In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, neighboring characters around the central protagonist, and the lead himself, evolved from and endured many treacherous psychological transformations. Amongst the characters, none experienced a greater change in mental health to the extent that Macbeth had. Through the entirety of the play, Macbeth’s morals and perception of aspiration are hindered by greed, ambition, selfishness, and external forces. By using dramatic devices such as dramatic irony, nemesis, and soliloquies, Shakespeare is able to bring focus to the deterioration of Macbeth’s character. Macbeth is undoubtfully characterized as a noble hero from the start by ending the life of king Duncan’s enemy, McDonald, and getting hold of the traitor Cawdor. By completing these honorable deeds, Macbeth earns the king’s trust and respect. For example, the king states, “O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman.”, showing his gratitude and trust towards Macbeth. The starting reason for Macbeth’s corruption of character is the ambition brought upon him by external forces, the witches. Revealing to the protagonist that he will sit on the throne, the witches cause Macbeth to question the …show more content…
Through his ambition and need for becoming king, Macbeth’s attraction and eagerness for power costs him his value of good morals. As he murders one character, Macbeth must go on murdering several others to conceal the truth of his secrets as if he were concealing a lie with other lies. Macbeths character deteriorates to the point as far as taking fault for the murder his best friend and being carefree from the death of his own wife. The protagonist is psychologically damaged and there is no positive outcome that can result from a character who goes through a transformation as treacherous and corrupt as Macbeth had due to the external forces and his ambition for