a reversal of fortune brought about by the hero’s tragic flaw)his actions result in an increase of self- awareness and self-knowledge, and the audience must feel pity and fear for this character. Brutus, as well as Caesar, are both impeccable candidates for a tragic hero. The difference is who was more tragic or which character evoked more pity and fear.
Uses of time in Macbeth In the play “The Tragedy of Macbeth” by William Shakespeare the main character, Macbeth develops a struggle with his own conscience as he tries to take over the kingdom of Scotland. His attempts of gaining power begin to form or disorder in Macbeth’s mind. All through the play Macbeth’s mentality and mindset change develop, he basically went from being King Duncan’s loyal “kinsman” to his crazed murderer. Time has a very significant roll in the play; it was introduced in many forms such as effects of time on Macbeth, chronological time, and lack of order. Shakespeare strongly emphasizes the way time in itself, affects Macbeth.
He is filled with thoughts of betrayal and is eager to become King. He is unsure if he should act upon getting the title or if it will just end up in his hands. Shakespeare has incorporated the use of Pathetic fallacy constantly throughout the entire play to reflect emotions and events. He outlines this technique on the gathering of the three witches where they only appear in darkness and during thunderstorms. It establishes a gloomy and bleak atmosphere and foreshadows the horrifying events that are to occur further on in the play.