Character
Analysis Macbeth
I am excited that I have been cast in the lead role in William
Shakespeare's play Macbeth.
I have not had the lead role in a major play so I am very excited to
show everybody what I am capable of. I hope I am believable as a big
powerful soldier and warrior. My biggest worry is not being viewed as
bigger than life, like Macbeth is. I plan to eat tons of lean protein
and work out every day so I look fit enough to pull off the role.
I have light brown hair and green eyes naturally. I am thinking
about getting black contact lenses so I can look more regal and
severe. I am a little undersized to play Macbeth so I am going to ask
the costume seamstress to add some stuffing around my shoulders and my
chest, so I look more like a warrior. In the first act my costume
needs to be royal blue to portray my loyalty to the King that I fight
for. For Act II when I kill the King I am going to ask to wear black,
to match the blackness of my heart. Once I become King I believe I
should wear purple, so the public knows that I am a royal.
At the beginning of the play in the first Scene I am a soldier
returning from battle. As far as the audience knows I am brave,
honorable and loyal to my King. Once I meet the three witches my life
begins to unravel. I am already thinking about being King but I am
undecided whether I should allow myself to think this way or not. The
witches seem so sure of my fate. I am suddenly unsure of myself and I
feel an evil growing inside of me. I am filled with self doubt and
inner turmoil. By Act 2 I am ambitious and greedy. Lady Macbeth pumps
me up and lets me know that she will be disappointed in me if I am not
King. I want to be King so badly it is all I think about and I am
willing to betray my dear friend Duncan to do it. I do not care about
the consequences and I am starting not to care about the morality of
what I am thinking of doing. Once I murder King Duncan my life
completely unravels and I start to lose my mind. I am in a constant
state of fear and I have begun to hallucinate constantly. I feel
guilty and have constant self-doubt. My ambitions to be King are
rivaled only by my desire to get away with murder. Slowly I am driving
myself mad.
My behavior is all over the place during the play. In the
beginning of the play when I meet the three witches I am with Banquo.
When I am walking from the battlefield with my friend I feel confident
and secure. I know I am a good soldier and a good friend. When I walk
out on stage I plan to throw out my chest and act manly. When I meet
the witches my acting will have to portray to the audience how
ambitious and greedy I can be. When the witches tell me I will be
Thane of Cawdor I instantly wonder if I do that by murder. I will
radically have to change my facial expressions to show my turbulent
thoughts. I think of myself as loyal and trustworthy and honorable
before meeting the witches. Later in the play, when I am with Lady
Macbeth, she makes me feel weak and like a coward if I do not kill the
King. She tells me I am not living up to my full potential. I believe
this will be my most difficult scene. Lady Macbeth is the love of my
life and I have to portray that I want to make her happy but I fear I
am not the murderer she wants me to be. I do not want Lady Macbeth to
think me a coward. As her husband I will do everything I can to make
my wife happy and proud of me. Thing goodness I get to kill the King
offstage so I don't have to worry about that scene at least. When I
come back on stage I am filled with hate, and my face will have to
show this. I am remorseful and filled with rage. I show my rage
pounding my hands and then brutally murdering the drunk guards. In
this scene I need to look both scary and pitiful so the audience
understands I feel bad about everything I have done so far, yet I am
capable of murder.
In Act one I am walking with my friend. I am proud walking with
Banquo. My voice is clear and strong. My body language shows how proud
I am of my bravery on the battlefield. My face is open, honest and
loyal. I am the perfect masculine ideal and everything about me needs
to seeing regal and above reproach. I walk with purpose knowing that I
am a loyal servant to my King and a hero. My entire personality
changes after hearing the witch’s prophecy for my future. I
instantly feel conflicted and guilty. Proof that I am in ambitious
petty man deep in my heart where nobody can see, I think instantly
about committing murder against my King. My entire mood becomes darker
and I am filled with self doubt. I am also starting to feel consuming
ambition taking over my mind and making me think dark terrible
thoughts. To pull this off in front of a large crowd my face will be
contorted with the agony of self doubt. My eyes should be full of fear
and rage.
Macbeth is a fascinating character to portray onstage. My
favorite quote in the play comes in scene two where I say “Methought
I heard a voice cry ‘sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep”
(2.2.32-33). Here Macbeth praises sleep as a release from all of your
problems in a fantasy world he would like to go back and live in.
Macbeth is also aware that an innocent man can enjoy his sleep in his
dreams. But I am not an innocent man I am the murderous man filled
with rage and hate and self-doubt and I do not deserve sleep and I
will never sleep again. This quote is incredibly important to my
character is the point where madness begins to set in my mind. I know
exactly how I would say this line. The first few words would be in a
loud rage filled scream. By the time I got to sleep no more it would
be in a normal speaking voice. The last section of the quote would
almost be in a loud whisper pitifully with tears in my eyes. I want
the audience to be mad at me and feel sorry for me at the same time. I
am SO getting a Tony award for best performance!!!!
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