Our first impression of Macbeth –through the wounded captain’s account of his heroic performance in the battlefield- is of a brave and admirable warrior. However, this perspective changes when we see him interact with the three witches. We realize that his physical courage is accompanied by a consuming ambition and a tendency to doubt—the prediction that he will be king brings him joy, but it also confuses him. These three characteristics—courage, ambition, and doubt— represent the struggle that takes hold of him throughout the play, which ultimately shows the terrible effects that ambition and guilt can have on a man who lacks strength of character. We may think of Macbeth as evil, but his weak character is not strong enough to defeat guilt and paranoia. Though he may be a great warrior, Macbeth cannot fight the psychological consequences that committing a crime entails.

From Macbeth’s first encounter with the witches, a kind of tension can be noticed in the scene. The weird sisters –as many of the characters refer to them- anticipate Macbeth's future, and he seems anxious of what is to become of the prophecies. The Scottish general and thane of Glamis is led to hol

But, despite the fact that he does not hesitate to kill the two gentlemen, his fear remains with him. It will haunt him this time with the apparition of the ghost of Banquo at the feast. The ghost reminds him of his guilt, and the king’s punishment will take the form of his uncontrollable terror. But Macbeth has proved to himself that no matter how great his fear is, he can control it. As he is put to the test by the ghost of Banquo, we realize that between his first and second crime the criminal element in him has grown greatly and that now, having recovered from a severe breakdown, he meets this challenging figure by resorting to his underlying strength much more quickly than before. Therefore, in act III, scene IV, the second process of Macbeth's murder comes to a resolution. In one scene he recognizes through Banquo's ghost his deepest fear and guilt and fights against them. We can see a fearful Macbeth saying to the ghost: "Thou canst not say I did it" (III, scene IV, 49), passing to confront the supernatural being with: "Why, what care I if thou canst nod! Speak too!" (III, scene IV, 69) and later on: "Avaunt, and quit my sight!" (III, scene IV, 93) with more strength. He ends up dominating his fear and at last he says: "Hence, horrible shadow! / Unreal mockery, hence! Why, so; being gone, / I am a man again." (III, scene IV, 106-108).

Macbeth's process of discovering his own fear and facing it comes to a resolution at the end of the play. The tormented character, in order not to surrender to the forces of his own fear, will try to show a strength that cost him his conscience over his evil deeds and, in the long run, his own heart. The thane of the beginning, the king after, and, at the end, the tyrant will fall down by his own pressure for his sense of courage. A courage disguised behind the mask of madness, which will remain with him until his death.

Macbeth is a brave soldier and a powerful man, but he is not morally good. He is easily tempted into murder to fulfill his ambitions to the throne, and once he commits his first crime and is crowned king of Scotland, he goes on to commit further atrocities with increasing ease. He fluctuates between fits of action, in which he plots a series of murders to secure his power, and moments of terrible guilt -as when Banquo's ghost appears- and absolute pessimism -after his wife's death, when he seems to give in to despair. These changes reflect the tension within Macbeth: he is too ambitious to allow his conscience to stop him from murdering his way to success and too conscientious to be happy with himself as a criminal. As things fall apart for him at the end of the play, he seems almost relieved—with the confrontation of the English army, he can finally return to his previous life as a warrior, and he shows a kind of recklessness and courage as his enemies surround him and drag him down. In part, this stem

Some topics in this essay:
Act IV, , Macbeth Macbeth, Nevertheless Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Ultimately Macbeth, King Duncan, Speak III, Fleance Macduffâ€and, Scotland Macbeth, act scene, scene iv, iii scene iv, iii scene, lady macbeth, king scotland, horrible shadow, fear conscience, thou canst, lead death, psychological consequences,