Analysis of Macbeth in Act One

In William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, the character of Macbeth is a brave warrior, an ambitious man, but also a very indecisive man during the course of the first act. Macbeth is a mighty warrior who has just won a war for Scotland. He shows no mercy toward his enemies. Before the audience even meets Macbeth, a sergeant states that brave Macbeth met an enemy and "he unseamed him from the nave to the chops,/And …

…about the murder, Macbeth says "I am settled, and bend up Each corporal agent to this terrible feat. Away, and mock the time with fairest show: False face must hide what the false heart doth know." (1.7.79). Lady Macbeth used his indecisiveness against him to manipulate him back into wanting to kill King Duncan. Indecisiveness, ambition for the throne, and sheer brutality in war are the defining characteristics of Macbeth in act one of Shakespeare's Macbeth.