He is primarily a warrior- courage is his defining quality
"For brave Macbeth- well he deserves that name "
The captain describes Macbeth's bravery in battle
He is not essentially a brutal character.
Lady Macbeth thinks that he is too kind to be
killing- almost too innocent
"Yet I do fear thy nature. It is too full of the milk of human kindness to catch the
nearest way"
Banquo observes the witches prophecies that came
true, but he fears his friend has accelerated events
with dishonesty
"Thou hast it now: Thane of Cawdor, Glamis all, As the weird women promised, and, I
fear, Thou hast play'dst most foully for it."
Macbeth is thought of as a mass murderer
"he unseamed him from the nave to th'chaps"
"carved out his passage"
Macbeth is the fatal protagonist of the play whose tragic rise and fall is told. Although he is initially presented as a hero who is brave and valiant, we
witness how ambition drives Macbeth to betrayal, brutality and ultimately his death.