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Macbeth Character Analysis

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Machines can only work with all of their parts. Flip the switch with all but one of the gears, and the action it is designed for is impossible to complete. Human action and reaction works the same way. One cannot happen without the other, and without the complete picture, the result is unable to be deduced. The story of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is no different. The play follows Macbeth through his initial victory on the battlefield as a brave thane, fighting fearlessly and loyally for the king, who then encounters witches who prophecy of his coming kingship. He then feels, as insisted by his wife, that he must fulfill the prophecy by his own means, and kills the king, a fellow thane who suspects him, and plots to kill those who oppose him. Driven mad by the actions he committed, he loses control of both his mental state and kingship, and is consequently executed for treason. However, Macbeth’s immoral actions were not a fault of his own, but instead of the external pressures he faced, just as a gear has no control over its’ rotation. His hubris was his unstable nature, which propelled his relationships with other characters to create the fatal events of this Shakespearean tragedy. To begin, Macbeth’s relations with the witches set him on the destructive path he follows. In the beginning of the play, the witches speak to one another about the upcoming plight Macbeth will face. One of them speaks about creating turmoil for a theoretical shipman, with the following speech: “I '

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