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