Macbeth in the beginning of William Shakespeare’s play ‘Macbeth’ is presented to the audience as powerful, but by the end of the play, because he is corrupted by his ambition, he become a coward character.
Macbeth is in the Scottish army and are fighting for the country, which shows Macbeth as a powerful character. Shakespeare uses violent imagery to present Macbeth as a powerful character, this is shown in the line “from the nave to the chap”. This gruesome imagery shows how fearsome and skilled Macbeth is, and portrays Macbeth to the audience as a skilled fighter. It also shows how Macbeth is killing in a gruesome manner. During the Jacobean era, the killings and having battlefield bravery shows Macbeth as a powerful person, and in the play, people see him as a loyal warrior. Also, King Duncan was pleased and promoted Macbeth to the ‘Thane of Cawdor’. Therefor this shows Macbeth is powerful.
Secondly, Macbeth as a powerful character by showing the audience how he was not disheartened, even though there were chances where he could go down, but he still fought. Shakespeare use the simile “as two spent swimmers, that do cling together”. It shows his confidence and resilience. The verb ‘cling’ connotates to holding something very tightly, and this shows Macbeth will try to ‘cling’ onto power. Therefore, this presents how powerful Macbeth was.
Thirdly, Macbeth is shown powerful through how highly respected his reputation is. Macbeth is praised by the captain in the line “for brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name”. This caesura and the adjective ‘brave’ show that the captain is admired by Macbeth’s attitude, showing how powerful Macbeth is. This shows the audience that Macbeth is a hero, and the reputation he has shows how powerful he is, and the thing that makes him more powerful is that people, powerful people, in Scotland also thinks that he is powerful.
However, Macbeth power becomes less when the audience is introduced to Lady Macbeth, as she is more powerful than him. Also, we can also see that Macbeth begins to lose his power because he was presented powerful to the extent. One Macbeth become the ‘Thane of Cawdor’, he began to become greedy, and Macbeth reflected this “stood rapt in the wonder of it came missives from the king”. Also, further in the extract Macbeth wishes that the “stars” could hide their “fires' so they could not see Macbeth’s black and deep desires. This alliteration is used to shows how his ambition has weakened his character. This shows how his corrupted ambition has made him be a coward and has made him less powerful and gradually having no power at all.
In conclusion, the audience can see that Macbeth is powerful character when he respects his position. However, the tragic downfall happened because he betrayed several characters that trusted him. Therefore, at the end of the play Macbeth has become a character who is a coward and a person that no one respects.
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Critical Essay on Macbeth: A Man Who Has Lost His Power.
(2023, September 19). Edubirdie. Retrieved April 28, 2024, from https://edubirdie.com/examples/critical-essay-on-macbeth-a-man-who-has-lost-his-power/
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2023 Sept 19 [cited 2024 Apr 28].
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