The Credibility Of Macbeth In William Shakespeare's Play

Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, is a tragedy concerning Macbeth, a general in 11th century Scotland, and his ambition to become king which ultimately leads to his demise. Macbeth is seen as a character with numerous weaknesses throughout the tragedy but, he is also seen as a character with distinct strengths at particular parts of the play. These strengths and weaknesses acutely affects the credibility of Macbeth’s actions in that he is seen as character incapable of overcoming difficult moral situations and as a character who is easily influenced by others. One way that Shakespeare causes Macbeth’s character to affect his credibility is through Macbeth’s numerous flaws. Throughout the tragedy, Macbeth is seen as an overall weak character with a few redeemable …show more content…
While Shakespeare described Macbeth as an overall weak character throughout the play, Macbeth had a few redeeming qualities at certain parts of the play. Macbeth was originally known as brave Macbeth, “[deserving] that name” because of what he did to save Scotland during the war with Norway. Shakespeare describes Macbeth this way at the beginning of the play to likely show how uncomfortable Macbeth was with his villainous actions, which further increases the credibility of Macbeth’s actions. Another one of Macbeth’s redeeming qualities is his determination. Macbeth is seen as a character determined to get what he wants all throughout the play and this determination is undoubtedly evident in his final fight with Macduff where he said he would “try the last” before he surrenders (V, viii, 32). Shakespeare uses Macbeth’s determination to further increase the credibility of Macbeth’s actions since will do whatever possible to get what he desires. Hence, Shakespeare describes Macbeth’s distinct strengths to add to the credibility of his