Essay/Term paper: Is macbeth a thoroughly representative character?

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Macbeth

Is Macbeth a Thoroughly Representative Character?


Some critics may contend that Macbeth is not a thoroughly representative
character, yet through a close observation and understanding of the drama, it
can be seen that any rational human being, given the identical situation, would
have undergone the exact thought process and taken equal actions as did Macbeth.
Macbeth was presented with a situation where he was forced to make an extreme
decision. His driving ambition to become King of Scotland corrupted him and
caused him to murder not only the king, but all those who had any ties to him.
People may say that Macbeth was insane for doing this, yet others will agree
that the common character would have done the same.
Given the situation, the ideal individual would have undergone the same
alteration as did Macbeth. Presented with an equal degree an opportunity, one
would have become very eager and anxious, thus carrying out the same criminal
actions that Macbeth himself conveyed. A person, always eager to gain endowment,
would jump at the chance to acquire that power as soon as possible, no matter
what they had to do. This is the situation Macbeth was in. He was seeking the
throne, and only wanted to find a faster way to obtain that authority, thus he
killed, lied, and cheated his way to that place of honor.
Readers may debate that Macbeth was indeed insane, thus leading the
reader to believe that he was not representative of a typical human. This is
true, yet any human can be insane, which further proves the validity that
Macbeth was a common individual. Perhaps driven to insanity, no evidence exists
to say that Macbeth was not ordinary, which means that he was not in any way
different from the rest of humanity. What he did in the drama was no different
than what anyone would have done given the position Macbeth was in. Conceivably
an individual may not have murdered and become so very evil, however one would
surely have become eager to gain power and found some way to accelerate the
process.
Ultimately it is seen that Macbeth exhibited all the characteristics of
a typical human, and showed no signs of being abnormal in any way. He was
presented with a situation, and dealt with it as would any individual,
confronting it in his own way, and striving for what he wanted. He was perhaps
insane, however that does not make him any less representative of a common
person.