Robyn Baylor                                    Back to Showcase

Mr. Steen

Period 4

November 21, 2003

            In The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth is portrayed as a tragic hero. Throughout the play, the reader is provided with insight to his true emotions but if it were not for his role as protagonist he would be viewed much more as an antihero. Shakespeare employs many techniques to make the reader feel sympathy for Macbeth but his tragic status declines as the play unfolds into a series of violent murders and power crazed madness. Just as Macbeth is torn between his morality and his evil desires, the reader is left unsure of what to think about Macbeth’s character.

            Shakespeare first introduces Macbeth as a very honorable man. A sergeant reports to Duncan the acts of Macbeth in a great battle saying, “For brave Macbeth- well he deserves that name” (I. ii.16) and explains how he helped win the war. Duncan’s admiration helps build Macbeth’s character as a man of integrity. It does not take long for Macbeth’s personality to be put into question, but his first impression stays with the audience. “His crimes are thus built upon our knowledge that he is not a naturally evil man but a man who has every potentiality for goodness (Booth 5).

                Macbeth’s honorable character is questioned very soon after the play begins when he hears a prophecy from three witches who hail him as future king. Consumed by his own ambition, Macbeth decides, with some “help” from his wife, to take the crown with force, even though that entails killing the king. Although Duncan is guilt free, most readers do not view Macbeth as a villain after the first murder. Duncan’s murder is committed off stage, which is convenient for live performance but also allows Macbeth to avoid being seen committing a violent crime. The reader feels no emotional attachment for Duncan. He is represented as a fair king, but his character is never developed personally enough to involve the reader, making his death even easier on the audience.  Macbeth questions the plan quite often before going through with it and once tries to tell his wife that he will not do it. “We will proceed no further in this business,” (play) he affirms. Unfortunately it does not take much time for Macbeth to be cajoled back to the task. Still, the reader feels sympathetic due to his indecision. 

            The murder of Banquo marks the beginning of a decline in Macbeth’s tragic hero status. The reader is not utterly disgusted with Macbeth for he does not commit the murder; he hires men to do it for him. The audience relates to Macbeth as he poetically informs them of his internal demons, they do not see him violently attacking, so its easier to remain sorry for him. Still, the murder of Banquo is more offensive than that of Duncan because the reader knows that Banquo was once a dear friend to Macbeth. It becomes apparent after this murder that Macbeth’s power is his top priority and anything standing in the way will be destroyed.

            The third murder involving Lady Macduff and her children begins to make the reader really question whether or not they want to feel sorry for Macbeth anymore. The brutality of the murder is appalling, and dialogue between the lady and her son beforehand only makes the audience more offended. The only thing that saves Macbeth from complete villain status is that he did not kill the family with his own hands.  Still, the act of murdering an innocent woman and her children conjures much more emotion than that of the previous deaths. This is also the only murder that is not followed almost immediately by an emotional confession from Macbeth. His desire for supreme reign disintegrates his morality and also the audiences’ sympathy for him, yet somehow Shakespeare makes sure there is always a glimmer of pity surrounding him.

            Shakespeare’s plan for this play is very precise. As Macbeth becomes more disoriented and torn, so does the audience. By the end of the play all of the other characters have deserted the “tyrant.” They are not aware of his inner turmoil and based on his actions deem him an evil maniac. The audience is not capable of making a rash decision because they are subject to the same opposing forces that exist within Macbeth. At the end of the play, the other characters are focusing on the violence committed by Macbeth but the audience is enveloped by his personal struggle. Macbeth is “a tragedy of self loathing, or self horror that leads to a spiritual paralysis, the tragedy of a man who comes to condemn all that is in him for being there” (McElroy 10).

            Although the audience is fully aware of Macbeth’s indecision and regret, they cannot deny his evil deeds. Instead, they are left trying to justify his actions and place the blame elsewhere. The witches who shared the prophecy with him receive blame for sparking him ambition. If it were not for them he would not have been tempted as easily and maybe not at all. The largest blame of course falls on Lady Macbeth who attacks his manliness in order to make him go through with the first murder. “When you durst do it, then you were a man, And to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man” (I. vii. 50-52). Lady Macbeth’s chief task “is to incite and confuse Macbeth—and thus ultimately excuse him” (Booth 9).

            The internal war of Macbeth makes it’s last stand as the end of his life draws near. As the soldiers march towards him, he confesses that he would welcome death. “I have lived long enough. My way of life Is fall’n into the sear, the yellow leaf, And that which accompanies old age, As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends, I must not look to have” (V. iii. 22-26). Despite this knowledge, he does not contemplate suicide. The lust for power and ultimately, survival, seem to outweigh Macbeth’s self hate. Once he discovers the riddles of the witches and realizes that his fate stands before him he pronounces “Why should I play the Roman fool an die on mine own sword? Whiles I see lives, the gashes Do better upon them” (V. viii. 1-3). This arrogance makes it seem as if all of Macbeth’s remorse has disappeared. He stands waiting to kill as many as he can before he meets his own end. This revelation of Macbeth’s character occurs just in time for the audience to not be completely appalled when he is beheaded.

                Shakespeare’s development of Macbeth as a man constantly battling himself creates tension throughout the play for the audience. They share intimate moments with him as he agonizes over his crime and also watch in horror as his bloody orders are carried out. By the end of the play it is obvious that a “valiant Macbeth” no long exists, but there is a blurry line between villain and tragic hero that Macbeth cannot seem to elucidate for himself or for the audience. “Macbeth is not a tragic hero in spite of his criminality but because of his criminality” (McElroy 14).  His inability to stand up to his wife or combat his evil longings shows him as a weak and troubled man. The unforeseen consequences of his first murder spiral out of control and trap him in a series of abominable acts. The characters of the play always see him as a villain. The audience knows that he regrets the results of his quest but by the end of the play is left rather sure that his morality had declined too much to be restored. Audience members are personally brought into the play as their own conflicts mirror Macbeth’s, and they are not able to soothe their own mind until the end of the play when he dies and is finally put to rest.