William Shakespeare, a poet, playwright and actor of the 16th century, was widely regarded as the greatest English writer due to many reasons one being his ability to write plays that explore a range of themes that still exist today. In the tragic play “Macbeth”, Shakespeare reveals both good and evil characteristics of humanity. This is presented in the lead characters, Macbeth and lady Macbeth and highlighted with a range of language techniques and narrative devices.
In the beginning of the play, Shakespeare clearly portrays Macbeth as the admirable hero. Many soldiers inform Duncan of Macbeths bravery, “for brave Macbeth well he deserves the name”, demonstrating that Macbeth fought fearlessly for both his king and country. Furthermore King Duncan describes Macbeth many times as “noble Macbeth, worthy Macbeth, my worthy Cawdor”. The repetition of praise further empathizes Macbeth as a loyal and good-hearted person. Although Macbeth has slain many of the kings enemies, he expresses regret over the loss of life, “so foul a fair a day I have not seen”. The oxymoron of foul and fair express Macbeth’s mixed emotions about killing even enemy soldiers. Macbeths potential for good is shown once again in his soliloquy, “if good then why do I yield, to that suggestion whose horrid images doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs” Macbeths dialogue and use of sensory imagery reveals how physically sick feels at the thought of killing Duncan. Shakespeare’s character Macbeth highlights the good in human nature by proving himself a strong and kindhearted man. Thus, through Shakespeare’s character Macbeth, the contrasting natures of good and evil can be seen in humanity.
As the play goes on we see Macbeth become corrupted by power, consequently his evil nature is shown. For Macbeth, meeting the witches was more of a curse, as that was the first step of submitting to his evil nature. Macbeth’s obsession to power leads him to contemplating his...