At the beginning of the play, after the first battle, Duncan and the Captain are talking about Macbeth. The second time you hear Macbeth’s name in the play it is from the captain, calling him “brave Macbeth”. This immediately puts the impression of a great and powerful man into the minds of the audience. Macbeth is also called “noble Macbeth”. This puts a very positive image into the audience’s minds, very early on in the play. The word ‘noble’ shows that Macbeth is a person of elevated status; this is one of the connotations of a tragic hero.
The first time you hear Macbeth’s name, however, is when it is mentioned by the witches. Witches were considered evil and were not to be consorted with. When they mention Macbeth’s name, it immediately makes the audience suspicious and almost taints his good reputation and image. Witches are also connected to fate, a strong point in tragedies. The witches previously mentioned Macbeth, “There to meet with Macbeth”. This connects to fate, and shows that Macbeth’s downfall was intimate before he even appears in the play. This links in at the end of the play, as it proves that his downfall was not wholly his fault.
When the captain mentions Macbeth’s name, it is when he is talking to King Duncan about the battle; Duncan says that Macbeth is to be named the Thane of Cawdor. Already Macbeth is gaining power, even though it is only two scenes into the play. This shows his elevated status and ambition as “brave Macbeth”.
On his way back from the battle Macbeth and Banquo come across the three witches who tell Macbeth he will become “Thane of Glamis”, “Thane of Cawdor” and “king hereafter”. Macbeth tries to act as if he is uninterested, “Stay, you imperfect speakers. Tell me more”. The way he speaks to the witches is very different from other people. He gives them direct commands, such as “stay” and “tell”; talks to them in the imperative. He expects them to obey him; he shouldn’t be talking to them at all so he acts as if he is doing them a favour by talking to them. Even though he acts uninterested it is clear that he is keen to hear more information about the power he will be gaining, and that he wants to know more about the prophecies he has just heard. His ambitious flaw is apparent very early on it the play.
By Act 1, Scene 4, Macbeth has heard that he is Thane of Cawdor and immediately starts to believe the witches’ prophecies. When he is around King Duncan he starts to have dark thoughts, “Stars, hide your fires, / Let not light see my black and deep desires”. The words ‘black’ and ‘deep’ have connotations of darkness and evil. They are very negative words, often used to intimidate and scare people. The ‘Stars, hide your fires’ could mean that Macbeth hopes that Duncan’s view of “brave Macbeth” will hide his true ‘black and deep desires’ that are at the back of his mind.
Many people believe that Lady Macbeth persuaded Macbeth to kill Duncan, which consequently started his downfall, but it is clear that Macbeth was already having thoughts about killing Duncan, and he just needed the final persuasion. Lady Macbeth is extremely deceptive: “Look like the’ innocent flower/ But be the serpent under’t”. This shows that she looks like and acts like the normal innocent wife, but she is really plotting to kill Duncan. ‘Flowers’ are often seen as frail and beautiful, just as Lady Macbeth likes to be perceived. She accuses him of cowardice, lack of loyalty to her, and lack of manhood,”when you durst do it, then you were a man”. Saying “when you durst do it” makes him feel guilt. She is telling him that only when he murders Duncan, he will be a man, and is making him feel guilty by implying that if he doesn’t do it then she will have to, making him less of a man. This would persuade Macbeth; however, he has already had thoughts about killing Duncan himself. Lady Macbeth just offered the final push to persuade him to commit the murder. At this point the audience would be feeling fear for Macbeth as they know that he has no choice but to commit the murder, but they fear it will bring about his downfall.
The dagger scene is an extremely important event in Macbeth. The words used in Macbeth’s soliloquy are extremely negative. The repetition of the word “blood”, shows that his mind is focused on the blood of Duncan, and about whether he will be caught. The only reason Macbeth has to kill Duncan is “vaulting ambition”, his tragic flaw. The killing of a king was considered extremely immoral, especially as the king was supposed to be chosen by God. Plotting against the king would be considered as plotting against God, “I could not say ‘Amen’”. Macbeth was feeling remorse for his actions, and he realised that he would never be able to forgive himself for the murder of Duncan. Macbeth is wishing he could take back the murder, for he fears it will drive him insane “Macbeth shall sleep no more”. This is ironic as Duncan will not be able to sleep anymore; Macbeth has killed Duncan so he can become king, but without sleep he too would die. He also speaks in third person, as if he is talking to himself; a sign of madness. He is wishing that the murder was committed by somebody else, and that he had not done it. The audience are now feeling pity for Macbeth. He had control over his actions, but as he is a tragic hero, fate meant he would have to commit the murder. They feel pity for him as he shows remorse for his actions.
The natural world is often used to enhance the unnatural actions that Macbeth performs. Owls are often mentioned, “mousing owl”. Owls are connected to death; they are mentioned after Macbeth’s first murder of Duncan. The Divine Right of Kings is also a big part enhancing the unnatural actions of Macbeth, and is part of the universal significance of what Macbeth is doing. People believed that the King was chosen by God, and therefore by killing the king you would be going against God. Later this is also mentioned, “Bleed bleed poor country”. Macbeth’s actions are affecting everyone, not just the people closest to him. This is part of a tragedy; they affect everyone, not just the a few select people.
The banquet scene is the turning point of the play. Macbeth shows his ruthlessness and orders the death of his best friend, Banquo, “It is concluded. Banquo, thy soul’s flight, / If it find heaven, must find it out tonight”. Act 3, Scene 1 ends with this rhyming couplet. Macbeths reference to “heaven” and “souls” has religious significant. He knows that he will be eternally damned for killing a king, and that heaven is on his mind. He shows his ruthlessness by ordering the killing of Banquo; he won’t even commit the murder himself. This lowers him in the eyes of the audience. He doesn’t show the uncertainty that he showed before Duncan’s murder; his speech is not as broken. It seems murder is of no great importance to him, it is just a chore that has to be done to further his ambition.
During the Banquet scene, however, Macbeth shows that he does feel guilt as he sees Banquo’s ghost. “Thou canst not say I did it: never shake/ Thy gory locks at me”. He refuses to take the blame for the murder of Banquo; nevertheless, he is feeling guilt for the murder. For the second time Lady Macbeth questions his manhood, “Are you a man?” Macbeth sees his manhood as a great part of him, so when his wife questions it he stops thinking about Banquo and realises that he can’t let it bother him. He tries to show that all remorse has left him in front of his wife and guests. This makes the audience fear him, as it is so easy for him to rid himself of remorse, just so that he can remain king. This is also the last time in the play that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are seen together; Macbeth’s dark dealings start to pull them further and further apart.
After the events of the Banquet, Macbeth returns to the witches to find out the answers to his questions. He is very ambivalent towards the witches: he wants them to give him answers, and thanks them when they do, but he also calls them “black and midnight nags”. He uses the imperative to talk to them, and threatens them when they do not wish to help him. By going to talk to the witches the audience would now fear and hate him, for a king to consort with witches would be going against God.
To Lennox, however, he says that witches are evil and that they are not to be trusted “damned all those that trust them”. This is proleptic irony as he has put his trust in them when he murdered Duncan to become king, and when he went back to them for the second time, so by saying this he is damning himself.
Following the conversation with the witches, Macbeth gets the murderers to go and kill Macduff’s wife and children. This is his lowest point and his tragic fall, as well as possible the worst of all of his murderers. This is because he is killing the innocent, but doesn’t seem the least bothered about it, “His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls”. The word ‘unfortunate’ shows that Macbeth has no remorse, and that he just thinks of them as ‘souls’ that were in the wrong place at the wrong time. He has murdered so many people by this time that he doesn’t think much of it anymore; as long as he keeps his crown he doesn’t care who he has to kill. The killing of innocence is probably his lowest point in the play from the perception of the audience.
The killing of the Macduffs is the changing point in the play. Before this murder people would obey and respect Macbeth even if they didn’t like him, they wouldn’t voice their opinion. After the slaughter this changed, “Of horrid hell can come a devil more damned/ In the evils to top Macbeth” Macduff calls Macbeth ‘evil’, ‘damned’ and compares him to the ‘devil’. All of these words are strong words to voice against a king. They also have religious connotations; his soul is damned to go to hell with the devil. After killing Duncan there was no chance that he would ever be redeemed in the face of God. He is saying that Macbeth is the most evil thing that could ever live; from this moment onwards Macbeth’s name is not mentioned by his opposition, they call him “tyrant” instead.
Shortly after the death of the Macduffs, Lady Macbeth starts to go insane, “Look how she rubs her hands”. The death of Duncan has finally started to drive her mad and she is trying to wash the guilt off her hands, or trying to wash away the past. She is reliving the blood of Duncan that she said would be so easy to be rid of. Soon after the blood washing incident she kills herself. This brings about a massive change in Macbeth. He realises that he has lost and understands that he has done wrong and that now he must pay by dying. He regrets that Lady Macbeth died at this time “She should have died hereafter; / There would have been a time for such a word”. He wants to mourn for her but doesn’t have the time, so he wishes she could have died another time so he could properly grieve for her and her passing. He starts to reflect life “And all our yesterdays have lighted fools/ The way to dusty death”. This links life and death and the journey that is taken in between. He has also regained his poetic way of speaking and loses his false face and becomes honest with himself. He realises he has lived his entire life trying to achieve and sustain a goal that only made him cold, angry and unhappy. He wishes he could go back and change his life as he has not lived it the way he wanted to.
At the end when Macduff enters the castle to kill Macbeth; Macbeth shows remorse for what he has done, “my soul is too much charged/ With blood of thine already”. He does not want to kill Macduff but knows that he must fight to the death, and die a proper death. Otherwise he would not be partially re-elevated by the audience. All of Shakespeare’s tragic heroes have to die. He talks about his ‘soul’ as he knows he is damned to go to hell and nothing he can do will change that, but he would rather Macduff killed him so he could die an honourable death in battle. The last time he is mentioned he is called a “dead butcher” by Malcolm. His sins have not been repaid and he will still be punished after his death, but he realised his mistakes and showed remorse for his actions that occurred throughout the play.
I think that Macbeth is a tragic hero. He starts off with an elevated status “noble Macbeth”, seeks ambition as a tragic flaw, murders Duncan, Banquo and the Macduff family; becomes a tyrant for his tragic fall, and then has the realisation and remorse to be partially re-elevated before he dies at the end of the play.
He is also affected by the fate and prophecies of the witches, which helps the audience feel pity for him, as his life was not entirely his fault, and he couldn’t be entirely responsible for his actions and therefore his suffering.
However, he might not be considered a tragic hero as he did not suffer more than needed. He killed innocent people, and suffered accordingly. Some people might also say that Lady Macbeth persuaded him to murder Duncan and therefore he is not a tragic hero. I believe that he is a tragic hero, and that the play follows the guidelines of a tragedy.
At the end of the play I think the audience feel pity and remorse for Macbeth, especially when he admits that his life has been worthless, “It is a tale/ Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury/ Signifying nothing”. He is calling himself an idiot for leading the life that he lived, and admitting that all the cold heartless murders he committed to keep his throne were pointless as he ended up living an unhappy life anyway. This re-elevates the respect the audience has for him. He also regains his poetic way of speaking, using iambic pentameter, which shows that Shakespeare meant for him to be re-elevated at this point.
I do have sympathy for him; he chose his path in life, but it was also fate that he would have a tragic fall. In the end he wished he could change it all, which shows that he has remorse for his actions, and therefore deserves sympathy. He also had a very manipulative wife who encouraged him to commit the first murder; along with the witches who manipulated the prophecies that led him to believe a false truth (that no man could kill him). He did make some of the choices in his life himself, although many of them were as a result of manipulation and were not entirely his fault: he was, in the end, just fulfilling the role of a tragic hero.
