Student Essay on Changes in Macbeth's Character

Changes in Macbeth's Character by William Shakespeare

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Essay

Macbeth's timorous character earlier in the book changes to a vigilant one through his will to slaughter. The start of his transformation began when he considered his wife's thought of killing the King of Scotland in order to take the throne for himself. Earlier in the story, the three Weird Sisters foretold a story that Macbeth would soon become King Scotland and the heirs of Banquo, Macbeth's greatest friend, would rule as kings after him. Take note that the Sisters do not speak of whether he will or will not be a good and fair king. When this story was told to Lady Macbeth, she persuaded him to take the throne as soon as possible by assassinating Duncan, the current King of Scotland. "Methought I heard a voice cry `Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep'" (II, ii, 47-48). Here, it is revealed that Macbeth's inner conscious got the better of him and gave him many ideas that made him regret his wrongdoings. His paranoia gave him thoughts of guilt along with repentance and one of those happened to be the loss of peaceful sleep. Committing a crime takes a lot of guts and it "must be done quickly and without regret" ("Elizabeth" movie). Regret is what haunts a person even after a deed is committed and forgotten by many. "Then live, Macduff; what need I fear of thee? But yet I'll make assurance double sure and take a bond of fate" (IV, i, 93-95). Macbeth no longer fears the guilt of his sins so he no longer cares who he kills. Soon after this quote, Macbeth did not find Macduff in order to kill him instead he slaughtered his family with no mercy. Of course, why would you kill the family of a man that you were warned to beware of? Obviously, it would just make the current situation worst. At first, Macbeth was very obstinate on the suggestion of assassinations, but according to his actions, it only takes one drop of wine before the whole glass overflows. The meaning of this analogy is that once Macbeth kills one person, he will be willing to kill more.