Macbeth: The Nature of EvilIn Macbeth, the character of Macbeth has a. a firm and correct understanding of self-knowledge and a well-developed conception of the universe and one's place in it. He deliberately ignores his own thoughts and moral institutions. According to Bernard McElroy, “more than any other Shakespearean hero, he [Macbeth] has a perfectly clear idea of ​​who he is and his position – and it is precisely this perception that torments and destroys him spiritually” (330). Macbeth is strongly driven to evil but he also hates evil. This is what makes Macbeth hate himself. The play explores the tensions between Macbeth's propensity for evil and his horror of evil. Macbeth is a tragic hero because he is caught in tensions between his criminal actions and the reaction of his conscience. If Macbeth had committed these acts without any remorse, he would have simply been an evil monster, without any hope. But it is his awareness of evil that makes him tragic. Through Macbeth's actions, Shakespeare is able to portray the nature of evil as: lustful, deceitful, tyrannical, and disruptive to the family. To begin with, Macbeth himself is a symbol of Satan's sin of ambition. Like Satan, Macbeth's insatiable thirst for power and ambition drives him to commit evil. Although Macbeth's ambition is not bad in itself: "His very strong, worldly but valuable social sense, coupled with that gift of imaginative expression by which he far eclipses all others, makes him naturally and justly eager to gain “golden opinions” of all kinds. people” [I.vii.33]” (Elliot, 288). However, Shakespeare claims that Macbeth knows his place in nature and is overly ambitious according to Calvinist doctrine...... middle of paper ...... and consumed by it. Works Cited Bethell, SL "Shakespeare's Imagery: The Diabolic Images in Othello" in Shakespeare Survey: Volume 5. Edited by Allardyce Nicoll (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1952) Elliot, GR "Introduction: On 'Macbeth' as ​​Apex of Shakspearean Tragedy" in Shakespearean Criticism, Volume 3. Edited by Laurie Harris (Gale: 1984)McElroy, Bernard, "Macbeth: The torture of the Mind" in Shakespearean Criticism, Volume 3. Edited by Laurie Harris (Gale: 1984)Ribner, Irving. “Macbeth: The Pattern of Idea and Action,” in Shakespearean Criticism, Volume 3. Edited by Laurie Harris (Gale: 1984) Shakespeare, William. Othello. Edited by Norman Sanders. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984)----, Macbeth, World Literary Heritage, Volume 1.0 (California: Softbit, Inc. MS-DOS/MS - Windows 3.1, CD ROM)