Essay, Research Paper: Is Macbeth A Thouroughly Representative Character

"Is Macbeth a Thoroughly Representative Character?"


Some critics may contend that Macbeth is not a thoroughly representative character, yet through a close observation and understanding of the drama, it can be seen that any rational human being, given the identical situation, would have undergone the exact thought process and taken equal actions as did Macbeth. Macbeth was presented with a situation where he was forced to make an extreme decision. His driving ambition to become King of Scotland corrupted him and caused him to murder not only the king, but all those who had any ties to him. People may say that Macbeth was insane for doing this, yet others will agree that the common character would have done the same.
Given the situation, the ideal individual would have undergone the same alteration as did Macbeth. Presented with an equal degree an opportunity, one would have become very eager and anxious, thus carrying out the same criminal actions that Macbeth himself conveyed. A person, always eager to gain endowment, would jump at the chance to acquire that power as soon as possible, no matter what they had to do. This is the situation Macbeth was in. He was seeking the throne, and only wanted to find a faster way to obtain that authority, thus he killed, lied, and cheated his way to that place of honor.
Readers may debate that Macbeth was indeed insane, thus leading the reader to believe that he was not representative of a typical human. This is true, yet any human can be insane, which further proves the validity that Macbeth was a common individual. Perhaps driven to insanity, no evidence exists to say that Macbeth was not ordinary, which means that he was not in any way different from the rest of humanity. What he did in the drama was no different than what anyone would have done given the position Macbeth was in. Conceivably an individual may not have murdered and become so very evil, however one would surely have become eager to gain power and found some way to accelerate the process.
Ultimately it is seen that Macbeth exhibited all the characteristics of a typical human, and showed no signs of being abnormal in any way. He was presented with a situation, and dealt with it as would any individual, confronting it in his own way, and striving for what he wanted. He was perhaps insane, however that does not make him any less representative of a common person.