Meet Macbeth

Macbeth is expressed first through indirect characterization from the sergeant when he says, "For brave Macbeth--well he deserves that name--Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel, Which smoked with bloody execution, Like valour's minion carved out his passage." This indirect characterization shows how much Macbeth is disliked and almost called a fool. We see that Macbeth is very naive and power hungry through the words of others in which he is willing to do anything to get what he wants. The elements the witches provide in the play is foreshadowing in which they predicted that Macbeth will succeed in earning his power and that Banquo will end up jealous of Macbeth. Shakespeare uses the witches to foreshadow the future of the play but doesn't give too much away because he wants the actual events to remain a mystery. Shakespeare does this through his colloquialism of the characters and the imagery the words create.  The tone of Shakespeare towards Macbeth is cynical because the play being about jealousy and the abduction of power to those who don't necessarily deserve it.