Macbeth-Tragic Hero

“Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble.” The words that slipped through the lips of three witches plotting their next unnatural disaster. This disaster is unlike any other. It takes place on a 2D surface in a cottage late at night on the desk of William Shakespeare. The candle wax drips on the floor and he scribbles MacBeth’s next mistake and murder. The faults of MacBeth flow through the hard paper and bold ink revealing MacBeth has now turned his Hero’s Journey into a tragedy. A Hero’s Journey is a series of steps and events that happen to a main character through their time in the palms of our hands under a glowing light. The Hero’s Journey explains allies, enemies, tests and more. However, MacBeth, was no hero.

Shakespeare's shortest play, Macbeth, is also, consequently, his most shocking and intense. We see the essence of tragedy: in this case, the protagonist transforms himself from a noble warrior who is loyal to his king and fights for his county to a reduced tyrant by the play's end. Macbeth's divided soul which is in turmoil is the cause of his deterioration from a respected warrior to a despised tyrant.

A Shakespearean tragic hero starts out as a noble person, and a person that stands out. A tragic hero has a flaw that leads to their downfall and eventually to death. Macbeth is the tragic hero in this story this is because he starts off as a loyal and well like man in the beginning, but his ambitions would lead to a downfall. Lady Macbeth played an important role in the downfall of Macbeth’s life to evil. She knew Macbeth ambitions are frail and she pushed her evil inside of him.

Shakespeare’s inspiration of adapting a historical event to the character Macbeth is what leads Shakespeare’s play to success. The connection between both the historical version and a play version is known to be extraordinary. The imagination to take one character and twist his history is fascinating in every aspect leading readers to know more about the play. Shakespeare’s portrayal of the tragedy Macbeth compares and contrasts to the historical biography of Macbeth as the king of Scotland.

In life, people will always make wrong decisions and these wrong decisions lead to destructive consequences. Macbeth does this in the play “Macbeth”. A tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgment error that leads to his/her own destruction. Fate and external forces bring on the tragedy in a tragic hero’s life. And in William Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth”, Macbeth goes through situations in his life that portray him as a tragic hero: his ambition, the witches prophecy, and Lady Macbeth show the development of Macbeth as a tragic hero.

Macbeth, by William Shakespeare is a famous tragedy of a power craving man, who would do anything to achieve greatness - even kill. Most readers would think that Macbeth is outlined in one specific way that cannot be changed. To many readers, Macbeth can be considered a tragic hero. In some minds, Lady Macbeth can be considered a tragic hero because, she is a strong character with a high social rank that causes her to essentially create her own downfall, and feels guilty for her actions, once her inevitable downfall leads to death, she pity arouses in the readers’ hearts.

     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.

William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, written in the 1600's is a perfect example of Shakespeare's ability to manipulate his audience through creating a tragic hero. A tragic hero who, because of a flaw, tumbles from a well-respected hero to a cowardless murderer. It is through Shakespeare's manipulation of figurative language, dramatic conventions and social expectations of the seventeenth century, do the audience witness the demise of this mixed up man. Macbeth's persona of the tragic hero is enhanced even more when the characters around him influence his decisions, creating mayhem inside his mind and disorder throughout Scotland. Shakespeare positions his audience to respond to the central theme: the struggle between good and evil, by

Macbeth was brave and for Scotland he fought, From his courage, attention from Duncan was brought. Taking advantage of Macbeth’s vaulting ambition, He was manipulated to act upon witches’ vision.

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.

impression given is that he is a very good man indeed. It is as if he

“Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.”(Macbeth 1:4:53-54). Are these the words of a man who was once a valiant warrior? Is this someone that knows they’re on the verge of corruption? In William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, readers are introduced to a main character that is battling his life’s struggles on mental and personal levels. Many aspects of Macbeth’s life change such as his wife, his friends and fellow soldiers, his power, and, of course, his mental status. Aspects such as these have all caused Macbeth to stray onto a path of darkness making him the quintessential tragic hero.

The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare recounts Macbeth's meteoric rise as a soldier and promising future leader whose megalomaniacal ambition led to his tragic downfall. In addition to Macbeth's ambitions, which initially enable him to be strong leader and soldier, he is influenced heavily by his wife, Lady Macbeth, and the three witches that prophesize his ascent to the throne, as well as warn him of his eventual demise. It can be argued that it is Macbeth's ambition that allows him to succeed in his endeavors, however the goals to which he is working toward influence the results of his hard work. Macbeth's ambitions help him to become a war hero, and as his goals change, his ambitions drive him to become a tyrannical villain.

in all purity. This is mainly due to the fact that he was willing to

Macbeth is one of William Shakespeare 's most famous tragedies, it is believed to have been written and first performed in 1606. Sources indicate that the play was written to appease King James I, who had ascended to the throne after Queen Elizabeth I. The play tells a tale of a brave Scottish Thane named Macbeth, whose thirst for power brought him to murder Duncan, the King of Scotland, only to become a tyrant, and have his actions lead to his eventual demise as the tragic hero. Throughout the play it is evident that audiences could potentially have many understandings of the themes present, and these understandings are met with the use of soliloquies. Soliloquies ‘reveal the mindset and motivations of the central character’ (O’Connor.E, 2012), a soliloquy is ‘when a character speaks their deepest thoughts aloud to themselves when alone’ (Shakespeare 's Life, Class Notes). Soliloquies are an important feature of any play, as they allow the audience to not only view the development of the play, but the inner workings of characters. This essay will discuss the soliloquy “If it were done when ’tis done” in Act 1 Scene 7 and how it is crucial in shaping our understanding of the theme of ambition, the soliloquy performed by Lady Macbeth in Act 1 Scene 5, and how it is vital in our comprehension of the theme of the reversal of values.