Macbeth as a Tragic Hero
Defined by Aristotle, a tragic hero is one who falls from grace into a state of extreme unhappiness. The protagonist Macbeth of William Shakespeare's Macbeth is in all ways the perfect example of a tragic hero. He is a person of importance in society; at first an intrepid nationalist, fighting for his country and ultimately, becoming king. Macbeth had character flaws and made a series of serious errors in judgment, one being the assassination of King Duncan. Incidentally, Macbeth had become increasingly miserable throughout the events of the plot. He had outside forces that contributed to his degeneration; the main one being The Weird Sisters. A Shakespearean tragic hero contains all of the afore mentioned qualities including others such as: providing a moral example to the audience, suffering public humiliation, and meeting his doom with courage and dignity which Macbeth did all of. Therefore, Macbeth fits the attributes of a tragic hero.Macbeth's increasing importance became a vital reason as to why he became a tragic hero. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth, a Scottish general, is portrayed as an intrepid man whose performance in Scotland's battle is greatly celebrated. The Captain describes Macbeth's performance as "C
Macbeth had shown major character flaws, weakness and terribly serious errors in judgment throughout the course of the play. With all the acclaim he received on his success in battle and his upgrade to Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth's ambition to become king couldn't not help but rise. Macbeth won a battle and proved loyal to Duncan, however his ambition to become King was too strong to keep his morals. When his ambition and the witches' prophecies were combined, his morals became nonexistent since he is easily persuaded into what he wants to hear. Macbeth's ambition takes over for a moment when the thought of killing Duncan comes to mind, however morality takes over. "Why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs against the use of nature?" (1.3.147-150). Macbeth questions why he feels himself succumbing to temptation, especially one that makes his heart race. However, he tries to talk himself into believing that the tempting murder couldn't possibly be as frightening as he now feels it is when he says, "Present fears are less than So there should be no skepticism about it, Macbeth is indeed a tragic hero. horrible imaginings" (1.3.150-151) Basically, his only fear is fear itself. Macbeth is described as a brave man, but his wife manipulates him by accusing him of being a coward, which drives him to prove her wrong. Macbeth's moral decision is overlooked by his ambition completely when he hears of
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Approximate Word count = 993
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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