Characters

=**//Macbeth – Character List//**= = =

BBC Character Summary

A captain in Duncan’s army, later the Thane (Lord) of Glamis and Cawdor. When Three Witches predict that he will one day be king of Scotland, he takes his fate into his own hands, allowing his ambition and that of his wife to overcome his better judgement. His bloody reign culminates in a battle against Malcolm and the English forces. The wife of Macbeth, whose ambition helps to drive her husband toward the desperate act of murder. Subsequently, her husband’s cruelty and her own guilt send her into a madness from which she never recovers. A fellow-captain and companion of Macbeth, who also receives a prophecy from the Witches: that his children will one day succeed to the throne of Scotland. This information is sufficient to spell his death at the hands of the resentful Macbeth, who is later haunted by Banquo’s ghost. His victories against rebellious kinsmen and the Norwegians have made him a popular and honoured king. His decision to pass the kingdom to his son Malcolm provokes his untimely death at the hands of Macbeth. Escapes Macbeth’s plot on his life and will go on to be father to a line of kings, including a certain King James who ruled when Shakespeare wrote the play and would have seen it. Fearful of implication in their father’s murder, they flee Scotland, Donalbain to Ireland and Malcolm to England, where he raises a large army with the intention of toppling the tyrant Macbeth. Discovers the body of murdered King Duncan. Suspecting Macbeth and eventually turning against him, Macduff flees to England to join Malcolm. When Macbeth arranges the murder of his wife and children, Macduff swears revenge. All eventually turn against the tyrannical Macbeth. All have a certain degree of wisdom and foresight. The Porter hints at the Hell-like nature of Macbeth’s castle; the Old Man associates the murder of King Duncan with the instability of the natural world; the Doctors recognize disease and disorder even though they cannot cure it. The three agents of Fate who reveal the truth (or part of it) to Macbeth and Banquo. Later, they appear to confirm the downfall and tragic destiny of the tyrannical Macbeth.
 * __Macbeth__**
 * __Lady Macbeth__**
 * __Banquo__**
 * __Duncan King of Scotland__**
 * __Fleance, Banquo’s son__**
 * __Donalbain and Malcolm, Duncan’s two sons__**
 * __Macduff, A thane (nobleman) of Scotland__**
 * __Lennox, Ross, Menteth, Angus, Caithness Thanes of Scotland,__**
 * __The Porter, the Old Man, the Doctors - Three commentators on events__**
 * __The Witches__**