Macbeth Character Analysis

• Macbeth

  The protagonist in this tragedy, a tragic hero
• Macbeth's hamartia

  • His ambition, a lust for power shared by his wife
  • He is aware of the evil his ambition gives rise to but he is unable to overcome the temptation
• Lady Macbeth is wrongly accused of inviting Macbeth to contemplate regicide
• Macbeth: '"If good, why do I yield to that suggestion Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair And make my seated heart knock at my ribs, Against the use of nature?"'
• Macbeth acknowledges that the thing he is contemplating - usurping King Duncan's crown - is "against the use of nature"
• Macbeth's contemplation of regicide

  1. Wracked by doubts

  2. Informs his wife he will proceed no further

  3. Criticised and challenged by Lady Macbeth

  4. Submits to his wife's persuasion and kills Duncan
• Macbeth kills Duncan

  Immediately plagued by his conscience
• Macbeth is influenced by both the witches and his wife, but is not controlled by them
• Macbeth's story is one of moral choice and the consequences of that choice
• Macbeth murders Banquo and Macduff's family

  His paranoia gives way to a more fundamental disorder
• Macbeth has lost any emotional connection to his fellow men, declares that he is "sick at heart" and has "lived long enough"
• When informed of his wife's death, Macbeth is completely unmoved and instead reflects on the meaninglessness of life itself
• Macbeth is a tragic hero precisely because he does not accept his evil callously; he suffers for it
• Macbeth: '"To know my deed, 'twere best not know myself."'
• Macbeth

  • Complex character, not a typical villain
  • Guilt for his many bloody crimes is a central theme
  • Affected by supernatural influences
• Macbeth is celebrated as a loyal and exceptionally brave and strong soldier at the beginning of the play
• Macbeth is rewarded with the title of Thane of Cawdor


  This proves true the prediction of three witches
• The words of three mysterious women, together with his wife's conniving pressure

  Appear to be enough to push Macbeth's ambition to be king toward bloodshed
• Macbeth is easily manipulated by Lady Macbeth, who questions his masculinity
• Macbeth

  • Overwhelmed with a combination of ambition, violence, self-doubt, and ever-increasing inner turmoil
  • Compelled to commit further atrocities to cover up his previous wrongdoings
• Viewing Macbeth as an inherently evil creature is difficult because he lacks psychological stability and strength of character
• Macbeth's guilt


  Causes him a great deal of mental anguish and leads to insomnia and hallucinations
• Macbeth has the ability to act swiftly in order to fulfill his desires, even when it means committing murder upon murder
• Macbeth is never happy with his actions, even when they have earned him his prize, because he is acutely aware of his own tyranny
• At his end, Macbeth embodies an eternal archetype of the weak tyrant: the ruler whose brutality is borne of inner weakness, greed for power, guilt, and susceptibility to others' schemes and pressures
• The play ends where it began: with a battle. Although Macbeth is killed as a tyrant, there is a small redemptive notion that his soldier status is reinstated in the very final scenes of the play