Macbeth's Character Analysis

There are many factors that can drive a person to commit a heinous crime, jealousy and fear being the two biggest factors that apply. Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth depicts a murderous villain whose body count is on the rise due to Macbeth’s dissatisfaction with his place in life. Banquo’s murder reeks of jealousy and of Macbeth’s quest to secure the crown for himself. The witches instill doubts into Macbeth’s mind luring him into killing his best friend just because he felt threatened by his best friend’s kingly qualities. With the killing of Banquo, Macbeth loses all his conscience and becomes an assassin that turns killing into a game. Macbeth’s killing spree can only stop once he has been vanquished. Macbeth will never be able to
Macbeth’s new position as king, gives him the power to delegate his needs to other people which he uses to hire murderers to slaughter Banquo. This proves that Banquo’s life means nothing to him anymore now that Banquo’s knows about Macbeth’s involvement in Duncan’s death. Banquo’s statement of “thou hast it now-king, Cawdor, Glamis, as the Weïrd women promised, and I fear thou played’st most foully for ‘t” shows Banquo’s realization of Macbeth’s involvement in Duncan’s murder but by the time he does it is too late for salvation. This worries Macbeth because his lies are catching up to him and they threaten to take his crown. The thought of killing Banquo once a never come to plight now seems as the only solution to an ever growing problem. Banquo’s ending set forth Macbeth’s notion of the crown leading to happiness. This murderous action, even though not directly taken by Macbeth, even more so painted Macbeth in a murderous light that will follow him on his path to
Prior to the ghost’s entrance, Macbeth is engaging in a feast with his thanes which marks the height of his reign as king. Banquo’s ghost is only visible to Macbeth and provokes very strange behavior out of Macbeth from the perspective of the thanes. Banquo’s ghost comes when Macbeth is tense and leaves when he calms down again showing that the ghost is truly a figment of Macbeth’s imagination. After seeing the ghost, Macbeth said this of his current state, “I will tomorrow (and betimes I will) to the Weïrd Sisters”. Seeing Banquo’s ghost set Macbeth into a frenzy with him wanting to go back to the witches for more prophesies and initiating his demise. With Macbeth deciding to go back to the witches, this shows that Macbeth is not happy where he is currently and still doesn’t feel safe. The witches trick Macbeth into being overly self assured which in the end leads to Macbeth’s downfall with Macduff. Banquo’s ghost inserted the fear that his thanes were betraying him which leads them to turn on him later on. Banquo’s ghost appearing proves that over Macbeth’s murderous ways, he has lost his way to a successful reign and this will be his pivotal downfall. When questioning what caused Macbeth’s downfall, Banquo’s murder sticks out. By betraying his best friend, Banquo, Macbeth initiated his demise. Macbeth killed out of jealousy and couldn’t face Banquo as he ordered