Macbeth Essay- Arin Nam Period 2 Asher

In Macbeth, Shakespeare characterizes Macbeth through his thoughts, actions, and what others said about him in order to determine his ultimate fate and how these different aspects influenced his desires to gain power.
Macbeth’s thoughts overcome his mentality after listening to the predictions made by the witches. When he learned that he would become king, his greed for power affected his decisions. His thoughts controlled his actions, such as when he killed King Duncan as a result of his hallucinations. Throughout the play, Macbeth’s thoughts drove the action forward because they influenced his decisions to continue to gain power. By trying to control his fate, Macbeth learned of his fate when it took over him. His ultimate fate was death and loss of power.
Because of his thoughts, Macbeth’s actions drove the actions of the play forward by leading him to his fate. The people he murdered in the play is significant to show how his fate was the ultimate end. Each murder led to the murder of the successive characters. For example, killing Duncan led to the murder of the two guards. He also killed a good friend of his, Banquo, and the wife and children of Macduff. These actions were the result of his desire for power. His fate, however, led to his own death.
We also see that what others said about him led Macbeth to his death. His wife, Lady Macbeth, labels him as being a coward for initially being hesitant to kill Duncan. She persistently attempts to get Macbeth to murder Duncan so that she can also gain power. When Macbeth starts hallucinating images of Banquo, she is quick to hide the truth so that she can attempt to control her fate too. But towards the end of the plot, her fate led to her suicide because of her desire for power and dissatisfaction with the outcome of her actions.
Shakespeare’s characterization of Macbeth drove the action forward, which led to his fate of death. By depicting the outcome through his thoughts, actions, and what others said to him, we are able to find out that attempting to control your own fate will lead to an unfavorable result.