How has Macbeth changed throughout the play?

William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth is a tragedy about war, witchcraft, and bloodshed. The thane of Glamis was promised a brilliant future as king of Scotland by three weird witches, but once the planned murder of Duncan was accomplished, Macbeth realized the true potential of his ambition. Driven to stay king, Macbeth killed anyone that got his way, and put all his trust in the prophesies of the witches. In the end, Macbeth’s overconfidence lead to his own death making him a tragic hero. Macbeth is Shakespeare’s profound and mature vision of evil as the main character changes his characteristics throughout the play. Macbeth was a loyal, loving, respected, yet doubtful and gullible nobel thane, who was influenced by his wife, prophecies, and ambition, which eventually lead him to the dark path of a shallow, greedy, but certain and manipulative tyrant.

Macbeth changes from doubtful and gullible, to certain and controlling through the simplicity of murder, terror, and manipulation. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is doubtful about murdering Duncan. He tells Lady Macbeth “we will proceed no further in this business” (1.7), yet she manipulates him by saying “When you durst do it, then you were a man”. (1.7) Lady Macbeth is the initial driving ambition between them, because she insists on accelerating the King’s death so that Macbeth might rule longer. Macbeth might have been content to wait for the King to die of natural causes, but he was too weak to resist his desire to be powerful, and he didn’t know what it meant to murder a man in cold blood. His first murder haunted him for the remainder of his life, but this experience taught him how to seek for his desire, even if it meant to commit a crime, and it stimulated his early hunger for safety, witch could only be accomplished through forced control. Macbeth gains his devious manipulative skills through his first experience of murder with his wife. Just as Lady Macbeth ridiculed Macbeth’s manliness, Macbeth guides the murderers to kill his friend by telling them “that it was he, in the times past, which held you so under fortune, which you though had been our innocent self,” (3.1) finally making them believe that “Banquo was your enemy” (3.1). The reason Macbeth becomes manipulative is because he realized that all of the witches’ prophecies have come true except for Banquo’s children becoming kings. The prophecy makes Macbeth suspicious and it terrifies him that Banquo may try to kill him and become king, leading his children to become kings fulfilling the revelation. This leads Macbeth to shows his ambition,and confidence of reigning as king by killing all possible threats to his throne, displaying such a state of paranoia. Macbeth only trusts the prophecy of the second apparition, who guaranteed him that “none born of woman shall harm Macbeth” (4.1) yet it doesn’t stop Macbeth from securing his position as king. Murder, terror, Lady Macbeth, and the Witches’ prophecy are the main reasons for the transition of Macbeth’s doubtful and gullible characteristics into certain and manipulative. Manipulation is a very effective device, which can allow you to puppet someone, and force them to give you what you desire.

Manipulation between spouses plays hand in hand with the relationship Macbeth had with his wife. Macbeth changes from a recessive and loving, to a dominant and shallow husband, which negatively affects the link between him, and his wife. Lady Macbeth was a dominant figure in their relationship because she would bully, tease, and mock Macbeth into doing things she wanted. For example, Lady Macbeth forced the murder upon her husband by questioning his manhood and courage, and by using emotional blackmail to her advantage, by telling Macbeth that “such I account thy love” (1.7) . Lady Macbeth is very devious and exceedingly manipulative in this scene, and it shows how much power and control she has over him. Even though the direct outcome of the first murder shows Lady Macbeth’s dominancy in their relationship, her role in the plot soon diminishes, by disappearing in the margins of the story and becomes the weak, and an enfeebled figure she would probably despise. This is the start of Macbeth’s change between a recessive to dominant husband. When Lady Macbeth dies towards the king’s final hours, Macbeth reacts very quietly, weary and thoughtful. He says that “she should have died hereafter” (5.5) which shows us that he doesn’t care for his wife anymore now that she has become a recessive part of his life. His power and motivation also seem to vanish, as if Macbeth no longer sees any point in trying to hold onto his kingship. He realizes that this is the end, and his own death is near. Macbeth’s refers to life as “a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more” (5.5) which portrays his depressing attitude towards life and the ultimate fate of it soon to come. For both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, their greed, selfishness, and desire for the throne blind them, and deteriorate their relationship to the point that Macbeth barely seems to be concerned, which explains Macbeth’s shifts from loving and caring, to a careless, and self-centered husband.

The last and most obvious change in Macbeth’s character throughout the play, is his shift from a loyal and respected general, to a worrisome and loathed oppressor through ambition, and the abuse of his power. At the start of the play, the king was in awe with Macbeth. He said that “we love him highly, and shall continue our graces towards him.” (1.6) Macbeth’s loyalty to the kingdom grants him the position of both Thane of Glamis, and Cawdor. Despite being such an honorable man, he quickly falls under Lady Macbeth’s influence, and becomes corrupt in his “Vaulting ambition” (1.7) to become king. From there on, Macbeth became to see himself invincible, and furthermore became an irrational, “abhorred tyrant” (5.7) killing children, females, and anyone who he thought would stand in his way. This theme drives the play because it is a common ingredient embedded in the human soul, usually meant to motivate people for success. Ambition is Macbeth’s fatal flaw because he drowns himself into the sea of greed and lust for power, leaving the boundaries of rational thinking. This ultimately leads him down a dark and bloody path, physically changing him to “this tyrant, whose sole name blisters our tongue”(4.3). Shakespeare uses this fall from good graces to demonstrate to readers the cost of being overambitious. If only Macbeth had not given in to the murderous temptations that came from his ambition for power, and safety, and stayed loyal to the king, he might have been peaceful and successful ruler as king of Scotland. Macbeth’s role as a tyrant has also been seen through history with rulers like Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot and Joseph Stalin. Tyrants all rule oppressively and unjustly, and both real and fictional people have played the price for their cruelty The root source of Macbeth’s change in the play is the prophecy of the witches who seduce him with the idea of power, ultimately affecting his: relationship with his wife, doubts and fears, and status from a loyal general to a loathed tyrant. All of these changes correlate with the main themes of the play: ambition, greed, power, and love, which are very relevant in today’s world. Macbeth denounces greed and murder, and powerfully illustrates its effect on the person and people around. Shakespeare’s play also teaches us a valuable life lesson: to avoid power, lust and over ambition, otherwise you will certainly become a changed, unloving, and corrupted being.