Macbeth - Hero or Villain

A detailed Summary of Macbeth - Hero or Villain


Macbeth is an interesting character. Do we consider Macbeth a hero or a villain? There has been much disagreement over this. As the story progresses Macbeth's fortune takes different turns, some for good, some for bad. Macbeth changes from "brave Macbeth" to "bloodier villain" all in a short period of time. Anything and everything effected Macbeth's fortune, from when he kills Duncan, to when his wife is tragically killed.

But all this weren't just his mind telling him and influencing him on what to do and where to go next. Different people telling him different things had the biggest influence.

We first meet Macbeth as a brave, loyal general who is given the high title of Thane of Cawdor by King Duncan. He seems like a noble, good person. The question is: Does Macbeth get worse throughout the play? Macbeth becomes ambitious, wanting to become king. Though he has misgivings about killing the King, his wife tells him to. She plans the killing. Macbeth's good conscience tells him not to kill the King. He goes through with it, however, feeling guilty after the crime. So right now, Macbeth isn't as good as he was at the start, b


Macbeth is a hero to Scotland, and a strong person. He is a Lord under the rule of King Duncan, and he has no reason to feel unhappy with where he is in life. It's after the meeting with the witches, that he begins to desire the throne. But he still needs Lady Macbeth to convince him to commit the murder, when he questions the consequences to Lady Macbeth, Lady Macbeth comes back with a quick answer saying that he needs to stop being afraid and pulls himself together and they will not fail.

Macbeth kills Young Siward and gets killed by Macduff in the end. Macbeth was a man with good qualities, but he had one bad flaw. It's up to you to judge whether he is a hero or a villain. Obviously, I find Macbeth to be a villain.

After killing King Duncan, Macbeth is starting to realize what it is that he has done, and becomes suspicious and paranoid of everyone around him by putting spy's in every castle and killing those who are any treat to him what so ever. Banquo is the only other person who knows of the meeting with the witches and he would assume that it was Macbeth who killed the King. The witches also said that Banquo would beget kings but he himself would n

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Approximate Word count = 787
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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