Sympathy for the Devil

Of all the characters in William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, I sympathize the most with Macbeth. I feel sorry for everything bad that happens to and is said to Macbeth. In Act I, when the witches prophesize that Macbeth will become the Thane of Cawdor and later the King, it is as though his future is already predicted. Macbeth is so unsure of himself that he listens to and believes the witches prophesies, especially after he becomes the Thane of Cawdor. Then he realizes that perhaps his future HAS already been decided for him... Macbeth probably would have been just as happy to stay being the Thane of Cawdor. We feel sorry for Macbeth as events seem to be beyond his control. The witches’ prophecy of Macbeth becoming King together with Lady Macbeth’s nagging and insistence pushes Macbeth to murder King Duncan.

In Act 2, after having killed Duncan, Macbeth returns to Lady Macbeth horrified because of the blood on his hands, saying “I am afraid to think what I have done”(l. 54). She scolds both his thoughts and his concern for the voice he heard call out. He is so ruled and hen-pecked by his wife, that he weakly does everything she suggests. Poor Macbeth.

Even though Macbeth has committed treason in murdering Duncan, he is shown as a loyal and brave soldier who fights for his country. “I'll fight till from my bones my flesh be hacked. Give me my armor.” (A.5 s.3 l.32-33). I feel pity for this professional soldier who, because of the desires of Lady Macbeth, felt he had to aspire to greater things. Someone else always makes the decisions for him and we feel sorry for this insecure character.

Macbeth’s guilty conscience tortures him so much after Duncan’s murder that when he becomes king, he doesn’t really enjoy his new role. He is full of pain and suffering and torment, haunted by the ghosts in his imagination. At the end of the play, Macbeth loses everything…not only his kingship but also all interest in life itself, especially after Lady Macbeth, the source of his strength, commits suicide. Macbeth is shown throughout Shakespeare’s play to be a tortured soul, a man to be pitied and empathized with.