Charisma is an interesting thing because it is essentially something that can't be learned. It's an innate quality about a person. The Merriam-Webster dictionary has a great definition of charisma:
a personal magic of leadership arousing special popular loyalty or enthusiasm for a public figure (such as a political leader)
What I like most about that particular definition is the use of the word "magic." Even the dictionary recognizes that there is something mysterious about charisma. A person that has it somehow draws people in. He or she inspires them and gives them confidence. People want to do well by a charismatic figure. Macbeth is indeed a man with charisma, but it is easier to find evidence of it in the beginning of the play.
In Act 1, Scene 2, Shakespeare has a captain telling the king how awesome Macbeth was in the previous battle.
For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name—
Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel,
Which smoked with bloody execution,
Like valor’s minion carved out his passage
Till he faced the slave;
Macbeth is a man who well deserves to be called brave. He has valor, and he leads from the front. He's not an officer who tells men to fight while watching from the safety of the strategy tent. Macbeth is in the thick of it. People want to follow those who lead by example, and Macbeth is established as a brave man of action. Even Duncan vocally supports this notion.
O valiant cousin! Worthy gentleman!
Next, Ross tells Duncan all about Macbeth; however, Ross ups the ante. He doesn't just call Macbeth brave for standing up against the traitor. Instead, Ross tells Duncan that Macbeth behaved as if he were the husband of Bellona, the goddess of war. Macbeth practically has mythic qualities about him at this point.
Till that Bellona’s bridegroom, lapped in proof,
Confronted him with self-comparisons,
Point against point, rebellious arm 'gainst arm,
Curbing his lavish spirit; and to conclude,
The victory fell on us.
Act 1, Scene 4 also has a good line that shows Macbeth's charismatic magnetism. At this point in the play, Duncan and Macbeth have been speaking about the battle and offering congratulations to each other. Near the end of the scene, Duncan invites himself and others over to Macbeth's castle, and Duncan says the following line.
From hence to Inverness,
And bind us further to you.
Notice that Duncan wants to bind himself ("us") to Macbeth. He doesn't say that he wants Macbeth to further bind himself to Duncan. The line shows that even kings want to be near and around Macbeth. There is something that he has that others want to bask in and follow.
Friday, November 20, 2015
What is an example of Macbeth's charisma?
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