We find out that ‘Macbeth’ is brave in Act 1 Scene 2 (line 16) and that he is also
the king’s cousin, after he meets the witches his ambition starts growing. When macbeth meets the Witches he is fascinated by them and blinded by his ambition, they tell him he will be Thane of Cowdor and the King of Scotland.
In Act 1 Scene 3 Macbeth wants to believe the witches (‘look how our partner’s wrapt’) this is because the witches are telling Macbeth things he likes to hear, that he will become the king of Scotland while Banquo is more suspicious (‘Things that do sound so fair’) because he knows that the witches are evil and he thinks they are saying evil, untrue things. Macbeths then wants to question them but the witches vanish, Macbeth remains fixed and amazed and his ambition makes him believe what the witches say.
Macbeth then writes a letter to Lady macbeth telling her what happened, From the moment Lady Macbeth receives the letter from Macbeth she begins to plan the murder of king Duncan. She paints Macbeth as a weak man (act 1 scene 5 ‘’too full o’ the milk of human kindness’) and she resolves to persuade Macbeth to do it and asks for the strength from the devil, and the evil to commit the murder (act 1 scene 5 ‘come thee spirits’).
We see that Macbeth is powefully influenced by the evil in his speeches, in act 1 scene 7 when he is thinking out loud in his monologue. 'We will proceed no further in this business' represents a triumph of conscience. He has talked himself away from killing Duncan and has recognised what a great sin it would be. He struggles not so much with the horrifying idea of regicide as with the actual fact and process of murdering a man but a relative, no less who trusts and loves him. He would like the king's murder to be over and done with already.
Macbeth's famous monologue at the beginning of act 2 introduces an important theme: visions and hallucinations caused by guilt. The "dagger of the mind" that Macbeth sees is not "ghostly" or supernatural so much as a manifestation of the inner struggle Macbeth feels as he contemplates murdering Duncan.The same can be said for the ghostly voice Macbeth thinks he hears as he kills Duncan as well as the ghostly vision of Banquo at the feast in Act 3. In fact, almost all the supernatural elements in this play could be read as psychological rather than ghostly occurrences. If this is the case, then, one must question the role of the witches. Are they, too, products of Macbeth's fevered mind rather than real presences? The fact that they do no more that give voice to the ambitions but then there is the fact that Banquo also sees these witches and hears their prophecies in act one. Their role in the play is to represent the evil and the devil.
In act 2 scene 2 Macbeth enters, still carrying the bloody daggers with which he killed Duncan. He is shaken because as he entered Duncan's chamber he heard the bodyguards praying and he could not say "Amen" when he finished the prayers. He takes this as a bad sign and Lady Macbeth tells him not to think "after these ways; so, it will make us mad" and warns him not to think of such "brainsickly things" but to wash the blood from his hand. Here we see that he is going mad and that he is unable to pray, the devil is having the better over him and his ambition is still growing.
Macbeth cannot sleep then he is kept from the rest he needs by the guilt he feels over Duncan's murder. Macbeth's troubled sleep is a metaphor for his troubled existence.
In act 3 scene 4 Macbeth has already murdered Banquo but Fleance has escaped the men he sent. He sees Banquo at a dinner as an hallucination brought on by his guilt, like the dagger he saw before he killed Duncan. Ignoring lady Macbeth ho pleads him to remain sane because they have guests Macbeth charges the ghost to speak, and it disappears. Disgusted, Lady Macbeth scolds him for being "unmanned in folly." Turning back to his guests, Macbeth tells them that he has "a strange infirmity" that they should ignore, he sais he has a mental illness. The guests leave, and Macbeth, frightened, says that he takes this appearance as an omen. He decides that he will go back to the Weird Sisters the next day and ask to hear more.
In Act 4 scene 2 lady Macduff is talking to her son when a messenger interrupts them with a warning to flee the house immediately. But before Lady Macduff can go anywhere, Macbeth's hired murderers attack the house and kill everyone in it. Macduff has arrived at the English court and meets with Malcolm. Malcolm, remembering his father's mistaken trust in Macbeth, tests Macduff by confessing that he is a greedy, lustful and sinful man, who makes Macbeth look like an angel in comparison. Macduff despairs and says that he will leave Scotland forever if this is the case, since there seems to be no man fit to rule it. Hearing this, Malcolm is convinced of Macduff's goodness and reveals that he was merely testing him; he has none of these faults to which he has just confessed. In fact, he claims, the first lie he has ever told was this false confession to Macduff. He then announces that Siward has assembled an army of ten thousand men and is prepared to march on Scotland.
In act 5 scene 5 Macbeth confidently orders his men to hang his banners on the outer walls of the castle, claiming that his castle will hold until the men who attack it starve of famine. If only the other side was not reinforced with men who have deserted him, he claims, he would not think twice about rushing out to attack the English army head-on.
In act 5 scene 8 Macbeth enters, contemplating whether or not he should kill himself, and resolving that he is too brave to do so. Macduff finds him and challenges him. Macbeth replies that he has avoided Macduff until his point, but now he will fight. Macduff unsheathes his sword, saying that his sword will speak for him and the men fight. As they fight, Macbeth tells him that he leads a charmed life; he will only fall to a man who is not born of woman.
Throughout the play, dreams, fantasy, and imagination enter the "real world." The witches' words become truth. The "dagger of the mind" points the way to a murder done with a real dagger. And in the Porter scene (II.iii), a porter imagining that he guards the gate to Hell turns out to guard the gate to a real hell in which the king is actually murdered in his sleep.