Macbeth

In the tragic drama Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare in 1606 during the English Renaissance, the hero, Macbeth, constantly declines in his level of morality until his death at the end of the play. Because of his change of character from good to evil, Macbeth's attitude towards other characters, specifically Duncan, Banquo, Lady Macbeth, and the witches, is significantly affected.

The first of the four characters is Duncan. Since Macbeth interacts with Duncan only a minimal amount before Duncan's death, Macbeth's attitude towards him changes very rapidly. Before Macbeth hears the witches' first prophecy, he is very close to Duncan, and would never even think of doing something against him. When the thought of murdering Duncan crosses his mind immediately after he finds that he has just been named Thane of Cawdor, he cannot believe he "yield[s] to that suggestion / Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair / And make my seated heart knock at my ribs" (I, iii, 133-35). In scene 5 of act 1, however, his "vaulting ambition" is starting to take over, but partly because of his wife's persuasion. He agrees that they must "catch the nearest way" (17), and kill Duncan that night. On the other hand, as the time for murder comes nearer, he begins giving himself reasons not to murder Duncan:

First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, Who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself. (I, vii, 13-16)

When Lady Macbeth enters, though, she uses her cunning rhetoric and pursuasion techniques to convince Macbeth that this is, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the right thing to do. He then tells her that "I am settled." (79). He is firmly seated in his beliefs that killing Duncan is the right thing to do-until he performs the murder. He is so horrified by this act that for a moment he forgets where