Customer center

We are a boutique essay service, not a mass production custom writing factory. Let us create a perfect paper for you today!

Example research essay topic: Act One Scene Relationship With His Wife - 1,480 words

NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote

Trace Macbeth's change over the course of the play. How does Shakespeare convey it? The transition from brave and loyal thane to brutal tyrant king can be easily traced, when focusing on the character of Macbeth throughout the play. All aspects of the character change to some extent as his sins and treachery increase in extremity; this includes his relationship with his wife and friends, his clothing, his style of speaking, his attitudes towards fate, paranoia and fear.

Shakespeare conveys this change in character to the reader by making all of these different and changing character aspects obvious at some stage during the play. At the start of the play lady Macbeth is the more dominant character in the relationship. In his letter to his wife about the witches' prophecies, Macbeth writes, "This have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest partner of greatness, that thou might not lose the dues of rejoicing, by being ignorant of what greatness is promised thee." He knows that his "partner" will like the idea of being Queen and seems to offer the news as a kind of present, this shows that Macbeth really feels as though he has to please her. However, it is Lady Macbeth that takes charge of the situation and ensures that Duncan is murdered, rather than allowing Macbeth to have his way and let Duncan live. After Macbeth has committed the murder he is distraught and talking about the intensity of the blood on his hands, once again Lady Macbeth takes control of the situation, by saying a little water clears us of this deed she attempts to clear Macbeth's conscience. The change in the obvious control Lady Macbeth holds over Macbeth's actions, in the first two acts, becomes evident in the banquet scene (scene 4, act 3), by this stage Macbeth is arranging the murder of Banquo without the assistance or reassurance of Lady Macbeth, however, when Macbeth is supposedly seeing the ghost of Banquo later on in the scene, it is Lady Macbeth who, once again, is put into a position of control, as she attempts to cover for her husband and explain his confusing speeches.

As the play continues, the plot intensifies, and as Macbeth changes, Lady Macbeth plays a smaller role in the outcome of events. The audience sees her character in decreasing amounts, after the banquet scene, she only features in scene 1, Act 5. Which shows her increasing insanity, as Lady Macbeth's mental situation worsens so does her affect over Macbeth and their relationship with one another. When Macbeth is notified of Lady Macbeth's death, he is not distraught as he would have been at the start of the play, and remains reasonably indifferent, showing that while making the transition from loyal thane to tyrant king, he also made the transition from devoted husband to cold and self absorbed widow. As the character of Macbeth changes, so does his style of interaction with all those around him, therefore not only does Macbeth's relationship with his wife change but also with his friends and servants. This is evident not only from the situation and plot, which shows Macbeth's decreasing popularity as his character changes, but also from his style of speaking.

As king, Macbeth uses a much more imperative style of diction, rather than requesting that someone does something, as king he demands it. An example where this is particularly evident can be found when looking at the conversation between Macbeth and Banquo in act one, scene three, where the two are not only equals but appear to be very friendly as conversation flows between them, compare this to the conversation between the two in lines 1 - 47 of scene one, act three. In this extract, Macbeth, as king, no longer considers himself equal with Banquo, as seen in his choice of diction with regard to statements such as fail not our feast this is more of an order than a request. Of Macbeth it might be said that "clothes make the man. " There are quite a few metaphors which compare Macbeth's state of mind to that of someone wearing strange or ill-fitting clothes. Such as The Thane of Cawdor lives; why do you dress me / In borrow'd robes? asks Macbeth when Ross tells him that the King has named him Thane of Cawdor.

Also, in the course of the play we first see him in his armor, then in regal robes, and finally in his armor again, Shakespeare may have done this to emphasize the change in Macbeth's character from the scenes just after battle in the first act, to the scenes of battle which finally result in Macbeth's death. Macbeth wears amour in both of these, when one cannot contrast or explain the change in character by looking at his clothes, it becomes much more important to take note of his actual character by judging his reaction to circumstances. If a brave person overcomes fear and a coward gives in to it, what is Macbeth, who fears nothing but fear itself? At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is described as a brave man, but his wife manipulates him by accusing him of being a coward, and throughout the play he denies his own fears, by refusing to allow the situation catch up with him Macbeth denies his own right to be afraid. For example, Macbeth kills Banquo before he can get into a situation where he should be seriously afraid of him.

This contrast and change is shown when looking firstly at acts one and two, where Macbeth is afraid to kill Duncan, Macbeth would not be afraid of killing in itself, as a soldier he has killed many others, however he describes the action of killing Duncan as one whose horrid image doth unfix my hair / and make my seated heart knock at my ribs, then comparing this to how Macbeth is treating the murder of the Macduff family, Banquo and France, all actions that came about as a result of his increasing paranoia, one notes that in these circumstances he is cold and indifferent, as if unaffected by their deaths. An exception to this could be when Macbeth thinks he can see the ghost of Banquo at the banquet in scene four, act three, as this could show that Macbeth, deep down, is more afraid and affected by their deaths than his character is letting on, however at no stage does Macbeth show any remorse for killing the Macduff women and children, this was also cold blooded murder, his character obviously adjusts and changes when concerning fear and his reactions to killing. Macbeth tries to master fate, which only helps it to master him. At first Macbeth has some doubts about whether or not he can trust fate, but eventually he is destroyed by his own efforts to make fate keep its promises to him.

He goes from not believing what the witches are saying in act one, scene three, although he is curious, saying things like stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more he heavily questions their reliability wanting to know from whence / You owe this strange intelligence it does not take much to convince Macbeth that the witches are real, after he has been rewarded with the title of thane of Cawdor, he seems to believe in them. At these early stages he believes but not to the extent, however, that he would go and hunt them down, which he eventually does do in act four, scene one, in order to get his prophecies from them. The witches may not have had any supernatural powers whatsoever, other than Macbeth receiving the title of thane of Cawdor, which may have been coincidence, Macbeth caused everything else to happen, not giving fate a chance as he was causing everything to happen himself. Whether or not you make you own fate is one of the major themes explored by Shakespeare in the play of Macbeth. In the final scene of the play Malcolm describes Macbeth as a dead butcher this in itself sums up the change of Macbeth's character, especially when compared to the praise received by the character during the first act of the play. During the early stages of the play Macbeth is described as a worthy cousin to the king and as a noble partner to Banquo, by the end of the play Macbeth has ensured the death of both, either doing it himself or arranging for murderers to do the deed.

One has to wonder if it was in Macbeth's destiny to face such changes in character, or if it happened as a result of the three weird sisters, playing with a situation that was not meant for their involvement. Regardless of the cause, Shakespeare successfully shows the change in character throughout the play in a large variety of ways.


Free research essays on topics related to: act one scene, character of macbeth, relationship with his wife, thane of cawdor, start of the play

Research essay sample on Act One Scene Relationship With His Wife

Writing service prices per page

  • $18.85 - in 14 days
  • $19.95 - in 3 days
  • $23.95 - within 48 hours
  • $26.95 - within 24 hours
  • $29.95 - within 12 hours
  • $34.95 - within 6 hours
  • $39.95 - within 3 hours
  • Calculate total price

Our guarantee

  • 100% money back guarantee
  • plagiarism-free authentic works
  • completely confidential service
  • timely revisions until completely satisfied
  • 24/7 customer support
  • payments protected by PayPal

Secure payment

With EssayChief you get

  • Strict plagiarism detection regulations
  • 300+ words per page
  • Times New Roman font 12 pts, double-spaced
  • FREE abstract, outline, bibliography
  • Money back guarantee for missed deadline
  • Round-the-clock customer support
  • Complete anonymity of all our clients
  • Custom essays
  • Writing service

EssayChief can handle your

  • essays, term papers
  • book and movie reports
  • Power Point presentations
  • annotated bibliographies
  • theses, dissertations
  • exam preparations
  • editing and proofreading of your texts
  • academic ghostwriting of any kind

Free essay samples

Browse essays by topic:

Stay with EssayChief! We offer 10% discount to all our return customers. Once you place your order you will receive an email with the password. You can use this password for unlimited period and you can share it with your friends!

Academic ghostwriting

About us

© 2002-2024 EssayChief.com