Macbeth's Personality Change

Macbeth himself and for Scotland.”

The murder of any King would have huge consequences for any country but in the case of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth the consequences are disastrous for both Scotland and the murderer himself, Macbeth. Macbeth is first introduced to us as “brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name.” He is portrayed as a loyal, noble and much respected warrior. He is a loyal subject to the King and a much valued warrior to Scotland. At the beginning of the play Scotland is introduced to us as a strong nation, with a highly respected King. As the play progresses we see how one man’s motives can have a ripple effect of consequences for one man and one country. Macbeth’s relationship with his wife quickly deteriorates, the people of Scotland become very frightened and Macbeth goes through a complete change of personality.

In this play Macbeth goes through a complete change of character. At the beginning of the play Macbeth is seen as a loyal subject to the King and the commander of Duncan’s forces. He is noble and brave and fearlessly fights his way to victory. “..brave Macbeth”, “...Bellona’s bridegroom”, “...noble Macbeth.” However this quickly changes after Macbeth hears the witches prophecy. The witches tell Macbeth that he will be King. “Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!” “Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!” “All hail Macbeth! that shall be King hereafter.” Before Macbeth hears the witches' prophecy, he is very close to Duncan, and would never even think of doing something against him. When the thought of murdering Duncan crosses his mind immediately after he finds that he has just been named Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth's personality begins to change. At first he doesn't want to murder Duncan, but with the helpful persuasion of his overly ambitious wife, Macbeth agrees to kill the King. However, as the time to murder Duncan rapidly approaches Macbeth questions his motives. Macbeth goes through all the possible reasons as to why he should not kill Duncan but once again his wife uses her persuasive techniques to manipulate her husband. Macbeth is then firmly seated in his beliefs that killing the King of Scotland, his great leader is the right thing to do. He is put in an evil frame of mind for just long enough to perform the murder. The murder permanently alters him from his moral state of mind and soon enough, he does not feel any remorse.