“Cowards die many times before their death.” Macbeth displayed many
noticeable characteristics throughout Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. He was courageous at
times and cowardly at others. The most noticeable characteristic in my opinion was that
Macbeth seemed very ambitious throughout the play. He also seems to be a moral coward
as he depends on others more than himself to make decisions. All of these factors soon
lead to his tragic death at the end of the play.
At the beginning of Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth is described as a hero very
clearly. He becomes very ambitious to be king and was very loyal to the king in the
opening scenes. This is shown in the quote “If chance will have me king, why, chance
may crown me, Without my stir”. His ambition to be king dissolved his good nature and
morality. When Duncan arrives at Inverness, Macbeth controlled his ambition for the
time being and thought very firmly on the plotting of Duncan’s murder. A quote by Lady
Macbeth stated “My hands are of your color; but I shame to wear a heart so white”. When
Lady Macbeth called him a coward, before you knew it, the murder was taking place.
After the successful murder of Duncan, Macbeth entered a life of evil. Ambition was also
clearly stated when he thought of killing his friend Banquo to protect the kingship. The
witches’ predictions sent Macbeth into his own world where he could not be stopped on
his way to becoming king.
Macbeth shows his courageousness by overcoming his personal matters to plot
the death of the king. In the scene where the murder of Duncan is taking place, he also
shows he is a coward when he will not complete the successful murder by taking the
daggers back and placing them with the guards. This also showed a sense of insecurity, as
Macbeth seemed no longer confidant in the success of the murder.
Macbeth, who no longer needed any encouragement from Lady Macbeth, started
to leave her to deploy his plans. The power of destiny comes back to haunt Macbeth
towards the end of the play. Macbeth would have never guessed that Macduff would
come back for revenge for all of the killings of Macduff’s family. This is proven when he
Macbeth says “Thou wast born of woman, but swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn,
brandished by man that’s of a woman born”. This shows a force beyond Macbeth’s
control. His strong ambition of the witches and they’re predictions soon deceived him
when he found out that Macduff was not born of woman and that the third apparition
seemed to be true. He then understood that he was no longer safe.
His characteristics proved to be beneficial to the story and its ending by
enabling the reader to get a better understanding of the situations Macbeth faces. Some of
the characteristics also influenced the opinions of others and sometimes his own.
Macbeth turned from good to evil over the progression of the play. Macbeth’s character
traits played a major role in Shakespeare’s play and gave insight on the happenings to
come.