Character analysis of Macbeth
In the play we can easily see that Macbeth is driven by ambition and later on in the play tortured by his regrets which manifest a great deal of inner conflicts seen in his soliloquies. Macbeth is a man dominated by a strong moral sense, a man who has a profoundly sensitive conscience and who knows at each stage the moral consequences of committing murder Macbeth at the beginning of the play is mentally stable and a good man but due to certain influences (supernatural and normal) and his own flaw being his ‘’vaulting ambition’’. His values and his better aspects begin to dwindle under his growing desire for power. Macbeth is an example of a normal man that has done a monstrous deed and from this deed giving rise to regret and paranoia, signalling his decline which eventually led to his tragic downfall. There are many redeeming qualities of his character and Macbeth is essentially a good man but ultimately is the architect of his undoing.
At the beginning of the play he is first qualities are introduce to us by the bleeding captain explaining his heroic performance and valour shown on the battle. He is described as ‘’great’’ and ‘’valour’s minion’’ which shows that he is very willing to serve his king and country and strives to help Scotland to the best of his abilities and all these merits gained during his battles help his ambition to grow. ‘I have no spur’ he states, ‘to prick the sides of my intention, but only vaulting ambition’ this clarifies that he is very ambitious almost to the point that it might harm his own interests in the future which inevitably happens leading to his downfall. Another good example of his unstable ambition is when the three weird sisters begin to address him with title such as ‘’Thane of Cawdor’’ and tell him that he ‘’shall be King hereafter’’ following this we very quickly see his interest in these equivocal prophecies ‘’stay you imperfect speakers’’ , this conveys that maybe he thinks he could attain these titles and from this it is evident his ambition will try to do everything in its ability to strive for this greatness and promised glory even though the witches had explained nothing else making it clear that his ambition is also blind. His ambition is so great he acts on the words of strangers that he has never met before and becomes ‘rapt’ in a world cut off from others which is evident in his soliloquies where in each he equivocates within himself about what is good and evil which both fight for mastery over him and this ‘evil’ and his ambition seem to go hand in hand throughout the play and causes him to do things he regrets which build up and becomes ‘a dagger of the mind’ and we see throughout the play the damage being dealt to his moral being. Another example of his blind ambition would be witnessed in Act 1 scene 7 when Lady Macbeth questions his bravery and insinuates that he is a ‘’coward’’ but Macbeth is adamant that he should prove himself a man regardless of what he is actually about to do which shows he is ambitious to impress others. Another last example of his ambition his with his goal to see the whole situation through and says ‘’I am in blood stepped in so far that, should I wade no more’’ and that ‘’returning were as tedious as go’er .’’ This shows he is eager to see through what he had started till the end. Macbeth’s ambition has become dehumanised and will also end himself.
