Also his facial expressions are very important. Shakespeare made Macbeth’s character purposely complex to keep the audiences attention. At the beginning of the play Macbeth is loyal and reliable. Macbeth’s true personality is revealed when he lies to Banquo (his oldest and dearest friend) Banquo says ‘I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters’ and Macbeth replies ‘I think not of them’. Here Macbeth has lied because he has been to see the weird sisters earlier in the play.This now tells us that his loyalty is deteriorating as he prepares himself for the murder of King Duncan.
However As the play progresses, Macbeth's personality and actions become more deceitful leading to his destruction. Macbeth's changing character over the course of the play can be seen in his roles a general, husband and a king. When we encounter the three witches in the play's opening scene, we're not sure where they've come from, who/what they are, or what they have in mind when they say they plan to meet Macbeth. They have a profound influence over events in the play. What we do know is that they've gathered amidst
As the play begins, Macbeth and Banquo are friends and comrades in arms, both Scottish noblemen and valiant defenders of King Duncan. The first description of them concerns how fiercely they had recently fought together to defeat the forces of the King of Norway and Macdonwald, a traitor to the King. Macbeth and Banquo together encounter the witches on the heath where Macbeth hears their prophecy for the first time. Banquo reacts as a friend would at the sound of Macbeth's good fortune, then seeks to know his own future. Shortly after, Banquo warns Macbeth of danger, explaining that the witches may not be trustworthy: And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths, Win us with honest trifles, to betray's In deepest consequence.
This is emphasised with the fact that the two young lovers foreshadow their own death. Therefore this creates dramatic irony in that the audience know how the story is going unfold and the course of Romeo and Juliet’s’ lives but they do not know themselves. Shakespeare unravels the story whilst cleverly creating twists which brings sympathy upon the audience. The play starts with a prologue which is how Shakespeare begins to create a sense of sympathy for Romeo and Juliet. Here, the audience is told that the couple are ‘star cross’d lovers’ and that their love is going against the stars and that they are therefore doomed in disaster.
Now in the play, Macbeth starts off as a loyal, courageous, stereotypical, drone like war hero but once a group of witches put this idea in his mind that he could become king, he starts spiraling downhill. For days he pondered whether to let nature take its course and let fate decide, or intervene and take matters into his own hands. He kills the King, takes the throne, but becomes paranoid and belligerent. Soon after this change, a rebellion forms who goes after him and kills him. William Shakespeare’s Macbeth showcases how one’s desires can change him, bring out the true primal instincts in a man; and as the play progresses, this change becomes quite evident.
A tragic hero will effectively gain our fear and pity if he is a good mixture of good and evil. Ophelia can be viewed as a tragic hero in this play. We first meet Ophelia in Act 1, Scene 3 where she is warned by her brother Laertes that Hamlet is playing with her and that she should not keep her "chaste treasure open" suggesting that his sister has no 'worth of her own except in her sex'. Ophelia hears her brother but sticks up for herself and defends her relationship with Hamlet. She even turns Laertes' lesson around to focus on him and how he is doing exactly what he is telling Ophelia not to do.
Lear's tragedy is made in the foolish decision that his pride drives him to in Act I scene 1, and he is distinct from the tragic hero of Macbeth in the nature of his tragic flaw and in the fact that throughout the play he is only surrounded by characters who love him, support him and want what is best for him. This is of course in sharp contrast to Lady Macbeth.
Browning’s adoption of the monologue form can be said to perfectly complement his presentation of the Duke’s disturbed mind. Lady Macbeth’s reaction to the letter is sinister; it shows her thirst for power. “The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan under my battlements” shows this. In the letter she finds out that the witches have said Macbeth will be King in the future. However, because Lady Macbeth has ambition beyond her status, she wants him to become King as soon as possible.
Macbeth’ and lady Macbeth’ reactions to the witches prophecy. Macbeth, coming from the battle won, appeared as a strong man, a great warrior who deserve and like his actual position. His wife, lady Macbeth, is very ambitious and has a certain passion and lust for power. The apparition of the three witches to claim and announce their prophecy to Macbeth had an essential role in the play: « All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor, thou shalt be King hereafter » was the first prophecy of the three witches in the third scene of the first act, which predicates Macbeth as a future king. However, Macbeth and lady Macbeth had a different interpretation and reaction to this prophecy.
During that time, it was believed that the death of a King would upset the natural balance of order and society. The downfall of a king or the death of a king and the theme of suicide, would have made a dramatic impact on the Shakespearean audience, compared to a modern day audience ,who were used to a diet of violence in tragic plays. The shock value of these themes would have produced the required effect that Shakespeare intended. King Lear is a powerful King at the beginning of the play, who would, in my opinion, would have found it hard to be humble and to be able to achieve humility without having lost his power, supporters, family and material wealth. When he asks his daughters