Writing Assignment
Macbeth by William Shakespeare is a play of tragedy. It dramatizes the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for their own sake. The damage can be found in the breakdown of the relationship between two main characters, Macbeth and his wife. They begin the play with a desirable relationship but as the plot progresses, his ambition pushes him to commit regicide and many other murders so their relationship dissolves and disintegrates.
Even though Macbeth kills the king and many others, and is occupied by his ambitions, before his ultimate downfall, he was once a valiant. He is considered by the Scotland king, Duncan as a “O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman!” (I.ii.24) At the beginning scenes in act 1, from the wounded captain’s account of his battlefield valour, our initial impression is of a brave and capable warrior. As the bloody sergeant says: “For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name—Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel, Which smoked with bloody execution, Like valor's minion carved out his passage Till he faced the slave.” He was being praised for his efforts in defeating the Thane of Cawdor.
Macbeth was also portrayed as a loyal and trustworthy warrior at the beginning. This is shown the way that people speak of him and to him, as though he can be trusted. Here is a quote about Duncan tells Malcolm, that he totally trusts Macbeth.
“There's no art/To find the mind's construction in the face/He was a gentleman on whom I built/An absolute trust.” (I.iv.11-13)
It is also clear in Act I that Duncan trusts Macbeth. He even seems to feel bad about not promoting him sooner.
“Would thou hadst less deserved/That the proportion both of thanks and payment/Might have been mine!/ Only I have left to say/More is thy due than more than all can pay.” (I.iii.18-21)
All of these shows Duncan completely trusts Macbeth. He was not at all suspicious about visiting Macbeth’s castle, which work as a dramatic irony
The ambition grows like a virus in Macbeth’s character, once we see his interaction with the three witches. We realize that his physical courage is joined by a consuming ambition and a tendency to self-doubt, the prediction that he will be King brings him joy, but it also creates inner turmoil. He lies to Duncan when he names Malcolm, ...
