 Hello dear learners, welcome to today's program. I am Dr. Pallavi Gupta of Krishnakanda Handeek State Open University. Today I shall take up the second video on the unit titled William Shakespeare Macbeth where we shall discuss the major characters of the play. This is unit 10 from the course of general English semester one block two. So let us quickly begin. First I shall begin with the table of contents starting with learning objectives followed by introduction, a discussion on the major characters of the play Macbeth and questions to check your progress followed by the references. Starting with the learning objectives after going through the video the learner will be able to identify the major characters of the play Macbeth and gain a brief idea on some of their characteristics. To provide you with a brief introduction each character in the play has strengths or positive attributes as well as weaknesses or negative attributes. As we see Macbeth is courageous but driven by too much ambition. Similarly Lady Macbeth is an intelligent woman but uses it for negative purposes. Duncan is the epitome of kingly qualities yet it is equally true that he was equally naive as he could not see or perceive the threat to his own life posed by his own men. So let us quickly discuss the characters as revealed in this particular play. Macbeth is introduced at the beginning of the play as a brave and victorious warrior on his return from a battle. He is one of the most skilled warriors and captain in the army of King Duncan of Scotland. In spite of his courageous nature Macbeth suffers from human weaknesses such as pride and over ambition. When he comes to know from the three witches that he is destined to become a king he is no longer satisfied with the position of being a thane. Macbeth with his pride and willingness for bloodshed is completely different from King Duncan who is depicted as an honorable person. Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth has been one of the most ambitious and shooed woman characters ever portrayed in the history of English literature. She is depicted as a highly clever woman skilled in manipulating situations around her in her favor. She is determined from the very beginning and constantly mocks her husband for his lack of courage to kill Duncan. In fact Lady Macbeth played an active role in the murder of the king with her husband. Lady Macbeth suppresses her sense of humanity in her desire to ensure that her husband becomes the king of Scotland. However the violent events that follow the death of Duncan slowly leads to her loss of sanity. The three witches the three witches are the three weird sisters as mentioned in the play are described as strange creatures who seem to belong to a different world altogether. Their presence and words are eerie suggesting something ominous. They are unappealing in appearance so to say with thin wave-like fingers and beds on their faces. The witches have been clearly inspired by the fates of Greek mythology who control and manipulate the destiny of human beings. The witches are an active agent in bringing about the fall and subsequent death of Macbeth. Macduff in the play Macbeth is the antagonist while Macduff is the archetypal avenging hero who fights for honor and a good cause. Macduff is an important character as he represents a person avenging himself for the justice done while Macbeth kills people for his own interests. Macduff decides to kill Macbeth for the cause of his nation so there's a difference. Bangu. Bangu plays the companion and rival of none other than Macbeth however he is more humane than Macbeth. One is more sympathetic towards him since he is unaware of what Macbeth had planned for Duncan and him. Also Bangu is portrayed as a concerned father who shares an affectionate relationship with his son King Duncan. King Duncan is a symbol of the justice and honor who is essential for the smooth running of the country. Another important quality in King Duncan is his modesty in accepting his flaws. It is this ignorance perhaps that led to King Duncan becoming a victim of Macbeth and his wife's plans. The king was seen as a divine representative of God in the early ages and King Duncan's personality essentially reflected this. Malcolm and Donalbane. Malcolm and Donalbane are the two sons of Duncan. The two princes fled from the country soon after the murder of the father fearing that they would be wrongly accused of the murder. Donalbane escapes to Ireland while Malcolm escapes to England. While Macbeth works for his own advancement regardless of Scotland's position, Malcolm desires the security advancement of his country Scotland. As such Malcolm was the rightful heir to the throne. This brings us to the end of this particular video. I shall leave you with a few questions to check your progress. Starting with question number one. Question number one. Why is Macbeth dissatisfied of simply being in the position of the Thane? Question number two. Why is Lady Macbeth considered an ambitious and shoot woman character in Macbeth? Question number three. Describe the three witches of the play Macbeth in a few lines. Question number four. How is Duncan the king of Scotland portrayed in the play Macbeth? Question number five. How is Malcolm different from the character of Macbeth? Here are the references. I hope you go through the English graduate self-learning material that is the SLM of German English. Locked to unit 10 semester one. Thank you dear learners.