# Macbeth — Character guide

> Key figures in Macbeth by William Shakespeare.

- [Macbeth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/macbeth_se/characters/macbeth.md): Macbeth returns from victory crowned Thane of Cawdor, the witches' first prophecy already true, and Duncan's naming of Malcolm as heir plants a step he feels he must either fall from or leap over. He is a man of conscien
- [Lady Macbeth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/macbeth_se/characters/lady_macbeth.md): Where her husband hesitates, Lady Macbeth calculates, calling on spirits to unsex her and thicken her blood so no compunction can shake her purpose. She fears his nature is too full of the milk of human kindness to catch
- [Banquo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/macbeth_se/characters/banquo.md): Banquo shares the prophecy that made Macbeth king, but the witches also promised his own sons would be kings, a hope he keeps hushed and half-believed. He is brave, loyal, and shrewd enough to note that Macbeth played mo
- [Macduff](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/macbeth_se/characters/macduff.md): Macduff is the loyal thane who discovers Duncan's body, declines to attend Macbeth's investiture at Scone, and quietly returns to Fife rather than wear the new king's favor. His wife and children remain at his castle, an
- [Malcolm](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/macbeth_se/characters/malcolm.md): When his father is murdered, Malcolm does not stay to mourn or to be mourned; he reads the danger in men's smiles and rides for England, leaving suspicion to fall on him. He is young, watchful, and already learning that 
- [King Duncan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/macbeth_se/characters/duncan.md): Duncan is a ruler whose virtues are so clear in his great office that they plead like angels, and whose trust in his host is absolute enough to make him the perfect guest. He rewards Macbeth with the title of Cawdor, nam
- [Lady Macduff](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/macbeth_se/characters/lady_macduff.md): She is the lady of Macduff's castle, left behind with her children when her husband slips away to England, and she reads his flight as betrayal rather than prudence. Her scene with her witty son — sparring over traitors,
- [Ross](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/macbeth_se/characters/ross.md): Ross is a nobleman and reliable messenger whose appearances stitch together the play's scattered locations, from the king's camp to Macduff's castle to the feast where Banquo's ghost appears. At that banquet he is the fi
- [Lennox](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/macbeth_se/characters/lennox.md): Lennox is a thane whose steady presence at court makes him a useful barometer of what Scotland's nobles are willing to say aloud. On the morning after Duncan's murder he describes the unruly night — chimneys blown down, 
- [Angus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/macbeth_se/characters/angus.md): Scottish thane loyal to Malcolm.
- [Donalbain](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/macbeth_se/characters/donalbain.md): Duncan's younger son who flees to Ireland after the murder.
- [Hecate](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/macbeth_se/characters/hecate.md): Goddess of witchcraft who chides the three witches.
- [Three Witches](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/macbeth_se/characters/three_witches.md): They are the play's supernatural instigators, gathering in fog and filthy air to plan a meeting with Macbeth before the battle is even won. Their chant — 'Fair is foul, and foul is fair' — sets the moral weather of the w
- [Fleance](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/macbeth_se/characters/fleance.md): Banquo's son who escapes the murderers.
- [Siward](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/macbeth_se/characters/siward.md): Earl of Northumberland who leads English forces against Macbeth.
- [Young Siward](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/macbeth_se/characters/young_siward.md): Siward's son, killed by Macbeth in battle.
- [Seyton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/macbeth_se/characters/seyton.md): Macbeth's armourer and attendant.
- [Doctor](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/macbeth_se/characters/doctor.md): Physician who observes Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking.
- [Gentlewoman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/macbeth_se/characters/gentlewoman.md): Lady Macbeth's waiting woman who reports her sleepwalking.
- [Murderers](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/macbeth_se/characters/murderers.md): Hired killers who assassinate Banquo and attempt to kill Fleance.
- [Lord](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/macbeth_se/characters/lord.md): Scottish nobleman who speaks of Malcolm's exile.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/macbeth_se/characters