*Characters Shakespeare's portrayal of character in Macbeth is unusual because Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are the only two vigorous and developing characters in the play. We see deeply into their minds and are absorbed by the changes that take place within them. With the partial exception of Banquo, the other characters in the play make speeches and are a very necessary part of the action, but they have little individualisation. They aren't as memorable as many minor characters are in other Shakespeare plays. King Duncan, for example, is important not for his personality, but because he has all the virtues of kingship: he has an ordered kingdom, he inspires loyalty and he is generous and gracious.*Macbeth as a tragic hero All the typical stages of the tragic hero are portrayed in the character of Macbeth and its development in the play. Macbeth is a man of great stature: the battle hero of Scotland. He has a flaw: his ambition to be king. His ambition leads him to murder King Duncan and to usurp the throne. However, Macbeth is unable to enjoy the benefits of his new status. The murder brings only fear and suspicion of everybody around him: he becomes isolated from people as he develops a habit of killing in an effort to maintain his position and he relies on his belief that the witches' prophecy to Banquo cannot come true. In the end, as Malcolm's forces, backed by English troops, close in on him, he comes to a full understanding of what has happened to him and he realises hehas been tricked by the witches. @ Macbeth's courage as a warrior Macbeth is Thane of Glamis, one of King Duncan's noblemen whose chief duty is to fight with his own followers to defend the kingdom chief duty it is needed. Our first impression of him is of a great warrior whe has fought loyally and bravely for his king, and has defeated a serious attempt to overthrow him. The fact that this impression comes from a report to King Duncan by a wounded captain makes it all the stronger. However, we know that the witches are intending to meet Macbeth after the battle and so we are a little uneasy with this glowing * Ambition versus moral conscienceAt the end of Act 1, Scene 4, we are given the first clear indication of why the witches have chosen Macbeth. He reveals that he has evil and ambitious thoughts and desires when the king proclaims his son, Malcolm, as the Prince of Cumberland, heir to the throne. Suddenly, we see that Macbeth, the brave and loyal soldier, has a side that he keeps hidden - he has a lust for power and he hints that he will stop at nothing to gain what he wants. His wife, Lady Macbeth, knows all about his ambition to be king, but she fears that he is too full of the "milk of human kindness" to achieve it. By this she means he has a moral conscience. In the first two Acts we see a constant warring in Macbeth of these two very opposite characteristics. His lust for power and his admiratio and love forhis wife combine to make him give in to her and agree to murder King Duncan. But, then, his moral conscience asserts itself. A few hours before he is due to commit the murder, he is aghast that he is about to kill his cousin, his king to whom he owes loyalty and who is, moreover, his guest. We wonder, though, how deep his morality really is. Not only does his wife sweep away his moral scruples, but he is deeply admiring of her fervent insistence on the murder and of her careful planning of its devilish details. He sees this as her fearless courage and "undaunted mettle". From the moment that he has murdered Duncan, Macbeth is tortured by his guilty conscience. His shocked horror is emphasised by his blood-stained hands, which, he believes, can never be washedclean of their guilt, even by all the seas in the world. So great is his horror and guilt at what he has done, that it takes all Lady Macbeth's resourcefulness to prevent him from exposing their crime. To appear innocent he does so overdoes his display of grief over Duncan's death in front of Lennox and Ross that Lady Macbeth has to pretend to faint to draw attention away from him. *Self-knowledge One of the reasons why the audience finds Macbeth interesting is that he is self- reflective. From the beginning, he questions and thinks about what is happening to him. As we have seen above, he murders Duncan knowing exactly what moral laws he is breaking. Even after themurder of Duncan, when he has become a "bloody butcher", he knows very well what he has become. The most shocking of the insights he has into himself comes in the description of himself mid-stream in a river of blood (Act 3, Scene 4, lines 136-138). He realises that he has immersed himself in bloodshed so deeply that he cannot get out of it. As happens to hardened criminals, he has lost the moral energy to repent. Later in the play, he shows that he is aware that, in choosing the course of evil, he has forfeited and destroyed the values of "old age". Not for him are "honour, love, obedience, troops of friends" (Act 5, Scene 3, line 25). @Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth is the aristocratic wife of Macbeth. After he has murdered KingDuncan and seized the crown from the rightful heir (Malcolm), she becomes Queen of Scotland. As pointed out in the discussion of the theme of evil, she is a dominant woman with such fierce determination and energy that she manages to overcome Macbeth's very strong sense of duty and loyalty and persuades him to murder his king and kinsman. At first, she is dramatically interesting because she has so much energy and is so resourceful. It is she who takes the daggers back to Duncan's chamber and smears Duncan's guards with his blood, so suspicion will fall on them. It is she who orders Macbeth to wash Duncan's blood from his hands; she makes him change into his nightgown and pulls him together enough to pretend innocence and shock when the murder is discovered. It is she who stages a faintwhen she realises that Macbeth is about to give the game away by overdoing his shock and horror. It is Lady Macbeth, too, who covers up for Macbeth when he sees Banquo's ghost at the banquet. Disintegration Our interest in Lady Macbeth is held in the second part of the play by the disintegration of her mind and spirit, and the failure of her relationship with her husband. Lady Macbeth's words, as she waits to speak to Macbeth about the way he is isolating himself from her and the court, show us that she is aware of the increasing barrenness that the murder of the king has brought to their lives: "Nought's had, all's spent / Where ourdesire is got without content” (Act 3, Scene 2, lines 4-5). However, she is not able to fully understand what is troubling Macbeth. When Macbeth reveals the terrors and suspicions that plague him, she responds with the same brisk common sense that pulls him together after the murder of Duncan This time, it does not work. Macbeth does not listen to her urging him to clear his mind. After the feast at which Banquo's ghost appears, she shows she is unable to respond adequately to what Macbeth is telling her. She misses the significance of his reference to Macduff and of his decision to visit the witches again. She does not grasp the impact of what he says about wading through blood. All she can say in response is that he must sleep (Act 3, Scene 5, line 141). Each becomes isolated in their own world of guilt and horror.Her inability to understand Macbeth contrasts with her acute knowledge of his character earlier in the play (Act 1, Scene 5, lines 17-19). It is an indication of the beginning of the breakdown of their relationship and of herself. The climax of this process of disintegration is shown unforgettably in Act 5, Scene 1. The image of Lady Macbeth sleepwalking and constantly reliving the night of the murder is in sharp contrast to the image of the powerful and resourceful woman of the first part of the play. She, who seems free of a moral conscience earlier in the play, suddenly becomes wracked with guilt at what they have done. She, who earlier scornfully tells Macbeth, "A little water clears us of this deed", is now constantly washing invisible blood from her hands. She, who earlier so carefully conceals allevidence of the murder, now babbles about what they have done to all. So broken and pathetic has Lady Macbeth become that the inevitable end is suicide. @®Banquo Banquo is a nobleman who, like Macbeth, fights as a general to defend the king. The captain, who describes Macbeth's prowess in baitle, is equally complimentary about Banquo fighting alongside Macbeth. Far from being dismayed by the arrival of the Norwegian prince to aid the rebels, Banquo and Macbeth fight with renewed vigour "as cannons overcharged with double cracks". From the moment Banquo appears, riding home from the battle with Macbeth, we are aware of how perceptive he is. He isthe one who first notices the witches on the heath and sees that they are strange and unnatural. He also notices that Macbeth is carried away ("rapt withal") by the witches' prophecies. Later, when Macbeth hears he is Thane of Cawdor, Banquo notices again that Macbeth's reaction is too "rapt" He knows that Macbeth is thinking of the crown prophesied by the witches, but, as a true friend to Macbeth, he tells Ross and Angus that Macbeth is showing modesty at being given such an honour by the king. Most memorably, Banquo's perception shows itself when Macbeth becomes King of Scotland. He suspects strongly that Macbeth has murdered Duncan to gain the throne, as his soliloquy makes clear: "and | fear / Thou playd'st most foully for't" (Act3, Scene 1, lines 2-3). One wonders what he has noticed to make him suspect Macbeth so strongly of murder. Is it only Macbeth's reaction to the witches' prophecy? Is it also Macbeth's hasty killing of Duncan's guards so that they cannot be questioned, and the fact that Macbeth is alert and awake after twelve when the king has gone to bed? Unlike Macbeth, Banquo is honourable. He is excited by the witches' prophecy that his descendants will be kings, but he has no intention of doing anything to bring this about. His honesty and straightforwardness are shown very clearly when Macbeth tries to find out whether he will be able to count on Banquo's support in future. He hints that, if Banquo does as he asks, he will be rewarded (Act 2, Scene 1, lines 25-26). Banquo leaves Macbeth in no doubt thathe will not be involved in anything dishonourable and, in so doing, probably signs his own death warrant. After that, despite a false outward show of courtesy, Macbeth hates and fears Banquo and he goes to the top of Macbeth's "hit list": "Our fears in Banquo / Stick deep" (Act 3, Scene 1, lines 50-51). Significantly, it is Banquo's "royalty of nature" that Macbeth fears. He knows there is no possibility of corrupting Banquo. And Banquo, once his comrade and friend, knows too much about him. @King Duncan King Duncan is King of Scotland. He has all the virtues hoped for in a seventeenth- century king. To Macbeth he is "the gracious Duncan" who has ruled with tolerance and humility. He has been openand honest ("so clear in his great office’, Act 1, Scene 7, line 18). He is generous and grateful. He speedily rewards Macbeth for his defeat of the rebel forces by making him Thane of Cawdor. After the feast at Macbeth's castle, he tips all the servants generously and gives Lady Macbeth a diamond. He is very good- natured, as we can see from his delight in Macbeth's castle and Lady Macbeth's greeting. By implication, he must rule his kingdom well - for all lament his death. His only fault is that he trusts too much and is not perceptive. He ha not learned the art of knowing when he is being deceived ("To find the mind's construction in the face, Act 1, Scene 4, line 11). He was taken in by the traitor the first Thane of Cawdor, and then is taken in wholly by the fair faces of his murderers - Macbethand Lady Macbeth. *Malcolm Malcolm is the son of King Duncan, and, by making him Prince of Cumberland, Duncan proclaims Malcolm his heir. Unlike his father, Malcolm is careful about whom he trusts and is perceptive. He quickly sees that Macbeth's grief at Duncan's death is false and so he flees to England. He tests Macduff's loyalty to Scotland by pretending that, were he to become king, he would be a more tyrannical ruler than Macbeth (Act 4, Scene 3). Malcolm is, above all, practical and single- minded. He has no time for emotion. He does not allow Macduff any time to grieve for his slaughtered family when he gets the news. Instead, he uses the moment tourge Macduff to fight in the army he is gathering to face Macbeth. He disregards the pathos of Lady Macbeth's end and sums her up crisply as a "fiendlike queen." He is a capable commander of the army, and ingeniously camouflages it in order to disguise its size b having the soldiers carry large branches cut from Birnam Wood: and so Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane as the witches have predicted. Unwittingly, he thus destroys the first of Macbeth's illusions that he cannot be defeated. *Macduff Macduff is Thane of Fife, one of the lords of Scotland. He is, rightly, the person who eventually kills Macbeth in revenge for Macbeth's slaughter of his whole family. Macduff is an idealist and so passionatelyopposed to Macbeth that he rushes off to England to join Malcolm's army without thinking that he is leaving his family exposed to a bloodthirsty tyrant. The strength of his idealism and loyalty are shown in the way he stands up to Malcolm's test: nothing Malcolm says can shake his loyalty to his country. Macduff's courage and his anguish at what has happened to his family help to turn him into the formidable fighter that Malcolm needs to be to confront and defeat Macbeth, who has lost none of his fighting skill.