Shakespeare's portrayal of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is very different, even though it may seem like they are more similar on the surface. At first glance, it looks like they are only two murderers who were corrupted by power and both became insane in the end. However, the audience’s reaction to them is not similar at all. This is because no matter how similar they appear, their characters are as different as night and day. The play starts with news of Macbeth’s heroic deeds. He saved Duncan’s son and played a major role in winning the battle. After the battle, when Macbeth and Banquo encounter the three witches, the audience learns that somehow Macbeth will become king. At this point in the play, he seems worthy to be king, so the audience’s feeling about him do not change yet. When he and Banquo meet the Duncan, the first part of the witches’ prophecy comes true, that Macbeth becomes thane of Cawdor. His character is not changed by this news, which makes him seem like a good person. When he returns home to his wife, she convinces him to murder Duncan in order to become king faster. Macbeth doesn’t want to at first, but decided to in the end. While he was …show more content…
He begins to struggle with what he has done. The audience has a little bit of sympathy for him, even though he’s become less noble than what he was at the beginning. After he murders Banquo, everyone can see how he is descending into madness and they start to dislike him more than before. They start to side with Macduff and his army. When Macduff’s army begins to march on Dunhill, Macbeth briefly returns to the noble warrior at the beginning, before he killed Duncan. When he refuses to fight Macduff, because he knows he will be killed, he seems more like a coward who is only worried about keeping his throne. In the end though, he redeems himself by fighting Macduff, but is killed in the