CAPTAIN

Mark, King of Scotland, mark:

No sooner justice had, with valour armed,
Compelled these skipping kerns to trust their heels,
But the Norseman lord, surveying vantage,
With furbished arms and new supplies of men,
Began a fresh assault.

DUNCAN
Dismayed not this our captains, Macbeth and Banquo?

CAPTAIN
Yes, as sparrows’ eagles, or the hare the lion.
If I say sooth, I must report they were
As cannons overcharged with double cracks,
So, they doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe.
Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds,
Or memorize another Golgotha,
I cannot tell—

How Shakespeare presents Macbeth as a hero in the speech and throughout

the play.

Shakespeare shows Macbeth not only shown as a hero within the play, but he is also
seen as the tragic hero, whose greed and ambition and lack of moral judgements
causes his ultimate downfall and eventual death. This is seen in a number of
Shakespearean plays as the main leads usually start as good, wholesome and a
heroic figure, who has a downfall or a fatal flaw that suffer a tragedy or tragic loss
which usually involves them abandoning their status or power and then falling down
from grace by committing a sinful event, falling in love, or some other terrible deed.
Which leading to a fall in status, heartache, misery and sometimes even death, but
to
be a tragic hero they need to realise their mistakes once it is too late that seal their
own fate.

Macbeth as the hero. The play starts with reports coming in from the frontline to King
Duncan these reports are about Macbeth and Banquo his comrade returning from a
great battle and fighting for his country against Norwegians. It is reported that
Macbeth has returned Nobel to the king and he is triumphant and victorious.
Macbeth and his friend and war companion Banquo have surpassed themselves,
which has pleased the King Duncan who response by praising Macbeth for his
bravery. Macbeth is seen as brave and bold “for brave Macbeth well he deserves
that name” and fighting for the greater good, a force to be reckoned with, “what be
hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won” This is also reflected within the speech when the
King uses words such as “valour” and “Justice” describing how he honourable and
good. The Captain uses quoted as using “eagles” “the lion”, “bathe in reeking
wounds” “doubly redoubled stokes on the foe” suggesting that they are brave and
courageous.

Macbeth as a tragic hero. After Macbeths and Banquo have encountered the witches
and how they predict Macbeths and Banquo future. Both men start to wonder if these
predictions could possibly be true and if they could come true, this begins both
Macbeths and Banquo’s fates and futures seemed to be sealed. They start to
wonder and fantasies about how they could possibly make their future become
possible. This starts the pair on the road to their own destruction and chaos making
them become ambitious and ruthless.

The first prediction of the witches comes True when King Duncan makes Macbeth
the Thane of Cawdor thus making him in his way to the throne and becoming the
king. Macbeth becomes power crazy and is ruthless to climb to the top his honest
and good side start to disappear Shakespeare does this to turn him in to a tragic
hero and to show what happens to those who oppose the king of the time, he starts
to become unhappy although he gets everything that he wants and desired, it affects
him and ultimately these events slowly drive him crazy, and he started hallucinating
and became paranoid Shakespeare does this to show that killing the king can turn
you insane and paranoid . Unfortunately, the actions also cost him everything that he
loved and cared, but it is too late it was also what caused him to become obsessed
he began to hallucinate and got power crazy. This is the key moment in Macbeth’s
changing attitude he becomes cocky and ambitious and a tyrant.

Once Macbeth’s wife Lady Macbeth finds out about the prediction, she starts to plot
against the King by influencing Macbeth to kill him to enable him to gain power and
through manipulation and he cut him off from his friends and advisers, so he only
listens to her, she is very egocentric and clever. She then switched roles and
becomes the ruthless and more dominating partner and tells her husband of the plan
to kill the king. Although Macbeth does not want to kill the King Lady Macbeth tells
him that he owes her his loyalty to her as his wife and not the king she does this
because she carried his son (who died) Shakespeare does this to show that women
can be wicked and manipulative to men he also does this to progress the story. “Yet
do I fear thy nature; It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness To catch the nearest
way. Thou wouldst be great Art not without ambition, but without The illness should
attend it” that he needs her to help him get greatness because he is a kind hearted
person at the beginning of the play and she taunts him, “Art thou afeard” Macbeth
agrees this showing his trust both in his wife but also in the predictions.
Shakespeare shows Macbeth battling with his conscience. He is then plaques with a
vision of the digger and he is doubting and remorseful, but he is also battling the final
outcome of killing the king, “Whiles I threat, he lives” he tells himself to get the job
done and get on with it, “words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives” this final
point is the beginning of the end.

Macbeth is crowned king he becomes ruthless and fixates on the other predictions
said by the witches and he organises the murder of Banquo and his son
Shakespeare does this to show that power can make you do the worst thing. He
does this as he feels threatened by Banquo’s premonition, he has turned from an
honourable and decent hero to a corrupt and deceivable character. Macbeth started
to go crazy when he was about to kill Duncan but since then he has started to go
more insane as the play develops.
To conclude Macbeth was presented as tragic hero and he was also presented by
Shakespeare as delusional and going mad and thus turning into a tyrant at the end.
Of the play therefore he is presented as a tragic hero the whole way though the play.