Is Macbeth A Hero

Today, I stand before a nation in mourning, grieving the passing of its King, Macbeth. He shall surely be remembered in history as a noble and courageous soldier and leader who fought with a fierce loyalty and belief in Scotland. Although his reign was not trouble-free or lengthy, Macbeth inspired a unique and individual pride in his country and made every decision with careful thought, holding firmly to his ideals and principles to the very end. Scotland has lost a distinctive and unrivalled leader and those of us who knew him personally are now without a friend whose character shall always be remembered.

Macbeth is a brave man who is not naturally inclined to perform evil deeds, yet he desperately wants and desires power and succession. At the end, he is not happy with what he has accomplished, "I am afraid to think what I have

Macbeth, concealed in the darkness bears no guilt for his sins, whilst Lady Macbeth, incapable of hiding within the darkness, bears the weight of sin. Fighting valiantly in battle against the traitor and the “Norweyan ranks,” Macbeth emerges victorious. When hearing Macbeth’s “success” in battle, the king “hath happily”

The tragedy of Macbeth opens up with him returning home from a victorious military battle, displaying his honor and excellence. This is, also the first time he is presented with the opportunity for power. His success covered him

Macbeth’s exceptional devotion to instinctively secure the king’s survival, earned him his new title and high regard. His manliness attributes has thus then portrayed him as the perfect role model for the other men.

King Duncan has been invited into Macbeth’s home, to dine and enjoy himself. He expects to have a great time and is ridiculously thankful, yet what makes this ironic is the fact that the hostess that he is praising is conspiring to kill him-he will be murdered that night. This represents the duplicitous nature of Macbeth, as the outward nobility of his character is contrasted greatly to his true spirit.

As works of literature mature, the line between good and bad begins to become unclear. With Shakespeare’s works especially, things are usually not what they initially seem; a character may reveal to be the protagonist, antagonist, or even an anti-hero. A character may take actions that border on the antagonistic side, but still be the protagonist in which the audience is emotionally, though not always ethically, invested in. An anti-hero can be viewed simply as a protagonist who lies somewhere on the spectrum of villain and hero; never quite touching each end. In his play, Macbeth, Shakespeare makes it clear that Macbeth is really an anti-hero through his changing public appearance, his encounters with the witches, and his feelings concerning his own actions.

It is important for Shakespeare to present Macbeth as a hero in order to prepare the reader for his tragic downfall. Shakespeare first presents Macbeth as a hero when he is called “brave Macbeth” by the captain. In many ways the captain represents the whole army and this could be a way for Shakespeare to show how Macbeth is viewed by the army it could also show how Shakespeare is seen as brave by a high up member of society. As well as being praised by the captain Macbeth is also praised by the King, the line ‘more is thy due than more than all can pay’ shows how the King respects Macbeth “more is thy due” shows Macbeth is a hero in the eyes of the King as the King believes he owes Macbeth for what he has done.

As any good character, Macbeth, of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, has several different intriguing and well-thought-out layers to his character. Whether it is the thrill of Macbeth’s daring side, or the interesting psychological aspects of his thought processes, Macbeth has a unique element that can seem to relate to everyone in some way. Macbeth is a prime example of a human being faced with varying degrees of everyday conflicts, emotions, and morals. He makes and exponential impact on both the reader, and all his fellow characters, by displaying several aspects of life that make people truly human

Macbeth’s character begins as an extremely respectable and an extraordinary soldier. All the men respected him and praised him, the Captain told King Duncan of his valor in battle:

Throughout the story of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth acts in a much despised manner: he becomes a murderer and later, when king of Scotland, a tyrant. Many who have read or seen the play are left wondering how a man’s whole approach to life can change; how Macbeth turned from the hero whom all adored, to the tyrant who was hated and ended up a lone man, fighting for his life.

Ever since he heard the prophecies that promised him power, Macbeth’s mind has been descending into a disoriented state as times passed. In the duration of Acts 1 and 2, Macbeth, under the influence of Lady Macbeth and his own ambition, has changed from being a rational, level-headed man to one of questionable integrity. With Macbeth’s coronation, not only does his inner turmoil affect his mentality, but also his behaviour and senses. Scotland is immersed in more chaos by Macbeth’s hunger for supremacy, his acknowledgement of his crimes, and by further disturbance in the human order and divine order.

     A Shakespearean tragic hero starts out as a noble person; a great exceptional being who stands out. A tragic hero has a tragic flaw of an exaggerated trait that leads to their downfall and eventually to death. William Shakespeare often made his main characters tragic heroes in his plays. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the role of the tragic hero is given to the main character: Macbeth. This is because he starts off as a loyal and well liked man in the beginning, but has a tragic flaw of ambition which ultimately leads to his downfall.

Macbeth use to be a man of loyalty and courage, a noble man, not a man of greed and insanity.

Throughout a variety of Shakespeare’s tragedies, the audience is presented with a protagonist who appears to be a “tragic hero” in the overall play. In other words, this character is one who has made an error in his judgement, providing that this error eventually leads to their own ruin or destruction. Within Macbeth, Macbeth the character is regarded as a tragic hero, but with the distinct and evident explanation of his evil and the succession of his acts of violence, it may not be as clear cut as to whether he is a tragic hero or not. Though Macbeth does commit an error that leads to his eventual destruction, he knows that his judgement is evil and he is aware of the nature of the deed that he wishes to commit in order to reach his ambitions. His knowledge of the nature of his thoughts and actions first appears after an incident he experiences with his imagination and in fact, imagination plays a big role in the motivating identity for his will to commit regicide. Imagination begins by acting as a self-contradicting identity by providing a form of motivation, but also contributing to some hesitation towards the murderous act. As the play progresses though, it becomes solely a motivating identity towards the evil that contributed to the deterioration of Macbeth, and it is this resulting torment that becomes evidence of what evil does onto Macbeth’s mind and heart.