Macbeth Characters – Descriptions & Full List

This article will provide a detailed description of every character in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. If you’ve read my summary, you’ll know that things go from bad to worse for the Thane of Cawdor. No sooner does a trio of witches tell him he’s going to be king, than he starts thinking bloody thoughts. Read on for a concise breakdown of the play’s thanes, ladies, sons, and witches. 

Also check out our Best Macbeth Quotes and Macbeth Plot Summary.

The quotes are from Project Gutenberg’s searchable Macbeth. 

Main Characters – Macbeth

The Three Witches

It might seem strange to begin with a description of the witches (rather than Macbeth himself). At the same time, the witches’ prophecy provides the motor (and justification) for Macbeth’s violence. Even before we meet the main characters, the witches tell us that they’ll be meeting Macbeth later on the heath “when the battle’s lost and won.”  

When the play starts, the three witches are already on stage. Citing Coleridge, G.K. Hunter writes that the witches “‘strike the keynote of the character of the whole drama’” (843). What then is this “keynote”? The witches’ most famous declaration in act 1, scene 1 – that “Fair is foul and foul is fair” – provides a good summation of the ethical quandary facing Macbeth. Confronted with the possibility of becoming King of Scotland, the fair Macbeth launches into a succession of foul choices that end with the slaughter of women and children. 

Macbeth Character Descriptions (Continued) 

After the details of the characters and setting are introduced in Act 1, Scene 2, the witches return to the stage in scene 3. Just before Macbeth and Banquo arrive, the “Weird Sisters” are in the process of cursing a sailor whose wife has offended them. When Macbeth approaches them, the witches greet him with three titles, “Thane of Glamis,” “Thane of Cawdor,” and “king hereafter.” These titles represent what Macbeth is – Thane of Glamis – what he will be – Thane of Cawdor – and what he might be – king. Thus the die is cast.

By the time the witches return in act four, scene one, Macbeth is “in blood / Stepped in so far, that…Returning were as tedious as go o’er.” In other words, the only way out it through. At the same time, the witches function very differently here than they did at the beginning of the play. They tell Macbeth three things – that he should “beware Macduff,” that “none of woman born / Shall harm” him, and that he “shall never vanquished be, until / Great Birnan Wood to high Dusinane Hill / Shall come against him.” As I mention elsewhere (<— link to Macbeth quotes), there is a great deal of ambiguity to these warnings. While Macbeth hears reassurance, there’s nothing inherently reassuring in the witches’ predictions. 

Hecate 

Hecate is a strange character who appears out of nowhere in Act 3, Scene 5. The head witch (witch-boss?), she berates the others for giving Macbeth prophecies. She then says that she will meet them later with Macbeth to “draw him on to his confusion.” G.K. Hunter notes that many consider Hecate to be an interpolation (905). As such, this character is often omitted from the play. 

Macbeth Character Descriptions (Continued) 

Macbeth

First, a quick synopsis – Macbeth is a fierce Thane in the service of King Duncan. While returning from war (he killed the traitor Macdonwald and led a defense against Norwegian troops), he meets three witches who tell him he’ll be king. This fallout from this prediction is calamitous. In the pursuit of his goal, Macbeth kills King Duncan, two random guards, his (Macbeth’s) best friend, and the whole Macduff clan. When an army led by Duncan’s son, Malcolm, attacks, Macbeth is killed and Malcolm ascends to the throne. 

But this is just the plot of the play. What’s interesting about Macbeth as a character is how he wrestles with the prediction of the witches. When he first plots to kill the king, Macbeth isn’t exactly enthusiastic – his wife has to egg him on several times. Upon hearing the witches’ prediction in Act 1, Scene 3, he wonders if he needs to do anything in order for it to come true. He says, “If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me / Without my stir.” One can imagine a thought experiment in which Macbeth does nothing and still becomes king after Duncan dies in a horse-riding accident. Macbeth’s hubris is thinking that his actions are somehow necessary for the prophecy to be fulfilled. In short, Macbeth’s fault is that he attempts to assert his own agency when confronted with fate. 

Macbeth Character Descriptions (Continued) 

This same fault is present when Macbeth returns to the witches in Act Four. Consider the witches’ first piece of advice to Macbeth – “beware Macduff”. Macbeth hears this and decides to kill Macduff’s entire family. In other words, he believes that knowing the prophecy allows him to change the future. This is not the case – Macduff is the one who eventually kills Macbeth. (Indeed, one might argue that Macbeth killing Macduff’s entire family goads the latter to violence.) In other words, Macbeth believes that he understands the witches’ predictions and that this understanding allows him to act. 

Lady Macbeth 

I’m not sure if Macbeth would have kept his nerve without the encouragement of his wife, Lady Macbeth. From the moment she hears about the witches’ predictions, she knows that Macbeth might not be cut out for the violence required. (On the other hand, she herself would have “dashed the brains out” of her own baby if she had promised to do it.) It’s no surprise that when Macbeth loses his nerve, it’s his wife who shames him back in line. (If you’re interested in the ambivalent morals of Lady Macbeth, here’s an excellent essay.)

Though she might be the hard-hearted goad to Mabeth’s actions, Lady Macbeth doesn’t come out unscathed. The deaths of Duncan, Banquo, and Macduff’s family weigh heavily on her conscience. In act five, scene one, Lady Macbeth is seen sleepwalking – she mimes washing her hands and utters the iconic, “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!” Sometime around the time the English army reaches Macbeth’s castle, Lady Macbeth kills herself. 

Macbeth Character List (Continued) 

Banquo 

As Macbeth’s comrade in arms, Banquo shows a different way of reacting to the witches’ prophecy. While the witches tell Macbeth he will be king, they tell Banquo that he “shall get kings, though…be none.” Let’s consider this moment. On the one hand, Macbeth hears he’s going to be king and immediately thinks – “murder!” Surely Banquo’s moral fiber is of a different sort, as he makes no such leap. Ultimately, Macbeth’s paranoia dooms Banquo. Though Macbeth orders him killed, Banquo’s son, Fleance, escapes. At the same time, none of Macbeth’s actions manage to change the result of the witches’ predictions. Even though Banquo is dead, the witches show Macbeth the eight generations of kings that Banquo’s son will beget. 

Macduff 

The Thane of Fife, Macduff is loyal to King Duncan and quickly suspects that Macbeth had something to do with his death. Macduff eventually goes to England to ask Duncan’s son, Malcolm, to come back to Scotland to overthrow Macbeth. While in England, Macduff receives word that Macbeth has slaughtered his wife and children. He vows to avenge their deaths and travels with Malcolm’s army to kill Macbeth. 

When the army reaches his castle, Macbeth is still unconcerned, as the witches have promised him that “none of woman born / Shall harm” him. In a twist, we find out that Macduff was born via cesarean – hence, not “of woman born.” Macduff fights Macbeth, kills him, and brings his head to Malcolm. 

Macbeth Character Descriptions (Continued) 

Lady Macduff

Lady Macduff is perhaps the most sympathetic character in the play. She doesn’t know why her husband has fled to England. Though she tells her son that his father is a traitor, I get the feeling she doesn’t believe it. When an unnamed messenger urges her to flee in act four, scene two, she demures, saying, “I have done no harm.” At the same time, she realizes that “in this earthly world…to do harm / Is often laudable, [and] to do good sometime…folly.” The murderers kill her son in front of her.  

Duncan 

The king of Scotland at the beginning of the play, Duncan is fair and just. After Macbeth’s victories over the forces of Norway, he travels to Macbeth’s castle. Macbeth kills him and frames his guards. 

Macbeth Character Descriptions (Continued) 

Malcolm

The elder of Duncan’s two sons, he is immediately suspicious when his father is killed. After his father’s death, Malcolm travels to England where he plots to overthrow Macbeth. At the end of the play Malcolm, Macduff, and Seyward lead an army to defeat Macbeth. When Macduff kills Macbeth, Malcolm invites the assembled to his coronation in Scone. 

Minor Characters

Donalbain

The younger of Duncan’s two sons, Donalbain flees to Ireland after his father’s suspicious death. Nothing more is heard about him. 

Fleance

Fleance is Banquo’s son. Though the murderers try to kill him (and his father), he manages to escape. The play doesn’t tell us what happens to Fleance, but we know that he will eventually beget eight generations of kings. 

Macbeth Character List (Continued) 

Ross

Related to Macduff and a loyal Thane of Scotland, Ross frequently brings news to other characters. For example, at the beginning of the play, it is Ross who tells King Duncan of Macbeth’s bravery. Ross tells Macbeth that he is the Thane of Cawdor and also tells Macduff that Macbeth has slaughtered his family. 

Lennox, Menteth, Cathness, and Angus

Thanes of Scotland, these four characters desert Macbeth and join the army of Malcolm and Macduff. 

Seyward

Sometimes spelled “Siward,” he is a general in the English forces that attack Macbeth’s castle. His son, Young Seyward, is killed by Macbeth in the final scene of the play.  

Macbeth Character Descriptions (Continued) 

Young Seyward

Though he gets in a few good lines – “Thou liest, abhorred tyrant!” – Young Seyward is no match for Macbeth, who kills him quickly. 

Wrapping Up – Macbeth Character Descriptions 

Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tangled web of betrayal, hubris, and violence. Ultimately, Macbeth’s fault is his abandonment of the social mores and loyalties that knit his society together. In his pursuit of power, he wrongly believes that he alone has the power to shape his destiny. 

Macbeth Character Descriptions – Additional Resources 

If you’ve found this article useful or interesting, you can also check out my summaries and analyses of 1984, The Great Gatsby, Hamlet, The Crucible, Beloved, Brave New World, Frankenstein, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.