"Macbeth" by William Shakespeare: plot and characters

Questo appunto di Letteratura Inglese riguarda la tragedia “Macbeth” di William Shakespeare. A seguire si offrirà un’introduzione generale sull’opera, si riassumerà la trama e si descriveranno i personaggi principali.

Introduction

"Macbeth" is a famous tragedy by William Shakespeare, written around 1599/1605 and performed for the first time in 1606. Among Shakespeare's tragedies, it is the shortest one. This tragedy is about Macbeth’s bloody ascent to the throne of Scotland. The play is about evil, violence, horrors and thirst for power and glory. Like other works by Shakespeare, “Macbeth” is also focused on human nature and expresses a negative and pessimistic view of it. It shows how a good man, a loyal and brave soldier, can become a ruthless murderer because of his ambition and a negative influence. This pessimistic view is due to the political situation of England at that time. When Elisabeth I died, James I became King of England; in those years, there was a series of political and religious conflicts between the monarchy and parliament, and citizens were also involved in conflicts. As mentioned, this tragedy is set in Scotland. For the plot, Shakespeare was inspired by the real history of Macbeth, who was king of Scotland from 1040 to 1057 and became king for a series of lucky and mysterious events.

Plot

The play begins with the appearance of three witches, who are waiting for the arrival of Macbeth and Banquo. Macbeth and Banquo are two brave and loyal generals at the service of Ducan, King of Scotland, who are coming home after a victorious battle. The witches prophesy that Macbeth will become first Thane of Cawdor, and then King of Scotland. They also say that Banquo will never be king himself, but he will be the father of a dynasty of kings. Soon after, the witches disappear and Macbeth is informed that the king has made him "Thane of Cawdor". Macbeth starts thinking about the prophecy and wondering what he has to do. He starts to harbor ambitions of becoming king, but he has doubts. After seeing King Duncan, who considers Macbeth to be his best soldier, they plan to dine together at Inverness, Macbeth’s castle, where the King will stay for the night. Macbeth writes a letter to his wife, Lady Macbeth, telling her about the witches’ prophecy. Lady Macbeth tries to persuade her husband to kill the king. Macbeth is doubtful, he is not sure about performing this terrible act, as he knows that Duncan trusts him. Convinced by his wife, Macbeth kills Duncan while he is asleep. Soon after the murder, Macbeth is tormented by his sense of guilt: he starts having visions and sayings senseless words. Instead, Lady Macbeth seems calm, she has no regrets yet. This is one of the most important parts of the tragedy, because the situation and the state of mind of the characters starts changing. The following day, Macduff, Thane of Fife, finds Duncan’s body. Macbeth becomes king, because Duncan’s sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, flee to England and Ireland, as they are afraid to be murdered too. Macbeth is restless and worried about the second part of the prophecy. For this reason, he plans to kill his friend Banquo and Fleance, Banquo’s son. However, the latter manages to escape. One evening, Macbeth is haunted by Banquo's ghost. Subsequently, he decides to visit the three witches again. The witches tell him to beware of Macduff, but at the same time they reassure him, as they tell him that no one born of a woman will be able to kill him and that he will be safe until Birnam Wood moves towards his castle. Later on, Macbeth decides to kill Macduff and his family. He hires some assassins, who cannot find Macduff but kill his wife and his son. Macduff wants to take revenge and he joins an army raised by Malcolm to fight against Macbeth. While they are in Birman Wood, the soldiers are ordered to cut down and carry tree branches to disguise their numbers. Eventually, Macbeth fights against Macduff, who tells him that he was not of woman born but “from his mother’s womb / Untimely ripped”. Macduff kills Macbeth and Malcolm becomes the new king of Scotland.

Main characters

Here is an analysis of "Macbeth"'s main characters:

• Macbeth: until Duncan’s murder, Macbeth is not a negative character. Shakespeare describes him as a brave and loyal soldier. The prophecy makes him ambitious, but he has doubts about killing the king; he probably wouldn’t have committed this crime if his wife hadn’t talked him into doing so. From that moment, the character of Macbeth develops in a negative way: he commits more crimes and starts behaving like a tyrant. Macbeth becomes more and more insensitive: when he learns that his wife has killed herself, he has no reaction.
• The three witches: the three witches represent evil. They are ambiguous and they create pain and suffering with their prophecy. They prophesy that Macbeth will become king, but they don’t tell him how. They are essential to the play: without their prophecy, nothing would have happened.
• Lady Macbeth: the figure of Lady Macbeth is also essential to the tragedy. She is portrayed as the stronger part of the couple. Before welcoming the king, she asks the forces of evil to unsex her, to take away all her femininity and all her humanity, so that she will be strong enough to do what needs to be done. She knows the uncertain and flexible nature of Macbeth, and in the tragedy, her role is to persuade him to kill the king. To convince Macbeth, she has to hurt his pride, telling him that he is not a real man. Lady Macbeth is more ambitious than her husband. Before dying, Duncan kisses her hand, and that same hand will act against him. Lady Macbeth’s development is very interesting, because her strength gradually fades and eventually she reveals her weakness. At the end of the story, she is oppressed by her sense of guilt and she goes insane; she starts having visions and behaving madly, until she commits suicide. Her development demonstrates that evil can only generate evil, and this could be one of the messages of the tragedy.
• Duncan: Duncan, king of Scotland, is one of the most positive characters of the tragedy. He is just to his citizens and his soldiers. He represents goodness, which opposes to evil. "Macbeth" is a tragedy about evil and violence where there’s no space for positive forces and feelings.
• Banquo: Banquo in another important character. He is Thane of Lochaber and general of the king's army. He is as loyal and brave as Macbeth is, but he is really different from him. Banquo is ambitious, too, but his intelligence and reason prevail over ambition. Macbeth has him killed and after his death, during a supper, he visits Macbeth as a ghost to haunt him.

Per ulteriori approfondimenti su "Macbeth" vedi anche qua