Would you agree with Malcolm that the character of Macbeth is best described as a 'butcher'?

To regard Macbeth as a ‘butcher’ is far too restrictive a term for the complexity Shakespeare intended for his character. A ‘butcher’ is someone who kills in excess without remorse or proper reason, whereas each of Macbeth’s killings are backed by some form of reasoning. Macbeth instead displays a conflicted nature by being neither a wholly evil ‘butcher’ nor wholly good. This is evident through how his killings can be seen as butchery and evil, yet the guilt Shakespeare evokes within Macbeth means he himself is not a butcher, but has a conscience. Evidence for this is where Macbeth kills on behalf of a king, being Duncan and then himself, in the battles at beginning and the end of the play. Despite the gory imagery, this proves that he does not kill aimlessly but out of nobility, even though it is corrupted at the denouement. Furthermore, the murder of Duncan is not spontaneous, as Macbeth hesitates and must be persuaded by his wife to commit the act, illustrating that the mindless characteristics of a butcher do not apply to him. This is emphasised by the remorse he feels afterwards which transforms into madness, insisting that villainous killing is not natural to Macbeth. Thus, he cannot be restricted to the title of a ‘butcher’, but rather a conflicted protagonist maintaining some sense of nobility through remorse.