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| Macbeth by William Shakespeare |
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Characters
The two main characters in the play,
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are well-rounded and well-developed. Shakespeare
stresses the emotional sides of these two people which gives them
dimension. The audience sees them and human beings and not simple
murderers. While the other characters are not as fully developed, they
are not cardboard and they are still believable. The personalities of the
characters are revealed through their dialogues, and for the main characters,
especially through their soliloquies.
Macbeth -
Macbeth is the tragic hero of
this play. At the beginning of the play, he has the title of Thane of
Glamis, and later becomes the Thane of Cawdor. The audience must assume
that he starts out perhaps in his 30’s at the beginning of the play since he is
a man of war. As the play progresses, he seems to age a great deal, more
than the time that has actually passed. Also his appearance is not much
discussed, he might be a stocky handsome warrior. As Duncan’s cousin, he
has a link to the royal throne, and is pushed to grab it by the witches and his
wife. He is greedy, ambitious, and rash. His personality changes
and develops through the play. In the beginning he is a warrior to serve
the king and can not consider the idea of killing Duncan to get the
throne. As the play progresses, he grows cold, hard and more ambitious.
After the murder, his personality further develops to guilt and near
madness. This anxiety causes him to commit more murders and further dig
himself into his grave. He says to Banquo, “Tonight we hold a solemn
supper, sir, and I’ll request your presence.” He said this in order to
kill Banquo that night showing his cold and callous heart.
Lady Macbeth -
Lady Macbeth is Macbeth’s
wife. Although loving Macbeth greatly, she has no children. Like,
Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is fully developed through the course of the play.
Just like Macbeth, her personality and emotional quality is emphasized and is
changed through the course of the book. She is a little
younger than Macbeth, but her appearance is not much discussed. Lady Macbeth
is strong, faithful, and ambitious. In the early parts of the play, she
had to convince Macbeth that he should kill Duncan and get the throne showing
her ambition. However, after the murder, her personality changes and she
grows greatly frightened and regretful of her act. She becomes worried
that people will find out her crime and drives herself to insanity.
During the murder, when Macbeth could not kill Duncan, she says, “Give me the
daggers. The sleeping and the dead are but pictures.” She shows no
respect for human life in this line and murders to satisfy her ambitions.
Banquo - Banquo is Macbeth’s good
friend. He has a family with a son named Fleance. His personality
and character are well developed during the play but do not change. His
age is not known and neither is his appearance. At the beginning of the
play, he listen to the witches and hears a good prophecy that his sons would
become the future kings. However, this good prophecy leads to his
death. His function in the play is to be an example of the power of
fate. Banquo is kind, friendly, and loyal. Unlike Macbeth, he is
not ambitious and does not try to hurry up the crowning of his sons. Even
after the prophecy, he remains loyal to Duncan, and friendly to Macbeth.
He says, “This guest of summer, the temple-haunting martlet, disapprove by his
loved mansionry that the heaven’s breath smells wooingly here.”
Duncan -
Duncan is the king of Scotland at the
beginning of the play. He is an old noble king who is supported by his
people. He has two sons named Malcolm and Donalbain. Although he is
one of the major characters, he does not have a well developed character and is
rather flat. He is kind, honest, and naive. He shows kindness and
mercy to those that wrong him, including the Thane of Cawdor. He is a just
and honest king, but he is a poor judge of character. He completely
trusts Macbeth and does not see that he has ambitions for the throne. I
believe his purpose in the play was not to become a complete character, but to
simply be murdered. He said to Banquo, “Noble Banquo, that hast no less
deserved, nor must be known no less to have done so, let me enfold thee and
hold thee to my heart.”
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