The tragedy, Macbeth, was written by William Shakespeare. Over the course of the play, the main character, Macbeth, undergoes a continuous degradation of moral character. He endures a change with the murder of King Duncan that reduces him from his moral and good status. This change of character from good to evil significantly affects Macbeth's attitude towards the other characters. Finally, he becomes wicked in his ways and develops into a tyrant and a butcher.

Macbeth’s character changes dramatically when he commits the murder of King Duncan. He is immediately changed to attempting to cover up his action and placing the blame on someone else. When the thought of murdering Duncan occurs to Macbeth immediately after learning that he has been named Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth cannot believe he might "yield to that suggestion / Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair / And make my seated heart knock at my ribs" (I.iii.133-35).Before Macbeth hears the witches' first prophecy, he is very loyal to Duncan. When Lady Macbeth enters, she uses persuasion techniques to convince Macbeth that murder is, the right thing to do. He then tells her "I am settled"(I.vii.79). He is firmly seated in his beliefs that killing Duncan is the right thing to do, until he performs the murder. He is then so horrified by the act that, for a moment, he forgets where he is. We learn from the murder that Macbeth truly had faith in the King and was very loyal, but under the combined forces of his wife's persuasion and his own vaulting ambition, he is put in an evil frame of mind just long enough to kill Duncan.

The way Macbeth acts toward the three witches changes significantly as the play progresses. He depends on the witches for a long time, even after he murders Banquo. In act 3, scene 4, when he remarks that,