Main Characters in Macbeth
Four of the Principal Dramatis Personae in the Scottish Play
Jun 28, 2008
Macbeth contains some of the most memorable psychological insights of any of Shakespeare's plays. A cast of believable characters keeps the drama grounded in reality. Following classical dramatic lines, a basically noble (anti)hero is inexorably destroyed by a fatal flaw – in this case, excessive ambition.
Macbeth
Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis (a Scottish noble), is the anti-hero of the play. He is not inherently a bad man. Before he appears on stage the audience has heard a lot of admirable things about him from other soldiers. His ambition, however, stirred up by the witches and encouraged by his wife, fights against his conscience and causes him to turn to murder in order to become king.
Macbeth commits crimes which are worse and worse as the play goes on, even having young children killed. His fear and paranoia, caused by his stolen position, push him towards these crimes, but his conscience will not be quiet. In the end, realising the terrible wrongs he has done but unable to turn back, Macbeth meets his death with courage and dignity.
Lady Macbeth
Macbeth's wife, in whom he confides and with whom he seems to be very much in love. She is even more ambitious than her husband, pushing him to murder Duncan when his conscience and fear holds him back. This ruthless ambition is portrayed as unfeminine, but her sleepwalking and pathological hand-washing in Act 5 show that her conscience troubles her, too. The weight of the crimes they commit starts to come between Lady Macbeth and her husband. He stops confiding in her, they grow apart, and when he receives the news of her death, Macbeth is too distracted by impending battle even to be noticeably moved.
Banquo
A friend and comrade-at-arms of Macbeth. The witches also make a prophesy about Banqo, saying that although he will not be king himself, his descendants will be kings. Banquo is a more phlegmatic character than Macbeth, so he does not let the prophesy disturb him, and nor does he make any efforts to force the prediction to come true.
Banquo suspects Macbeth of having a hand in the murder of Duncan, but takes no action and mentions his suspicions to no-one. Whether this is from indecision, cowardice or the desire to keep on Macbeth's good side, it is a fatal error: Macbeth has his friend killed in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the second prophesy from coming true.
Shortly after Banquo is murdered he appears as a ghost at a feast Macbeth is holding. As only Macbeth can see the apparition, however, the audience is free to regard the ghost as a real spiritual presence, or merely a sign that the weight of his crimes is fraying Macbeth's sanity.
Macduff
Macbeth's nemesis. He is another Scottish nobleman who becomes pivotal to the future of Scotland. Macduff is one who discovers Duncan's body, and is one of the first to suspect Macbeth. He also initially suspects the late king's sons, but during a wary meeting in England, Macduff and Malcolm, Duncan's eldest son, come to trust each other and arrange to go to war against Macbeth.
Macduff has his own reasons for wanting Macbeth dead, as Macbeth had his wife and children killed while he was in England. Macduff is the subject of the reassuring-sounding prophesy that “no man born of woman” can kill Macbeth. Macduff was delivered by caesarian section rather than being “born”, and so he is the one to finally dispatch the tyrant.
Source:
- Oxford School Shakespeare: Macbeth, 2004
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