Macbeth: The Nature of EvilIn Macbeth, the character of Macbeth has a. firm and correct understanding of self-knowledge and a well-developed concept of the universe and one's place in it. He willfully ignores his own thoughts and moral institutions. According to Bernard McElroy, "more than any other Shakespearean hero, he [Macbeth] has a perfectly clear concept of who he is and where he is---and it is exactly this perception that torments and destroys him spiritually" (330). Macbeth is strongly driven to evil, but at the same time he detests evil. This is what makes Macbeth abhor himself. The play explores the tensions between Macbeth's propensity for evil and his loathing of evil. Macbeth is a tragic hero because he becomes trapped in the tension between his criminal actions and the reaction of his conscience. If Macbeth had committed such acts without any remorse, he would simply have been an evil monster, without any hope. But it is his conscience regarding evil that makes him tragic. Through Macbeth's actions, Shakespeare is able to describe the nature of evil as being: lustful, deceitful, tyrannical, and disruptive to the family. To begin with, Macbeth himself represents the symbol of Satan's sin of ambition. Like Satan, Macbeth's insatiable lust for power and ambition drive him to commit evil. Although Macbeth's ambition is not in itself evil: "His very strong social sense, worldly but precious, together with that gift of imaginative expression by which he far surpasses all others, make him naturally and justly desirous of obtaining" golden opinions from all sorts of people" people' [I.vii.33]" (Elliot, 288). However, Shakespeare states that Macbeth knows his place in nature and is overly ambitious according to Calvinist doctrine... middle of paper... he is consumed by it. Works Cited Bethell, S. L. "Shakespeare's Imagery: The Diabolic Images in Othello" in Shakespeare Survey: Volume 5. Edited by Allardyce Nicoll (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1952) Elliot, G. R. "Introduction: On `Macbeth' as ​​Apex of Shakespearean Tragedy" in Shakespearean Criticism, Volume 3. Edited by Laurie Harris (Gale: 1984)McElroy, Bernard, "`Macbeth': The Torture of the Mind" in Shakespearean Criticism, Volume 3. Edited by Laurie Harris (Gale: 1984) Ribner, Irving. “Macbeth: the Pattern of Idea and Action,” in Shakespearean Criticism, Volume 3. Edited by Laurie Harris (Gale: 1984) Shakespeare, William. Othello. Edited by Norman Sanders. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984)----, Macbeth, World Literary Heritage, Volume 1.0 (California: Softbit, Inc. MS- DOS / MS - Windows 3.1, CD ROM)