Ways in Which William Shakespeare Shows Dislike and Sympathy for Macbeth

In this essay, I will be looking at ways in which William Shakespeare shows sympathy and dislike for Macbeth. I will refer to historical context as well as the play on a whole.

The play Macbeth which was set in Scotland, was written by William Shakespeare in the early 1600’s. This play was a tragedy and was written for King James I a year after the gunpowder plot. The play was to some extent a tale to caution any potential killers of the king (regicides) as to what would happen to them if they attempted to blow up King James and his parliament as Guy Fawkes did.

Macbeth starts out as a very brave warrior. On his way back from fighting the Norwegians he encountered the three witches who told him that he would become king and Thane of Cawdor. Upon his return the first part of the prophecy came true. Macbeth informs his wife of the predictions and she tries to persuade him to kill Duncan. Macbeth yields to temptation and becomes very heartless killing everyone in his path so that he could become king. He became king and eventually died when he was defeated in war against Macduff.

We first feel sympathy for Macbeth in Act 1 Scene 7. In this scene, his wife, Lady Macbeth, persuades him to kill King Duncan in order to fulfil the second part of the witches’ prophecy. Macbeth considers reasons why he should not kill King Duncan. Evidence of this is in Macbeth’s soliloquy, and i quote” 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.” He explains that he is a kinsman and subject of King Duncan and it is his duty to protect Duncan. He then goes on to say that he invited Duncan over to his castle and he should be closing the door in the face of whoever wanted to murder Duncan and also that he should not be the who is trying to kill Duncan himself.

Another instance where Macbeth can be sympathised