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Analysis Of Shakespeare 's ' Macbeth '

Decent Essays

Salma Farid
Mr. Rehm
ENG3U1-01
Friday November 14th, 2014
Sleep No More: The Role of Macbeth’s Conscience

Traditionally, a tragic hero is a protagonist, usually of noble birth or high-standing, who possesses a flaw in character that brings about his own downfall. The tragedy Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, has a perfect example of a tragic hero, otherwise known as Macbeth. A tragic hero must be a man who is great and admirable in various ways. He should be placed in society in such a way that everything he does affects all of the members of his society. Macbeth fits the description of being a tragic hero, displaying his strengths, his weaknesses, his tragic flaw, and how influential everything around him is. Macbeth is a tragic hero, because his physical courage is joined by a consuming ambition and tendency to self-doubt and his brutality is balanced by his guilt - a quality that enables the audience to identify with Macbeth throughout the play despite his cruelty.
Firstly, Macbeth is a tragic hero, because his physical courage is joined by a consuming ambition and tendency to self-doubt. Macbeth’s ambition is driven by a number of factors. Macbeth’s ambition soon goes out of control and forces him to murder again and again to cover up his previous wrong doing. Macbeth says, “I am in blood stepp’d in so far, that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er.” (3.4.136-138). By comparing his actions to wading through a bloody river, Macbeth suggests

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