Macbeth questions

Here I am doing some tasks to prepare for the Macbeth essay. This will help me remember and understand the play, making it easier when it comes to the essay.

I am learning:
How this shows my learning:
I am wondering:

Valiant soldier or violent schemer at the beginning? In the beginning Macbeth was a loyal, valiant thane of Glamis. He was loyal to King Duncan and his country.  “For Brave Macbeth - well he deserves that name - ” (Act I, Scene 2, Line 16).
Macbeth would fight and die for his King and Country. Later on things change.

Explain his decision to murder Lady Macduff & children (increasingly erratic & illogical behaviour): Macbeth got angry at Mac-duff because he ran away to team with Malcolm. As revenge ( because he couldn't kill mac-duff) Macbeth savagely kills Lady Mac-duff and her children. In the end karma does hit him.

Which factor is most influential: (a) Witches & their prophesy? (b) Vaulting ambition? (c) Lady Macbeth? In my opinion the most influential would ( without thinking) be ambition but at the end of the play the witches' prophecy eventually comes true. Everything the witches said happened. Lady Macbeth was a little influential at the beginning, using his self image to taunt him, but was later ignored and eventually met her doom because of guilt

Is he nothing more than a “dead butcher” or do we the audience feel differently about him at the end?
In the end I think we all despise Macbeth but feel sorry for him too. We agree he is a bit of a butcher because he has killed many innocent people for no good reason, lied, acted heartless, committed treason, regicide and  just acted plain rude (understatement). We also feel sorry for him because he didn't ask to see the witches and for his life to go down hill, killing is still bad (don't kill, Kids).

Why is he obsessed with killing Banquo? (oh yeah, and Fleance too). So, it goes down like this...
1. Macbeth does the good ol' stabby stabby and kills King Duncan ( who was a great king and didn't deserve this)
2. Banquo is suspicious of Macbeth
3. Macbeth is suspicious of Banquo being suspicious of Macbeth. The witches said Banquo's children will be kings, rather than Macbeth's, this makes Macbeth worried.
4. Macbeth starts thinking that Banquo's children are going to be kings.
5.To stop the prophecy of Banquo's children being kings, Macbeth orders some people to kill Banquo and Fleance( his son)
6. Banquo dies but Fleance runs away and lives another day.

Macbeth is scared that Banquo's children ect will be king because the witches said so ( and so far they have told the truth) so Macbeth gets some murderers to kill them off. Fleance escapes (which isn't good for Macbeth).