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Lady Macbeth Tragic Hero Research Paper

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Is Macbeth the one and only tragic hero of “Macbeth?” His name is the title, and Shakespeare's tragic heroes are usually male. But that does not mean that the supposedly supporting, secondary female characters are not just as tragic. Lady Macbeth is a prime example of this; her influence is more than her convincing Macbeth to kill Duncan and send Macbeth on his tragic path. Lady Macbeth is a tragic hero just as much as Macbeth is, her influence over him (Macbeth) and her drive throughout the story makes her more than just a secondary character, and Lady Macbeth's episode in her last scene in the play is what seals in her role as the driving force behind Macbeth's actions, even though her own actions and motivations differ from Macbeth's. Lady Macbeth is a tragic heroine.

The criteria for a tragic hero is …show more content…

But when asked, most would say that they did not consider Lady Macbeth to be a tragic hero when it came down to Shakespeare's tragic hero standards. Up to the point of the massacre of the Macduff household, the only one who seems to be truly suffering is Macbeth himself, but following this Macduff massacre, Lady Macbeth finally breaks down. In her last scene, Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking trying to scrub 'blood' off of her hands and is talking about all of the wrongs that have been committed by her and Macbeth. Lady Macbeth was prideful, she was too ambitious, she committed (and was a part of) the bad deeds, and when it looks like she will never feel bad, the sleepwalking scene happens. Lady Macbeth acknowledges that what she has done is bad and she more than pays for it with what is apparently multiple night terror and sleepwalking episodes. Lady Macbeth's guilt is made clear and the readers can understand why she did what she did and sympathize with her, and that makes her a tragic

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