English literature emergency (gcse)

I’m having a massive crisis right now and any help would be massively appreciated. Could anyone please mark this AQA English Literature Macbeth essay? I am perpetually unable to get the marks I want and I would like some feedback please:
Starting with this conversation, explore how far Shakespeare presents Macbeth as a male character who changes during the play.
Write about:
- How Shakespeare presents Macbeth in this conversation
- How far Shakespeare presents Macbeth as a male character who changes during the play as a whole. [30 + 4 marks]
Initially, in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the titular character is presented as the product of his martial society, which encourages men to be violent and bloodthirsty, in defence of their own country. For example, at the start, he is established as a tragic hero when we are told that his ‘brandished steel’ ‘smoked with bloody execution’. The Jacobean audience might have also respected Macbeth’s skills in battle here, reflecting the high status from which we will see him fall by the end of the play, showing the change in his societal position over time. The sibilance in ‘steel’ and ‘smoked’ is a soft sound, which could suggest that he has been able to slaughter the rebels with ease, and the choice of the word ‘execution’ suggests that this killing was cold and efficient. Therefore, Macbeth is established as a skilled warrior who is able to effectively defend his country. Given the risks of uprisings from the nobles at the time in Jacobean society, many may have valued this trait, and therefore would initially have liked Macbeth, as his ‘execution’ of Macdonwald was only so ‘bloody’ in defence of his country. We can also see his high, respectable status at the start of the play through the other characters’ praise of him, as he is referred to as ‘Brave Macbeth’ by King Duncan. However, Shakespeare may here be implicitly criticising the effect of this martial society on the behaviour of men such as Macbeth, as we are soon to see King Duncan’s murder at these same, ‘bloody’ hands of Macbeth. The dramatic irony when the king praises his behaviour gives this series of violent events a cyclical structure and therefore, perhaps we are supposed to feel that there is something wrong and unnatural about the martial society. When Captain says that Macbeth must be trying ‘to bathe in reeking wounds / Or memorise another Golgotha’, this can be read as a subtle hint that we are supposed to dislike Macbeth and his bloodlust from the start, hence suggesting that perhaps he does not change much in this respect throughout the play. The idea that Macbeth wanted to ‘bathe’ in these wounds which were ‘reeking’ (meaning ‘giving off smoke’) suggests that some observing the battle felt that Macbeth simply wanted to satisfy his bloodlust rather than defend his country. The imagery of him ‘bathing’ in this blood is little different from his own imagination of himself, later in the play, having such a large amount of blood on his hands that ‘all great Neptune’s oceans’ would never be able to wash it off. Furthermore, the blood spilled at ‘Golgotha’ was that of Jesus Christ, which suggests that, although many in the contemporary audience may have respected Macbeth’s valour and skill in the defence of his country, Shakespeare himself might be trying to send out a subtle message that the immense and unnecessary violence employed by Macbeth during the battle at the start is deeply unchristian (due to its association with the death of Jesus Christ). Therefore, an alternative interpretation is that, over the course of the play, Macbeth has not changed significantly, as we can see that his immense bloodlust and Shakespeare’s criticism of it has been present from the start. The reader can also observe, through society’s praise of his actions, that his masculinity plays a key role in his eventual murder of King Duncan, as it was men who were encouraged to be as violent as necessary in defence of order, and his behaviour here epitomises the effects of this social conditioning.
The first major change to Macbeth’s character is his reaction to the witches’ prophecies. Here, Shakespeare presents him as morally conflicted and psychologically divided, as he appears deeply introspective and self-aware, recognising the immorality of his ambitions. This moment shows a key change in his character, as, because he is morally conflicted, he must make a crucial decision which will ultimately decide his fate at the end of the play. When he thinks of waiting and allowing ‘chance’ to ‘crown’ him without his ‘stir’, Banquo notices his reaction and says, ‘New horrors come upon him’. While the Jacobean audience might have thought that waiting, and deciding not to commit regicide, might be relieving to Macbeth, it seems that waiting is a ‘horror’ to him. This, as well as the break in the iambic pentameter in Banquo’s line here (as it has 11 syllables and this could have been avoided by swapping ‘upon’ for ‘to’), likely reflects the latent evil within Macbeth. It seems that, perhaps, his desire to commit the regicide is not simply because of ambition, but instead because of his bloodlust, as it seems here that the attraction he mentions here is actually to ‘my stir’ (which would be the brutal murder of King Duncan, and would satisfy his bloodlust). Alternatively, we can sense his moral confliction when his physical reaction to the regicide is described. It is said that Macbeth’s hair stands on end, and his heart is knocking at his ‘ribs’. It can be interpreted that his body is already rebelling ‘against the use of nature’ in killing the king, as the physical effects on him of this thought are extreme. If true, then this would suggest that his character must change in the play, as he will have gone from a loyal defender of the king and his country to someone willing to commit regicide. However, it could also be interpreted that this description of his physical reaction to the regicide does not necessarily suggest he is morally appalled by the thought. Instead, his behaviour here could be read as consistent with the presentation of his character at the start – a bloodthirsty, masculine warrior with latent ambition. I would argue that here, the description of his hair being ‘unfix[ed]’ seems reflective of his liberation from the moral constraints of the time and the sociological hierarchy imposed on society (the Great Chain of Being). His ‘heart’ knocking at his ‘ribs’ would be a rising movement, hence suggesting his desire for higher status in society, and the knocking here could represent his desire for admittance into the higher ranks of society. Without this immense ambition and desire to use violence in order to achieve it, he says he would have a ‘seated heart’, which would be content, but bored, suggesting that this intense desire for kingship and unstoppable ambition is necessary to his happiness, just as he is likely addicted to the adrenaline and fear he feels in battle. Therefore, I would argue that here, his overwhelming emotion might not be moral confliction, but instead excitement at committing the regicide, which would encourage the Jacobean audience to be even more appalled by his behaviour. This would also establish both ambition and the bloodlust promoted in a martial society to be even more criticisable, as we know that they must have been the driving force behind the regicide. Shakespeare could be suggesting that we should keep the fulfilment of our ambitions within moral constraints, so that such a destabilising effect on society (that of the regicide) will not be experienced in real life. This reinforces the hierarchy of the Great Chain of Being and encourages the nobles not to question the divine right to rule of King James.
After the regicide, it appears that Macbeth’s view of his own role in society as a man, and his view of his wife, has been altered by the events of the play, as he now has a very different position in the relationship. This is evident by Act 3, as, while before he referred to her as his ‘dearest partner of greatness’, he now only calls her ‘dearest chuck’. This apparent demotion and patronising language used in the latter phrase emphasises how his character changes, as it seems that, upon becoming king, the emasculated Macbeth has tried to reassert his status as a man and hence will no longer listen to his wife. He commands her to ‘Be innocent of the knowledge’, with the imperative here mirroring Lady Macbeth’s language used earlier in the play, hence suggesting that he has stolen some of her power in the relationship, restoring the traditional Jacobean gender roles to the marriage. His desire for her to be ‘innocent’ draws a likely deliberate parallel with the concept of Original Sin, as it was when Eve ended her innocence and gained ‘knowledge’ of good and evil that the fall of humanity began, initiated by the actions of a woman. This apparently patriarchal language contrasts with Macbeth’s presentation much earlier in the play and could actually be supported by the Jacobean audience, who may have felt that Lady Macbeth was the real cause of the regicide, and that Macbeth should indeed reject the influence of woman. This change in Macbeth’s personality might have been brought about by his own understanding of the cost of his wife’s actions, as ‘dearest’, which he repeats here, and gives a new meaning compared to much earlier in the play, also means ‘expensive’. This suggests that perhaps his changed status in the relationship might be justified, in Shakespeare’s eyes, as perhaps the Jacobean audience is supposed to believe that Macbeth taking back control is a logical response to the dangerous and costly behaviour of his wife. We can also see how, in further contrast to the start, he refuses to listen to her when she tells him ‘what’s done is done’, instead ordering the murders of Banquo a