character

• Macbeth is a tragic hero
• he has a fatal flaw ( hamartia ) : his ambition
• at the beginning Macbeth as shown s a fearless warrior ( compared to an " eagle " and " lion ")
• Noble - it is reported that he killed a traitor in a battle
• Ambitious - unlike Banquo, he is easily seduced by the witches' dangerous prophecies
• Conscientious -he questions the morality of committing regicide
• as the play progresses Macbeth becomes less sympathetic
• cruel- he murders his best friend , banquo, and the wife and children of Macduff
• paranoid - he begins to suspect even innocent people are threats to his power
• guilty - his hallucinations represent his increasing feelings of guilt for the regicide and murder of Banquo
• masculine - he becomes cruel , violent man lady macbeth accuses him of not being
• Nihilistic - ultimately, he questions the pointlessness of life. for Christian, jacobean audience this would be seen as disturbing