Response to the Character of Macbeth

My response to the character of Macbeth:

In the first scene the three witches meet upon heath. It is here that they plan to meet Macbeth and it is in their very first conversation that the audience discovers the major theme in the play: appearances can be deceiving. Lady Macbeth later echoes this when she says, ‘False face must hide what the false heart doth know’. Throughout the play the line, ‘foul is fair’ is often repeated to bring us back to the main point of the play.

In the opening scenes of the play Macbeth is described as a brave and valiant soldier. It is clear from this that he is a highly respected man and it is said that he has very admirable qualities. We know this because a bloody soldier tells the King of his fierce fighting with Banquo. They both fought like they were possessed; ‘cannons overcharged with double cracks’, at one point Macbeth is even described to have killed Macdownald by ‘unseeming him from the nave to th’ chops’. When bot...