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INTRO

The horrific and detestable acts perpetrated by Macbethmirror the crimes of Shakespeare's great villains -- Aaron theMoor, Iago, Richard III, Edmund -- all at the ready to

slaughter women and children, usurp divinely appointedkings, and butcher their closest friends to satisfy ambitiouscravings. Yet, despite his villainous deeds, Macbeth is notamong the list of Shakespeare's most base evildoers. Whatsets Macbeth apart is his penchant for self-reflection.Although ultimately he cannot resist his dark desires, hisstruggle to regain his goodness is constant, and the part ofhis character that is capable of much love and compassion,

although ever fading, is always present. There is no moraldilemma with Shakespeare's true villains. They relish everymoment of their immorality. Thus, rather than a villain,Macbeth is considered to be one of Shakespeare's tragicheroes. He is by no means the epitome of the Aristoteliantragic hero, as is Hamlet, but he is a tragic hero nonetheless,because we, the audience, can see ourselves in him.

BODYBecause we first hear of Macbeth in the wounded captains account of hisbattlefield valor, our initial impression is of a brave and capable warrior. Thisperspective is complicated, however, once we see Macbeth interact with thethree witches. We realize that his physical courage is joined by a consumingambition and a tendency to self-doubtthe prediction that he will be king bringshim joy, but it also creates inner turmoil. These three attributesbravery,ambition, and self-doubtstruggle for mastery of Macbeth throughout the play.Shakespeare uses Macbeth to show the terrible effects that ambition and guiltcan have on a man who lacks strength of character. We may classify Macbeth asirrevocably evil, but his weak character separates him from Shakespeares greatvillainsIago in Othello, Richard III in Richard III, Edmund in King Learwho are

all strong enough to conquer guilt and self-doubt. Macbeth, great warrior thoughhe is, is ill equipped for the psychic consequences of crime.Before he kills Duncan, Macbeth is plagued by worry and almost aborts thecrime. It takes Lady Macbeths steely sense of purpose to push him into thedeed. After the murder, however, her powerful personality begins to disintegrate,leaving Macbeth increasingly alone. He fluctuates between fits of fevered action,in which he plots a series of murders to secure his throne, and moments ofterrible guilt (as when Banquos ghost appears) and absolute pessimism (after

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his wifes death, when he seems to succumb to despair). These fluctuationsreflect the tragic tension within Macbeth: he is at once too ambitious to allow hisconscience to stop him from murdering his way to the top and too conscientiousto be happy with himself as a murderer. As things fall apart for him at the end ofthe play, he seems almost relievedwith the English army at his gates, he can

finally return to life as a warrior, and he displays a kind of reckless bravado as hisenemies surround him and drag him down. In part, this stems from his fatalconfidence in the witches prophecies, but it also seems to derive from the factthat he has returned to the arena where he has been most successful and wherehis internal turmoil need not affect himnamely, the battlefield. Unlike many ofShakespeares other tragic heroes, Macbeth never seems to contemplatesuicide: Why should I play the Roman fool, he asks, and die / On mine ownsword? (5.10.12). Instead, he goes down fighting, bringing the play full circle: itbegins with Macbeth winning on the battlefield and ends with him dying incombat.

Macbeth is introduced in the play as a warrior hero, whosefame on the battlefield wins him great honor from the king.Essentially, though, he is a human being whose privateambitions are made clear to the audience through his asidesand soliloquies (solo speeches). These often conflict with theopinion others have of him, which he describes as "golden"(I:7, 33). Despite his fearless character in battle, Macbeth isconcerned by the prophecies of the Witches, and histhoughts remain confused, both before, during, and after his

murder ofKing Duncan. When Duncan announces that heintends the kingdom to pass to his sonMalcolm, Macbethappears frustrated. When he is about to commit the murder,he undergoes terrible pangs of conscience. Macbeth is at hismost human and sympathetic when his manliness is mockedand demeaned by his wife (see in particular Act I, Scene 7).However, by Act III, Scene 2, Macbeth has resolved himselfinto a far more stereotypical villain and asserts hismanliness over that of his wife. His ambition now begins to

spur him toward further terrible deeds, and he starts todisregard and even to challenge Fate and Fortune. Eachsuccessive murder reduces his human characteristics stillfurther, until he appears to be the more dominant partner inthe marriage. Nevertheless, the new-found resolve, whichcauses Macbeth to "wade" onward into his self-created riverof blood (Act III, Scene 4), is persistently alarmed by

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supernatural events. The appearance ofBanquo's ghost, inparticular, causes him to swing from one state of mind toanother until he is no longer sure of what is and "what isnot" (I:3,142).

But Macbeth's hubris or excessive pride is now his dominantcharacter trait. This feature of his personality is wellpresented in Act IV, Scene 1, when he revisits the Witchesof his own accord. His boldness and impression of personalinvincibility mark him out for a tragic fall.

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