Macbeth is a courageous and honourable general in Scotland. His success in the battle against the invaders of Scotland gains respect from King Duncan and his fellow soldiers. However, the demonic forces, symbolized by three witches, temp Macbeth. The witches hail Macbeth as the Thane of Glamis and Cawdor who will be king and hail Banquo, who is a nobleman of Scotland and Macbeth's friend, as one who will become the father of a line of kings. This is the point at which Macbeth's ambition starts to grow. In Act 1, scene 3, when Macbeth is thinking about the fulfilment of the two prophecies given by the witches before, ''My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, shakes my single state of man'' (1:3:139- 140). In this soliloquy, Macbeth reflects on his ideas about the "two truths" told by the witches. However, at this point, he is loyal to the king, and he rejects the idea of murder, ''If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir.'' (1:3:143-144). Yet, the predictions by the witches may have strengthened the criminal intentions that he had probably never yet dared to express clearly, even to himself. He is not in alliance with crime, he is neutral, but obviously temptation has begun working upon him. Yet, he might still overcome the promptings of his evil ambition by an effort. After the battle, Macbeth is greeted with a effusive thanks by King Duncan. Duncan then announces that he will make Malcolm heir to the throne. In Act 1, scene 6, Macbeth in his aside states that this announcement is a bar to his ambition and calls upon darkness to cover what he wishes to be done:
''That is a step on which I must fall down, or else o'erleap, for in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires: The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be which the eye fears, when it is done, to see'' (1:6:49-54).
As Duncan makes the announcement, Macbeth starts wondering if murder is the only way in which he can achieve the kingship. His ambition overcomes his finer nature. He calls upon the stars to hide their light, indicating that his "black" desires comes out, as he thinks it is too evil to be seen. Macbeth's image of the eye winking upon the work of the hand is expressive both of his intense aversion to the deed and of his intense desire to get what the deed will accomplish. At the same time his "let that be" marks the point at which his fascinated contemplation of the thought of murdering Duncan becomes a resolution, although he will waver from it. The opposition between eye and hand is indicative of the civil war within him. In Act 1, scene 6, shortly after Duncan's arrival to Macbeth's castle, Macbeth gives voice to his feeling concerning the rashness and the awfulness of the projected murder:
''If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly. If th' assassination could trammel up the consequence, and catch, with his surcease, success; that but this blow might be the be-ball and the end-all -- here. But here, upon this bank and shoal of time, we'd jump the life to come. But in these cases we still have judgment here.'' (1:7:1-8).
At this point, Macbeth's character has fallen to the point where he has the desperate courage to commit the murder, but is afraid of the consequences. He gives three reasons for not performing the murder. First, it would be imprudent. Secondly, it would violate the blood-tie of a kinsman, the allegiance of a subject, and the duty of a host. Thirdly, he suggests that Duncan has been so blameless a king that to kill him would be monstrous. He controls his ambition for the moment and resolves not to kill the king. However, if he assures the safety during his life, he would gladly "jump the life to come". Finally, Lady Macbeth challenges Macbeth's weakness of his decision, by calling him a coward without manhood and says that Macbeth does not really love her. Her speech changes Macbeth's mind, all his fears are vanished. He is then no longer troubled by any sense of morality, and is determined to proceed with the murder. From that time, he plunges into a life of evil. Consequently, the conflict between Macbeth's conscience and his evil instincts is enormous. However, his struggle against the temptations becomes weaker and weaker each time: from the point he is able to reject the idea of murder to gain the kingship, to the point he is will to commit it and finally his decision to perform the evil deed. All these suggests that he has brought about his own deterioration in character. It is mainly due to his weakness in the face of temptation and his ambitious character. He could overcome the temptations and the promptings of his evil ambition by an effort, but he chooses not to. His gradual downfall of character brought by himself heightens the tragic effect. It makes people feel to see such a respectable hero turning from good to evil, when experiencing the extreme conflicts within himself and witnessing his choice to become the slave of evil.
One of the biggest differences between the two stories is the way in which the characters treat their loved ones, the ones they hold dear to themselves. In both cases, neither of our characters treated them very well. In Frankenstein’s case, the ones that he cared about or should have cared about most were his beloved Elizabeth, his father, his brother, and best friend, Henry Clerval. However throughout the entire novel, Frankenstein is completely consumed by his creation of the Monster. First of all, he isolates himself from his loved ones to create the Monster, and abandons them more and more as he becomes depressed and later embarks on another project to appease the Monster he has created. Finally, he realizes that as a result of abandoning his own creation and abandoning his family and friends, he has lost them all. In Macbeth’s case, his loved one, Lady Macbeth, was deeply involved in his wrong actions and even inspired some of them. She was the master mind behind the plot to murder King Duncan and convinced Macbeth to do the deed. After all the shedding of innocent blood, the long and sleepless nights, and the never ending struggle with guilt, Lady Macbeth took her own life, leaving Macbeth alone to face his much deserved death. Instead of looking out for his wife, Macbeth instead abandons her to hopelessness and ultimate despair as he murderously presses on in his quest for power. We can see that the characters differ in regards to how they treat their loved ones. Macbeth includes his wife in his evil deeds, resulting in her death. While Frankenstein abandons the Monster and excludes his family and friends, resulting in their deaths too. Therefore, it could be said that while Macbeth and Frankenstein may share similar quests and tragic flaws, the treatment of their loved ones is very different.
