Killing as a Moral Barometer in Macbeth In William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, the title character is a murderer. Over the course of the show, he kills five different people or groups of people, one in each act. These are, respectively, Macdonwald, Duncan, Banquo, the family of Macduff, and young Siward. These five murders are different. At first Macbeth kills for his king. He then suffers a fall from grace before finally becoming a noble figure again. But more interesting than this process is the way Shakespeare shows us the changes in Macbeth's character. Shakespeare uses the murders as a sort of "barometer" to illustrate these changes. Before the play begins, Macbeth's Scotland and Norway fight a war. In this war, Macbeth is a hero, admired for his courage and strength: But all is too weak; For brave Macbeth (well, he deserves that name) Disdaining fortune, with his steel brandished, That smoked like bloody execution, Like valor's servant, carved out of his passage till he faced the slave; who never shook his hand, nor said good-bye, till he unstitched him from the nave at the ribs, and fixed his head upon our battlements. (Captain, 1.2.17-25) The kill described here by the Captain is Macbeth's most heroic kill. The Captain admires him for his remarkable courage. The other members of the Scottish court continue to praise him. The reason Macbeth kills here, unlike all his subsequent murders, is not a personal one. This is a selfless, courageous and heroic act which is believed to save Scotland from total destruction. Shakespeare uses this killing to introduce Macbeth to the audience. Here we see Macbeth as a hero. This is perhaps the most powerful way Shakespeare could present Macbeth's heroism to us. What could be more heroic than killing for your king? Likewise, what could be more evil than killing your own king? Macbeth, due to his courage in the war, is made Thane of Cawdor, part of a three-part prophecy given to him by the Weird Sisters. Macbeth wishes to complete the prophecy and become king. Yet, at this point, Macbeth is torn between killing and not killing. He is loyal to Duncan: "He is here with double confidence:/First of all, as I am his kinsman and his subject,/Strong both against the deed; then, as his guest,/Who should shut the door against his murderer, /I don't carry the knife myself.