Chapter Introduction of Macbeth - Study Guide by William Shakespeare

is submissive and accommodating. Macbeth himself is a mixture of hero and villain. Our response to his actions and his subsequent death is ambiguous. We both condemn him and sympathize with him. Crucially, the characters that are supposed to represent good (Duncan, Banquo, Malcolm) are insubstantial and weak, allowing us to relate all the more to Macbeth’s charisma and valor.

Sources

The main source for Macbeth is Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland. Shakespeare seems to have combined two historical figures, Donwald, who murdered King Duff in 967AD; and Macbeth, who murdered Duncan in 1040AD.