The TSR Community Awards 2025 are now live >>

Old Macbeth GCSE Essay

Macbeth is presented as an unfortunate character, deceived by the equivocation of the witches and lured into condemnation by his 'dearest partner of greatness'. Through this journey, he falls from the pedestal of his virtuous, loyal and ideal traits celebrated and regarded as deserving of the title of 'brave', into the deep and endless hell of the supernatural, disloyalty and condemnation now seen as a 'hell-hound' and the embodiment of wicked.

In the beginning, A1S2 Macbeth is said to be deserving of the descriptive trait of 'brave', proven by the quote said by the captain, "Brave Macbeth, well he deserves that name". The verb 'deserves' implies that Macbeth displays the qualities worthy enough to exhibit the characteristics of these traits. The adjective 'brave' has connotations of a fearless individual who shows no weakness, and before we even meet Macbeth this allows us to picture him as a courageous and valiant individual with no room for paranoia to emerge in his life. This is also reinforced by the quotation "as two spent swimmers, that do cling together and choke their art" where Macbeth's triumph in slaying the traitorous Macdonwald is being described by the Seargant. The noun 'swimmers' paints the image of courageous individuals continuosly putting themselves through repetetive motions of strenuous labour whilst also battling the unpredictable wrath of the water's current; in addition to this, the adjective 'spent' has connotations of something that has been overworked and driven to exaustion and the fact that Macbeth is able to still 'cling' to any reserve of energy he has left after battling the abundance of soldiers who had oppsoed him on the battlefield, presents Macbeth as a brave and dedicated character, unafraid of anything that may become an obstacle in his path.

Later on, in Act 1 Scene 3 Macbeth is already opposing our previous positive views of his character based on the description of others. This is evident in the quotation, "Why do I yield to that suggestion, whose horrid image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs, against the use of nature." In this quotation, Macbeth is in turmoil, fighting a losing battle with his subconsciousness. The verb 'yield' has connotations of giving in to something which is interesting as Macbeth, prior to this scene, was being praised for his 'bravery' and impenetrable nature. Here, we witness the witches establish a weakness within Macbeth by stirring up his latent ambition, which we as readers understand as his hamartia. Furthermore, the noun 'suggestion' creates an image of uncertainty, or something that should only be taken into consideration, however, Macbeth is already described as yeilding to a simple suggestion which exposes his lack of loyalty as well as his weakness. The phrase 'against the use of nature' entails a defiance in the natural order signifying that Macbeth knows that what his brain's agenda is pushing across is fatal and will result in an inevitable consequence. In addition, this displays the internal battle Macbeth is having as his subconscience has already fallen into the temptation that the witches embellished yet his body is still fighting back. This is reinforced when Macbeth says 'make my seated heart knock against my ribs'. Macbeth is yet to awknowledge that his ambition is already bubbling and mistakes his ambition for his heart. His body is forming a phsyical defence as a last resort against this ambition as his brain has already failed to defend itself. His ambition is so powerful that it becomes tangible and is personified as knocking on his ribs. The verb 'knock' creates an image of waiting to be let in signifying that Macbeth's change is due to his own choices as he let his ambition in. As of this point in the play, Macbeth is overran by his ambition which allows fear to enter his life as his priorites now lay within what he desires. What he desires is the throne which is an unstable position for him to occupy due to his lack of an heir, unlike Banquo, whos children will be the successor's to the throne later as prophesised by the witches.

Macbeth then becomes envious of Banquo, this becomes the seed that he continuously nurtures throughout Act 3 Scene 1 which eventually blooms into his fear of Banquo. This is evident in the quotation, "Our fears in Banquo stick deep" where Macbeth identifies Banquo as a threat to his reign and becomes envious of his future success in comparison to his 'fruitless crown' and 'barren sceptre'. The verb 'stick' has connotations of something that is long-lasting and leaves a lingering impact which is further emphasised by the noun 'deep' which creates the image of something inescapable and strongly-rooted. As this is being used to describe his fear of Banquo, we can infer that due to Macbeth committing the ultimate sin of regicide, and allowing his ambition to overrun and govern his actions, he is constantly tormented by fear and paranoia which Shakespeare may have used to warn he contemporary audience of the consequences of disloyalty towards the King following the prior Gunpowder Plot, and the disruption of the natural order.