Was Macbeth a good man?

Question

ok so in know its an opinion but, i want to know what everyone else thinks.

Answer 1

At the beginning of the play, he is not just a good man, he's a HERO. All we know of Macbeth before we first meet him (and witness his first encounter with the witches) is that he almost single-handedly saved Scotland from its various aggressors.

As an actor, you'd need to think long and hard about the aspects of Macbeth's nature that make him susceptible to the witches' insinuations, but...outside of the King, he is -- at the start of the play -- the strongest, most powerful, and (probably) most popular man in the land.

You see, this is how a classical tragedy works. We need to witness the FALL of a powerful central character. The further he falls, the more effective the tragedy. To make Macbeth a HERO at the outset gives him the greatest descent into a world of unspeakable evil.

Answer 2

In a true tragedy, the hero is always a good man who makes a bad choice which leads to his own downfall. Macbeth is no exception.

It's important to remember that, in Scotland at the time of this play, the King was not a political leader, he was a military leader. The throne was passed on based on military accomplishments. The natural order in Scotland was that the King would reign until he died, and then the greatest warrior in the kingdom would succeed him. This is why Macbeth says "If chance would have me king, chance may crown me without my stir." After defeating Cawdor in battle, Macbeth is the greatest warrior in the land, and he knows he deserves to be the rightful heir to the throne.

At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is defending the natural order. The King should reign until he dies, and when Cawdor tries to overthrow Duncan, Cawdor has violated the natural order. Therefore Macbeth destroys him, and returns events to their proper course. In that respect he is not only a good man, he is a great man.

Duncan is the next one to violate the natural order. When he names Malcolm his successor instead of Macbeth he has broken the ordained line of succession. Therefore he deserves to be destroyed. However, the only way for him to receive his deserts is for SOMEBODY ELSE to violate the natural order. Somebody must be damned for this usurpation. When Macbeth acts to restore the natural order, he also upsets that same order. This is when his intense self-destruction begins.

By the end Macbeth is using violence to control his own people, dispensing rewards unequal to what others deserve, and making alliances with the Devil, all of which are violations of the natural order. Thus by the end Macbeth has fallen from being a great man into being a foul despot. And it is in this fall that the tragedy takes place.

Answer 3

Before he was visited by the witches, and he learned of his and Banquo's prophecy, Macbeth was a good guy, being a general for King Duncan. Then, his wife and him decided that he must be king.