Macbeth Tragic Hero Analysis

Macbeth’s simple ambition for power and status quickly turns into greed and obsession as his desires become more controlling. When he learns of his fate, Macbeth patiently states“If chance will have me King, why, chance may crown me, without my stir” (315). However, he grows restless after swiftly becoming Thane of Cawdor. Furthermore, Macbeth’s impatience grows as he takes matters into his own hands. “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight, or art thou but a dagger of the mind, and false creation, proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?” (328). Macbeth’s imagination becomes troubled as he finds his thoughts consumed with murdering Duncan, the current king of Scotland. Specifically, these thoughts influence his actions by prompting him to acquire the strength to ultimately kill the King, although he feels guilty about his crime. “I am afraid to think what I have done; look on’t again I dare not” (330). Macbeth’s guilt is further reflected through this quote and his refusal to associate with the consequences of the crime he commits. Additionally, Macbeth’s actions and thoughts portray paranoia as he becomes closer to obtaining his predicted future. “ Oh full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife! Thou know’st that Banquo, and his Fleance, lives” (348). Out of his ill mind’s motivations, Macbeth kills Banquo, but his digression as a character shields the guilt he felt after Duncan’s death. Through this, Macbeth begins to recognize the evil consuming his thoughts and

This reveals that Macbeth’s character has a bit more evil in him than we are let on to believe. He also realizes that his ambition is making him get carried away and it is all happening rapidly. “…To prick the sides of my intent/ but only/ vaulting ambition, which develops itself/ and falls on the other.”(I, vii, 26-28) He knows things are going too fast and he wants to procrastinate from the deed a little longer. Macbeth’s tragic flaw of ambition ultimately leads him to his downfall.

In William shakespeare’s Macbeth,Macbeth is a classic example of a tragic hero in shakesperean work.Macbeth display the major characteristics of a tragic hero throughout the play until his tragic end.The play potrays Macbeth as a lost cause by showing how he fell from being a honest and just man who fought for whats right, to a cruel,superstitious,ambicious dictator.In william shakespreares Macbeth,Macbeth is a tragic hero because he compromises his honor and negates his moral values in order to obtain power which results with lots of tragic events such as character deaths leading to his tragic end.

Lady Macbeth had a very powerful hold over Macbeth. Just by questioning his valor she could shift Macbeth’s whole thought process and second-guessing of the murder of Duncan (Booth, 24), and he allows it because he cannot bear to disappoint her. His love for her and need for her approval is what ultimately leads him to commit each and every one of his crimes. She is the center of his world and if she does not see a problem in the murders than why should he. This is naïve ignorance caused by a blindness that is induced by love, and that is both heart breaking and tragic.

Macbeth’s character has developed significantly up to the second act. We are first introduced to Macbeth character in a way that we view him as powerful and Nobel. We get this idea from the quote “oh valiant cousin, worthy gentleman” which is what he is described as by Duncan, who at the time is the king. From this quote Macbeth is portrayed as a loyal and heroic figure who has done much for many, however as we know this was not a smart move for Duncan to make as it makes him come across and weak and seems like Duncan should be giving Macbeth a higher title, which is what the witches had told him before. In addition, this idea of the king complementing Macbeth about all the good that he has done seems to trigger the belief that Macbeth has the ability to be king, even in the eyes of Duncan who is so ecstatic what he has done for the county.

     The character of Macbeth is a classic example of a Shakespearean tragic hero. Macbeth’s achieves his long time desire to be king, but his tragic flaw brings him to ruin. His character changes drastically during the play. At

A tragic hero is someone whos fatal flaw, combined with other external factors, bring about ones demise, which is demonstrated by Macbeth in Shakespeares play Macbeth. Macbeth is portrayed as a courageous, brave and noble man who was haunted by superstition and an overpowering ambition. Factors that contributed to the degeneration of Macbeth include the prophecies told to him by the witches, the influence and manipulation of his wife, Lady Macbeth, and finally, Macbeths deep driven intent to become king. Although seen as a daring and valiant hero at the beginning of the play, Macbeths evil desires and long time ambition causes his downfall. Even though Macbeth seems like a malevolent and murderous tyrant towards the end of the play, he

As king, Macbeth’s desire for power becomes more evident. He begins to risk anything for his greed. Willing to cast aside

This angers Macbeth and enables him to follow Lady Macbeth's scheme to kill the King easier. Macbeth's first murder is definitely a trying experience for him. However, as the play progresses, killing seems easy and the only solution to maintain his reign of the people of Scotland. Macbeth becomes increasingly ambitious as the play goes on. The witches prophecies and Lady Macbeth's influence intensifies his ambition and drives Macbeth to obtain and maintain his title of Scotland by whatever means, even murdering his best friend, Banquo. "Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown, ...no son of mine succeeding. If't be so, for Banquo's issue have I filed my mind; For them the gracious Duncan I have murder'd; ...To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings! (Act III. sc.I) At this point Macbeth's passion becomes more and more extreme to the point where no one stands in his way. His greed, violence, and hunger for power drastically declines his character. The witches prophecy, Lady Macbeth's influence, and Macbeth's own ambition all contribute greatly to his deterioration of character which results in his downfall, which was death. All the causes link to one another. If it wasn't for Macbeth's strong will and passion, Macbeth would still be his ordinary self. Because of this, Macbeth's curiosity of possibly becoming king was brought out which led to Lady Macbeth's controlling influence. Macbeth's ambition then builds and causes him to commit a

Shakespeare’s characterization of Macbeth and his consequences reveals his warning about ambitions and its downfalls. Macbeth begins as a noble man who’s ambition ruins him and his true self, leading to his inevitable death. In Act I, Shakespeare presents Macbeth as an accomplished man whose lust for more is fueled by his wife’s ambitions. At this point in the play, Lady Macbeth commonly challenges his masculinity to drive his ambition to kill King Duncan and acclaim the throne of Scotland: “Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou art desire?” (P. 29). Conversely, by Act III, Macbeth’s ambition is self-driven because of the prophecy making him loses his sense of morality, and become corrupt. One such action is the murder of Banquo, Macbeth’s “noble partner” (P. 17): “Who wear our health but sickly in his life, which his death were prefect” (P. 56). Banquo’s murder serves as the beginning of Macbeth’s crumbling edifice, as for each murder he commits, he falls deeper into the world of deception.

As Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth introduces insanity or mental instability readers see a difference between characters. In Macbeth, the characters that become mentally unwell are Macbeth and Lady Macbeth after the murder of Duncan, the former King. This murder at the hands of Macbeth, and under their roof is the trigger that pushes the Macbeths to the edge of insanity. Now, a reader can clearly see a contrast begin to appear between Macbeth and the other characters of the play. For example, in Act Three Scene Two, Macbeth states, “Unsafe the while, that we must lave/ Our honors in these flattering streams/ And make our faces vizards to our hearts/ Disguising what they are” (3.2, 32-35). This shows how Macbeth begins to change; he acts guilty and paranoid in this scene. He soon after decides to murder Banquo and his son, because he believes Banquo knows what he has done. According to the article “Mechanics of Madness in Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear”, “guilt and mistrust force him to make murder habit” (Ebsco) Guilt is sign of mental collapse and a habit of murder would make a reader believe this is the point that Macbeth has become mentally unstable. This is also when a contrast would appear between Macbeth and other characters. At this point we can see a difference between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s characters. As the Macbeths are hosting a dinner party Lady Macbeth is constantly reminding Macbeth of his hosting manners, however, Macbeth is distracted by the ghost of Banquo that he thinks he sees. Lady Macbeth says to Macbeth, “You did not give the cheer... While ‘tis a-making, ‘tis given the welcome” (3.4, 35-37). This is showing that Macbeth is so guilty that he is having hallucination of the ghost of Banquo and Lady Macbeth is worried that people will notice. The contrast between these two characters is so apparent because Lady Macbeth is still “in control of her emotions and the situation” (Mechanics of Madness), but Macbeth is losing his mental state rapidly at this point. However, Lady Macbeth also has a clear change in her actions and thoughts due to the same trigger, the murder of Duncan. The article “The Mechanics of Madness” states that, “she undergoes drastic changes after the crime is

            Finally, in Act V, Scene V, some may claim that Macbeth behaves in an extremely interesting and perhaps unpredictable fashion. He has committed murdered several times, and hired murderers to do his work for him. Now, when he hears the news of his wife's death, it does not move him, not even momentarily. He is beyond emotion.

Macbeth’s mental and moral deterioration throughout the play engages the audience illustrating how guilt overwhelms his conscience He believes he hears voices crying “Macbeth has murdered sleep” this demonstrates how he is battling against his morals and his ambition. His good qualities are battling his bad thoughts and this is the main reason for his mental downfall which makes for a deeply engaging plot. Macbeth goes from being a man of bravery, strength, honour yet he slowly loses these qualities. He once believed that killing a good man was an evil, un-worthy thing to do yet by the end of the play he is killing the people he once had close relationships with to get himself out of the mess that was dragging him deeper into despair and tragedy. This process is enthralling for the audience who cannot resist watching him go to any length to save himself as his morals go into deep decline. Ambition has completely taken over him in the soliloquy in which he states; “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o’erleap itself and falls on the other.” In this instance Macbeth is interesting because he realises that the only thing that is making him want to kill Duncan is

The tragic hero has been a major storytelling tool in recent years that makes the audience relate to, respect, and feel sympathy for a character which is undone by the end of the story. But can this title be given to Macbeth, the titular hero of the Shakespeare play by the same name? Yes, absolutely- Shakespeare’s Macbeth follows this plot path in numerous ways. Throughout the play, we are introduced to Macbeth’s belovedness, the crushing of said established belovedness, and his own undoing.

The story of Macbeth has its share of twists and turns including some very strong ideas. However, through all these twists and turns the argument of if Macbeth is a tragic hero is still one of the most iconic arguments of all time. Which brings to the point of this essay, Macbeth is indeed the Tragic hero you don’t want to believe he is. So enough talking let’s dive into the argument of if Macbeth is tragic hero or not.