By considering the soliloquies, analyse how Macbeth's character changes as the play progresses.

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By considering the soliloquies, analyse how Macbeth’s character changes as the play progresses.

Throughout the play ‘Macbeth’ it becomes apparent that the character of Macbeth is subjected to significant character development. At the outset Macbeth is a brave, honest soldier who is loyal to his king, following this he becomes a deceitful, murderous traitor intent on becoming King and finally Macbeth is unstable, discontentful and regrets his murderous deeds. This essay should analyse the several character alterations Macbeth undergoes in Shakespeare’s famous tragedy.

Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ has a substantial amount of historical content. The play had direct parallels with what was occurring in Scotland and England at the time it was written and performed. It can be said that there are references to the Monarch at the time, this was James the First, he was the King of Scotland from 1587. James was the son of Mary Queen of Scots, he was against Catholics which led to the Gunpowder plot of 1605. The Gunpowder plot is relevant as it concerns the attempted overthrowing of  a monarch, comparisons between Guy Fawkes and Macbeth are not unfounded as they were both leaders who conspired to kill their monarch and both paid for their crimes with their lives. Another factor which Shakespeare utilises is discussing subjects which were popular and controversial at the time. In ‘Macbeth’ witchcraft is the subject he chose. Also James the First took a great interest in witches, having many killed, however most importantly he believed in witchcraft and its power. The three witch characters in ‘Macbeth’ are seen as evil. It could be concluded that they were responsible for creating Macbeth’s evil desire for the throne, therefore the audience may be influenced by Shakespeare’s portrayal of the witches and believe his depiction of their nature, thus supporting King James in his policy of witch hunts and general hatred and persecution. By using historical events and involving topics which were popular, the play is given a sense of poignancy and realism, an audience watching ‘Macbeth’ when it was first written would have been provided with a certain relevance to their own lives.

To analyse how the character of Macbeth changes throughout the play it is imperative to conduct an analysis of each of Macbeth’s seven main speeches. Furthermore, the factors for analysis have been defined as character, structure, language, modern relevance, stagecraft, moral and philosophical outlook, historical relevance, genre and appeal to the audience.

The initial speech being in Act 1, Scene 3. This speech is based around Macbeth asking questions and continuing to answer them himself, the structure is based around the explanation of ill and good as the following quotation demonstrates:

“This supernatural Soliciting,

Cannot be Ill, cannot be Good. Iff Ill

Why hath it given me Earnest of Success”

(Act 1, Scene 3, lines 129 and 130)

It is this quotation which is the central focus of the first speech as Macbeth is asking himself if the ‘supernatural Soliciting’ is bad or good, whether what the witches have

predicted is ‘ill’ or ‘good.

Another example within the structure of the first soliloquy, which uses the contrasting elements of ‘good’ and ‘ill’ is that immediately before Macbeth speaks Banquo speaks and he also interrupts Macbeth at the end of his speech. This again emphasises the good and bad contrasts as, Banquo is seen as the good character and Macbeth the villain.

Certain aspects of this speech are emphasised. Firstly by the use of metaphors, Shakespeare, in this speech, uses theatrical metaphors, as revealed by:

“-Two truths are told,As happy Prologues to the swelling Act”

(Act 1, Scene 3, line 126)

The word selection here is good. ‘Swelling’ not only implies growing-the growth or inflation of Macbeth’s personality and ambition but it also creates an image of things unhealthy. A swelling tumour [from Latin tumere = to swell], this is unknown to Macbeth but the audience would see that Macbeth’s growing ambition was not healthy. The audience can see that his ambition could lead to his demise. This is an example of dramatic irony. Shakespeare uses repetition in order to create dramatic ambience especially concerning the contrasting ideas of ‘good’ and ‘ill’ which can be paralleled as the contrasting characters of ‘Banquo’ and ‘Macbeth’. Another factor which is prevalent is alliteration. This is shown by “This supernatural Soliciting” and “Shakes so my Single State”. Using alliteration is very successful in emphasisng certain words and sentances which are more important than others.

At the outset of the speech Macbeth’s ambition to become King is revealed, there

is an insight into his greedy character as he has only just been made Thane of Cawdor and already he yearns for more power. The impression of an undecided air is given as the focus of the speech is him asking questions, he states that he has not decided upon killing King Duncan yet:

“My Thought, whose Murther yet is but

Fantastical”

(Act 1, Scene 3, Line 137 and 138)

This quotation shows that Macbeth’s idea to murder King Duncan is still only a fantasy and is not reality, indicating he is unsure and may need persuasion either way. At this point in the play he is undecided. It is also apparent that towards the end of the first speech the language used by Macbeth is very negative:

“and nothing is

But what is not.”

(Act 1, Scene 3, Line 139)

This is the first time in ‘Macbeth’ where the main character has voiced his opinions. This would appeal to the audience as it is a change to normal dialogue between two or more characters. The audience may also be interested because of the way the character is asking himself questions, therefore they may be provoked to think about the answers. It can be said that this soliloquy is powerful, by the language used and the subject matter is quite disturbing and therefore, again, appeals to an audience.

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The underlying idea to this first soliloquy is Macbeth’s mind struggling to comprehend whether what the witches said was an honest and reliable prediction for the future or whether they were merely evil witches whose words meant nothing. Macbeth is attempting to find out if what they told him was irrelevant to him and they were simply attempting to scare and provoke him. In summary, this soliloquy is the primary insight into the mind of the main character and what Shakespeare portrays is a greedy man with the foundations of a murderous scheme. However he is a little unsure and ...

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