Macbeth Essay

Macbeth

A Comparison of the characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

The play Macbeth, written by the playwright William Shakespeare, has two main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Macbeth is a general of Duncan's army, and Lady Macbeth is his wife. Each of these two characters have different personalities and traits, however they are married to each other and appear to be in love.

Macbeth first appeared in the play in (i.ii). He is a Scottish general fighting under Duncan's rule. He is portrayed as a valiant soldier and a powerful man with honor and allegiance to his country. Duncan, the king of Scotland, also gave him the title of the Thane of Cawdor, which is a high honor.

However, as the play proceeds, the reader becomes aware that Macbeth has some other personality traits as well. When Macbeth first meets with the three witches, and they tell him their prediction of him becoming a future king, the first characteristics that the reader learns now coincide with some new ones, self-doubt, and the realization that others can easily influence Macbeth.

Lady Macbeth first comes across to us as an evil person. When the reader first comes into contact with Lady Macbeth (i.v), she receives a letter telling her about the witches' prophecy of Macbeth becoming king; she immediately begins to plan Duncan's murder. She believes that by making Macbeth kill Duncan, she would be able to get closer to the throne of Scotland, which then would give her an immense power. Lady Macbeth appears to be driven by the longing for power throughout the first two scenes of the play, and also comes across with tons of power over her husband.

When Macbeth first speaks to Lady Macbeth about the prediction that the three witches had of him becoming king, she encourages him to kill Duncan. Macbeth, on the other hand, is nervous about the consequences and the repercussions of committing murder, and almost decides not to do it. Lady Macbeth then proceeds to almost make fun of Macbeth by questioning his purpose as a man. Macbeth is unable to cope with the torment from his wife and kills Duncan.

In conclusion, Macbeth can be generalized as a strong individual on the outside, but emotionally he is overrun by Lady Macbeth, and can easily be persuaded to anything that she wishes simply