Is Macbeth a horrible monster of is he a sensitive man - a victim of the witches, chance, his wife, and his own ambitions? In a curious way is he both?!

Authors Avatar

                                Essay III – Macbeth .

Is Macbeth a horrible monster of is he a sensitive man – a victim of the witches, chance, his wife, and his own ambitions? In a curious way is he both?!

Macbeth was one of Shakepeare’s most famous plays, it is essentially the story of a man who was once honourable and valiant. He was devoted to his king and country. We assume he was initially a good, loyal friend and loving husband.  This same man over the duration of the play changes his persona in many ways and finally due to his own actions meet his fate.

The play starts with a meeting of three witches, they converse about their plans. They advise of a meeting with Macbeth after the battle is over, “Upon the heath”. The play continues and we discover that the current Thane of Cawdor has betrayed the King. The King, Duncan is very displeased and condemns the man to death. Duncan gives Macbeth the title of Thane of Cawdor, but a this point in the play Macbeth has no knowledge of the Thane’s death or of the Kings instructions.

Join now!

The witches meet on the heath as previously planned, Macbeth and his companion Banquo stubble across the woman. They are completely oblivious to the fact that the witches have been waiting for them. This scene is the most critical so far and lays the foundation for the changes in Macbeth’s unblemished persona. The witches say firstly to Macbeth “All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis”. This does not perturb Macbeth as he already holds the title of Thane of Glamis, inherited from his father. The witches then go onto say “All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

Here's what a teacher thought of this essay

Avatar

This pupil has dealt with the question well. They have used evidence from the text but a more detailed look at language would have improved this.