The entrance of characters in works of fiction is significant.

How does the

introduction of the characters in the play "Macbeth" prove to be
significant?
By Kimia Kalantari

When starting a new story, the first thing the readers will be curious about is the characters or at
least the main character. The introduction of characters plays an important role in getting the
readers interested in the rest of the story, as they are the ones who will move the plot forward with
each choice they make. The readers will be able to experience the fictional world the writer has
created through the characters. So, the characters must be introduced properly in order to make
the reader invested in the story. In most novels, there’s usually a narrator who will explain the
character’s situation and feelings, however in plays, there will be no narrator to explain the
characters to the readers. Therefore, the entrance of characters is even more significant than in
normal stories.
One way to introduce characters is by analyzing the environment they are in when the reader first
reads about them. in the play “Macbeth” the first thing the reader will read about are the witches.
The three witches enter the play in the first scene. The story starts with them, and they have a
mysterious aura about them. in the first act, first seen we can observe that the witches are clearly
evil creatures, whose only goal is to create chaos. No one introduces them to us readers, but by
looking at the scene one can conclude that they are indeed wicked creatures as there are flashes of
lightning and storm present in the scene which represent chaos. The witches discuss they want to
meet Macbeth, the main character, at sunset. Sunset is usually associated with the coming of
darkness so one can conclude that something dark and regretful will happen to Macbeth.
another way to introduce a character in a play is to write about how other characters feel about
them. In the play “Macbeth” act 1 scene 2 we can see a few characters sharing stories about a
brave, loyal, trustworthy, and ambitious man, called Macbeth. This is a good way to introduce the
main character as the reader will be more interested in the main character to see whether the
things other characters have discussed are true or not. Macbeth is indeed a brave man as other
characters concluded, but as the reader moves forward with the play, one will understand
Macbeth’s feelings and emotions more and realize that he is not to be trusted. There were also
hints of him having a bad fate in the first scene with the witches present, so it all makes sense the
more one reads. Perhaps if we met him before the 3 witches did, we would have a different
impression of him. Macbeth will share his thoughts with his wife lady Macbeth which leads to
another introduction.
When we first meet lady Macbeth, we see her reading Macbeth’s letter. In his letter, he tells lady
Macbeth everything including his thoughts and the events that he went through which shows how
much this couple trust one another. After reading the letter we will finally see her in action while
she talks to herself out loud and asks for evil spirits to take away her femininity. The whole scene
kind of gives a snake-like feeling about her character, as she plans to persuade Macbeth into
murdering king Duncan, who has placed a great deal of trust in Macbeth. When Macbeth arrives,
we can observe that he’s anxious and dazed from the sinful thoughts he has had all day and that he
is no longer the loyal person everyone talked about. His steady character development throughout
the play and his rise and falls are what make the readers more and more interested in the story.
In short, the play Macbeth does a very good job of introducing characters without a narrator.
Whether it’s introducing a character from someone else’s point of view, the character themselves,
or the environment they are in, etc. we can see all of them in the play “Macbeth” and every
introduction proves to be important since the characters change and develop greatly as the story
progresses. So, the readers can look back by the end of the play, and realize how much the
characters have truly changed: their morals, actions, thoughts, behaviors, and reactions.