Macbeth Macbeth is a Scottish general and the thane of Glamis who was led to wicked thoughts by the prophecies of the three witches, especially after their prophecy that he would be made thane of Cawdor comes true. Macbeth was a brave soldier and a powerful man, but he was not a virtuous one. He was easily tempted into murder to fulfill his ambitions to the throne, and once he commits his first crime and …
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…to the arena where he has been most successful and where his internal turmoil need not affect himnamely, the battlefield. Unlike many of Shakespeare's other tragic heroes, Macbeth never seems to contemplate suicide: "Why should I play the Roman fool," he asks, "and die / On mine own sword?" (V.x.12). Instead, he goes down fighting, bringing the play full circle: it begins with Macbeth winning on the battlefield and ends with him dying in combat.