It typically presents the fall of a man who may be basically or originally good but is always corruptible through the temptations of the world and his own pride or ambitions. In the beginning of the play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Macbeth is merely a nobleman and a general in King Duncan’s army. Macbeth later becomes the deserving Thane of Glamis and Cawdor and the undeserving King of Scotland. In the beginning Macbeth is a man with good intentions and a good heart; sometimes he just has a hard time following his good instincts and heart.
Macbeth’s ambition and the persuasion of his wife lead him to commit several orrible deeds. Macbeth is brave, good-hearted, disobeying, easily persuaded, overly ambitious, and literal-minded and unimaginative Macbeth is a character who shows extreme bravery, his bravery through his efforts and victories on the battlefield. Macbeth shows signs of having a good heart and good intentions, but he also shows that he has a weak mind that ignores and disobeys what his good heart tells him is right. Macbeth’s good heart when Lady Macbeth tries to persuade him to kill Duncan.
At first Macbeth refuses to do such a horrible deed. He knows in his heart that killing Duncan is wrong and deceitful. Just after Macbeth has received the news from the witches that he will be King, he thinks to himself,” This supernatural soliciting /Cannot be ill, cannot be good. . . . If good, why do I yield to that suggestion, /Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair/And make me seated heart knock at my ribs/Against the use of nature? “. Macbeth’s heart is telling him that this suggestion of killing Duncan cannot be good.
Macbeth tries to listen to his good heart when he tells Lady Macbeth that he will not kill Duncan,”We will proceed no further in this business. /He hath honoured me of late, and I have bought/Golden Opinions from all sorts of people, Which would be worn now in their newest gloss, /Not cast aside so soon”. Although Macbeth has a good heart with good intentions, he does not obey and listen to his heart. He allows Lady Macbeth to persuade him into doing what he knows is wrong. Macbeth knows he has chosen the wrong path when he says,” I’ll go no more. I am afraid to think what I have done; /Look on’t again, I dare not”.
Therefore Macbeth is disobeying of what he knows is right. In fact, Macbeth speaks of the distrust he has for his heart when he says, ” False face must hide what the false heart doth know. In the end Macbeth’s excessive ambition gets him killed. Macbeth becomes so obsessed with the idea of becoming King that he isolates himself from his good heart. After Macbeth kills Duncan, he becomes so set on becoming king that he tries to have Banquo’s son, Fleance, killed, so that there is no one in his way of becoming king.
Macbeth’s ambition forces him to murder two other innocent people. After the three witches tell Macbeth to beware of Macduff, Macbeth sends his people to murder Macduff. Macbeth’s people end up killing Macduff’s wife and son. Macbeth’s excessive ambition leads him to the point of no return. Macbeth’s final trait is his literal and u imaginative mind. For instance, when the witches tell Macbeth that he is to be Thane of Cawdor and King, he is confused about how he can be Thane of Cawdor if the Thane is alive.
Macbeth’s confusion is ended only after Ross tells Macbeth that Duncan has given the death sentence to the present Thane of Cawdor, and has declared Macbeth the future Thane of Cawdor. Once his head is clear again, Macbeth begins to wonder how he can be King when Duncan is alive. Instead of wondering how fate will allow him to be King, he decides that the only way to become King is to kill Duncan. Macbeth does not trust fate; he only trusts imself to make the prophecy come true. Therefore Macbeth does not have faith, which demands imagination.
Overall, Macbeth is a good man who is too easily persuaded by his wife to commit several awful deeds. Macbeth’s ambition and disobedience gets him killed. It is true that Macbeth is given a prophesy to be King, and it is true that pressure is applied by his wife, but his ambition is what kills him in the end. Macbeth is a brave, good hearted man, who possesses a weak mind which allows his ambition and the persuasion of his wife to lead him down the wrong paths, ultimately leading to his destruction.
