To begin, Macbeth is viewed as a brave and fearless man with very good military standing he is also viewed as a good leader. Macbeth is a good man at this point in the play but due to some prophecies that are made by, some crazy witches; he starts to betray his closest friends. Macbeth begins to plot against King Duncan, the man who just named him Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth realizes the costliness of killing the king and how his actions may damn him forever. Macbeth tells his wife, Lady Macbeth, That he cannot go through with it and she begins to question him, “When you durst do it, then you were a man; And, to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man” (Shakespeare I.VII.
They both have various similarities and differences and these comparisons say a great deal about both of their characters. Now, a key difference between Banquo and Macbeth is that Macbeth is already obviously a representation of the Machiavellian concept. He is willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants, in this case, the prestigious title, King. As soon as the three witches give him his prophecy, he is engulfed with the hunger, the desire of power. Due to this unrestrained burst of ambition, Macbeth turns to darkness and he begins to act on his thoughts even though when Banquo asks if he ever thinks about the witches’ prophecy, he denies it all.
Even though they don’t actually harm Macbeth, they trick Macbeth and say possible predictions of his future, the witches start out by saying that Fair is foul, and foul is fair (act I, i) with this telling us that everything is apparent fair game to get whatever you want. When they talk to Macbeth they make him think and eventually make him try to become king and kill Duncan even though they never said how he is going to become king. The witches tell Macbeth that he will become the thane of Cawdor and then king of Scotland and thou shalt be king here after (Act I, iii). They pretty much poison his good clear mind with these prophesies, which in reality are making him greedy and bringing out the evil that is in everyone’s soul. When the first of the promises is proven true, Macbeth also is thinking what the witches told Banquo which was that “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none” (act I, iii).
The want to shed all her feminine qualities to gain power at any cost showed her disregard for human life. Lady Macbeth even told her husband “To beguile the time,/ Look like the time. Bear welcome in your eye,/ Your hand, your tongue. Look like th' innocent/ flower,/ But be the serpent under ’t.” (1.5.74-77) A metaphor is used to extend her advice to Macbeth. She told him to look as innocent as a flower, but to have the intentions and slyness of a snake.
The suggestion that the handle is facing Macbeth makes this imagery even stronger, it also makes us think that Macbeth is questioning whether or not the dagger is meant for him. Shakespeare shows us that Macbeth is slowly losing his mind even more by using exclamation marks and a rhetorical question in Act 2 Scene 2. Macbeth says “when every noise appals me? What hands are here! Ha!” The over use of exclamation marks shows
Elizabeth sees his inner goodness shine when he refuses to lie about being involved in witchcraft, and she realizes how unfair she has been. John Proctor saves the lives of the others who are accused when he unselfishly declines to save his own. He acts as a martyr when he places others before himself. He would rather die an honorable death than live a dishonorable life, which is what precedes him to be the tragic hero of the play. John Proctor, being a very complex character stuck in a world full mischief, madness, and chaos shows a major change as the play unfolds.
The isolation of Macbeth, isolation from his friends, his country, God and even his wife further prove him as a tragic hero. Every action that he takes further pushes him away from everything that he has at the beginning of the play. Firstly is the isolation that he takes from his friends, namely Banquo. At the beginning of the play, they are great friends, and even battle alongside each other for their country, but the friendship is not to last, as the life of Banquo ends due to order from Macbeth. The first evidence of Macbeth distancing and isolating himself from his friend is at the beginning of the play, when they are told the predictions by the witches that Macbeth “shalt be King hereafter!” (1.3.50).
Or would he have never found the courage to murder for his own personal gain? When we are first introduced to Macbeth, we are told that he is a war hero who would do anything to defend his king’s honor. His journey to unrighteousness begins when he first speaks with the three witches. They tell him “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter” (948). Macbeth first takes this in a joking manner, but soon begins to take it very seriously.
Shakespeare starts off the soliloquy by using feminine iambic pentameter “Is this a dagger which I see before me” (11 beats). He does this to show Macbeth’s uncertainty and lack of control over his own thought process and actions. Macbeth feels this as he doesn’t want Duncan’s murder on his conscience for the rest of his life. The uncertainty would be clear for the audience to see/hear because the feminine iambic pentameter would make the last word “me” be said in a high pitch and the statement would also be said in a questioning manner. However by the end of the soliloquy, Shakespeare has Macbeth speaking in masculine iambic pentameter to show that Macbeth has persuaded himself to kill Duncan.
Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe topful / Of direst cruelty!” (I.V.38-34).These lines tell how Lady Macbeth pressure Macbeth to kill King Duncan. If I were to add one ingredient to Lady Macbeth, it would be love. The reason why is that if she really loved Macbeth she wouldn’t pressure Macbeth to kill King Duncan because she would of worried what would of happen to him if he got a caught. If I were to remove a ingredient of Lady Macbeth it would be devotion. The reason why is that Lady Macbeth would not be devoted to make Macbeth king and result of having him to kill people to get