At the start of the play, Macbeth, a respectable Lord is a very honourable man. He starts the play as the Thane of Glamis, and is soon made the Thane of Cawdor also. He is described as 'brave friend' and 'worthy gentleman'. He is said to be a 'lion' and an 'eagle' by the captain (I, ii, l.35). Despite all the compliments that he gets from the lords and even the king, there is symbolism that he has the potential to be a very bloody person. When he kills the treacherous Thane of Cawdor, not by simply stabbing him with his sword, but he 'unseamed him from the knave to the chops' (I, ii, l.22). He is already associated with blood and death as his sword 'which smoked with bloody execution' (I, ii, l.18). This is a very powerful statement as he is to kill many more people throughout the course of the book, men, women and children too. This sort of execution could quite easily be described as 'bloody execution' as it is done out of cold blood. There is also a link with Hell, even at this early stage of the play. The Captain makes a connection between

The most evil action of Macbeth's is the murder of all of Macduff's family. This action show that Macbeth is so diminished that even children are no longer safe from the brutality of Macbeth. The sort of actions that he is taking is so horrific that in his soliloquy earlier in the book, Macbeth says that if he was to kill the king then there would be so much horror in the world that a babe will appear in the sky to make everyone feel the pity that Macbeth will not. If this is the consequence of killing the king, then the consequences of killing an innocent child would put the heavens into uproar.

When he returns home to Lady Macbeth at the castle, she presses him into trying to kill the King when he visits their home. Lady Macbeth obviously has some connections with evil, because she beckons the evil spirits, for instance the 'murdering ministers' and tries to get them to make her more powerful and stronger to kill the King, Duncan.

Macbeth proceeds to kill the king, an action which leads to further murders as he is hardened to any sort of emotions. When the body of Duncan is discovered by Macduff, Macbeth says that 'Renown and grace is dead' (II, iii, l.87). Although this is true, Macbeth does not mean what he is saying. He is merely trying to stop people from thinking that he could be the murderer. He knows that what he has done is wrong, as he says 'the wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees is left this vault to brag of' (II, iii, l.88-89) He is saying that symbolically, the best wine from the barrel has gone, meaning Duncan, and all that is left are the dregs, meaning Macbeth himself. The degree of hardness and evil that Macbeth reaches is shown by a comment that he makes. He says 'the very firstlings of my heart shall be the firstlings of my heart' (IV, I, l.147-148). He is saying that in future, if his heart thinks that there is any doubt about any person, he will just murder them. This is demonstrated earlier in the book than when he says this. Macbeth stoops so low in his actions that he murders his best friend Banquo, and attempts to kill his son, Fleance too.

He has lost his soul and his normal living body as he has become so evil that he is unable to do a normal, natural activity like sleeping. This is the extent to which he has diminished as a person, and the level of horror that he has caused through his actions. Lady Macbeth has this problem also, and she eventually loses her mental health and kills herself.

Macbeth is scared of Banquo, not because he is a good warrior, but he is an honest and truthful individual. Banquo was the only person with Macbeth when the witches prophesised the future of Macbeth, and he therefore worries that Banquo will tell someone what the witches said and he will get caught. He says 'Our fears in Banquo stick deep, and in his royalty of nature reigns that which would be feared' (III, I, ll.48-50). Macbeth feels diminished in the opinion of the world and is concerned that people will follow Banquo and not him when they find out what he has done. This statement is very ironic, as Macbeth is royalty, but he has no royalty of nature, unlike Banquo. He feels threatened by Banquo because of his good nature, and therefore degenerates himself by murdering him in cold blood. Althou

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Approximate Word count = 2210
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)