Macbeth Analytical Essay: The Transformation of Macbeth’s Character

The play Macbeth by William Shakespeare deals with the narration about the tragic life of Macbeth, a brave warrior, who gives up his nobleness and dignity to achieve the power with the help of the immoral means. Shakespeare represents the moral transformation of the central character of the play through the prism of Macbeth’s inner speculations and doubts, which he experiences due to the fear of the misfortune and death as the consequence of his unworthy deeds. Being a successful nationalist, Macbeth experiences a moral lapse in the person of the head of the state, who causes the death of many innocent people and social collisions. However, the most significant point in the whole play is the moral change in the personality of Macbeth, which is the subject of this paper.

At first, Macbeth seems to be strong, brave, loyal, and noble. Shakespeare describes his character at the beginning of the play:

For brave Macbeth--well he deserves that name –

Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel,

Which smoked with bloody execution,

Like valour's minion carved out his passage

Till he faced the slave.

That means that Macbeth initially appears as a positive character, who is ready to defend the King and sacrifice his life for the sake of the life of his nation. In addition to that, Macbeth is not ambitious enough to refuse from the hierarchy of moral values and step over the line of ethics. However, in the 3d Scene of the 1st Act, Macbeth reveals the weakness of his character showing the interest towards the regalia and possible might, which the witches divine him:

If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me,

Without my stir.

At first sight, Macbeth relies on the long arm of coincidence. However, he cannot give up thinking about the possible majesty, which he can attain in the nearest future. Therefore, Macbeth is anticipating his success even though he does not want to act immorally at the beginning of the story. Furthermore, Macbeth seems to become dependent on the thoughts of his wife loosing self-sufficiency as the narration develops. This is Macbeth’s wife, who persuades her husband to use any methods to realize the prediction of the witches. Thus, she controls his mind making him kill the King, who comes with the guest visit to Macbeth’s castle. Lady Macbeth says to her husband:

Your face, my thane, is as a book where men.

May read strange matters. To beguile the time,

Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye.

Therefore, Lady Macbeth gives her husband instructions concerning the necessary actions, which he has to take to stay undisclosed as a murderer of the King. She frees Macbeth from his doubts and weakness and supports him in his vicious plans to seize the power in the state. With her words she legitimates the murder as an appropriate tool of realizing one’s plans. Thus, Macbeth becomes dependent on his wife’s opinion and obtains her maintenance. He perceives “the social and personal dangers and consequences of his possible action” . That means that he tries to model the situation and evaluate it.

Even though Lady Macbeth tries to make her husband be dependent on her will, Macbeth has doubts and is not sure that killing the King is the key to success and power because such action is not virtuous and noble. He does not know what better is considering different options and being uncertain. Even though he strives for the power, he is not sure that he is ready to refuse from his moral principles for the sake of the personal profit. He talks to himself:

We still have judgment here; that we but teach

Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return

To plague the inventor.

Thus, Macbeth feels that there can be retribution from the highest powers in the real life for the immoral actions. On the one hand, he strives for power and is ready to obtain it with the help of any means. On the other hand, he is uncertain due to the necessity to give up the moral values to reach his goals. Therefore, in the play the evil may be the influence of the supernatural powers or evil intentions of the human’s soul. In addition to that, in course of time the doubts of Macbeth transfer into fear because of the understanding of the fright that he has caused. He becomes afraid of the consequences and his thoughts about the retaliation become obtrusive and intense. Macbeth antedates thoughts by remembering the murder. He cannot accept his decision at first:

I am afraid to think what I have done.

That means that it is painful for Macbeth to feel his personal transformation. Therefore, he experiences fear and regrets that he has committed crime. Being afraid, Macbeth feels the guiltiness. In addition to that, he regrets his action, the weakness of his mind that has forced him to give up the moral principles and obtain the power because of the murder of the person, who trusted him. Even though it was Macbeth’s decision to kill the King, without a support of Lady Macbeth, his wife, he may not have managed to realize this plan due to the lack of self-confidence and readiness to act immorally and dispassionate.

Eventually, Macbeth becomes brave enough to accept his immoral deed and ready to take the responsibility for it. In the end of the play, he understands the inescapability of death as the payoff for the murder, which he has committed. Claiming that he “will not yield” , Macbeth returns to his primary state of mind but on the new level. Understanding the falsity of his intentions, he shows his courage in the face of death. Therefore, Macbeth comes to the understanding of his mistakes and does not want to escape from the punishment as a genuine noble man.

To sum up, the whole play is the representation of the personal transformation of Macbeth, who being responsible for his crime continues life in controversial thoughts, doubts and fears, which eventually lead him to death. Macbeth transforms from a brave and noble warrior into a mean murderer, who feels his guiltiness and regrets about his vicious life, which could have been another if he had not given in to temptation to become majestic. Therefore, the character of Macbeth is illustrative due to the unity of inner controversies and strivings, which rule people’s soul and may instigate a person on unworthy actions. At the same time, Macbeth eventually returns to his courage being ready to accept the death. The immoral murder has made him wiser and more conscious giving an opportunity to understand the value of human’s life, the necessity to act virtuous and the inescapability of the payoff after the vice.

Reference List

Islam, M. S. ‘Nature of Evil in Macbeth’, The Arts Faculty Journal, vol 4, 2010-2011, pp. 185-194.

Keller, J. G. ‘The Moral Thinking of Macbeth’, Philosophy and Literature, vol. 29, 2005, pp. 41-56.