Macbeth as a Tragic Hero

Amongst all of Shakespeare's tragedies, Macbeth is the most inconsistent and fragmented. Like the mental state of the protagonist, the tragic structure of the play is in disarray from the very onset. According to Aristotle, all tragedies must follow a certain set of characteristics, and the most important of these is the presence of a tragic hero. This tragic hero must possess a tragic flaw, or hamartia, which is a good quality taken to such an extreme that it now exhibits immoral behaviour from the hero. He must also draw sympathy of his plight from the audience. Macbeth, although the protagonist, is not a tragic hero because he does not possess this hamartia. This significant absence of a flaw leads to his actions being without

     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.

Just as the character spectrum flows from hero to villain, Macbeth also gradually makes his way down the line. In the very beginning of the play (before making his appearance), Macbeth’s fellow Scots and lords praise him for his loyalty and noble deeds. Here, it is made clear that the public initially views him as a heroic figure who is loyal to Scotland; “for brave Macbeth, (well he deserves that name)”(9) Admittedly, Macbeth does unseam a man “from the nave to th’ chops”(9), however this is considered an act of valor in the service of his country and his king. However, Macbeth’s loyalties soon become questionable, as he plots to and then commits the murder of his honored king, Duncan. At this point, the audience

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.

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

Most people would consider a hero as someone who has impacted the world in a positive fashion, but doing a single positive action does not abolish all of the bad deeds that a person has committed. The great philosopher, Aristotle classifies a tragic hero through the principals hamartia and hubris, meaning a character in a dramatic tragedy who expresses a tragic flaw and excessive pride, conclusively leading to their downfall. In the tragic play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare, the main character, Macbeth is a considered a tragic hero since he represents the principal hamartia through his tragic flaw of ambition and he exhibits the principal hubris through his excessive pride.

Macbeth is a tragic hero, in The Tragedy of Macbeth, as many people refer it as, has a main antagonist Macbeth who is by fault of character flawed and is destined to experience death, suffering, and downfall. And during the beginning of the play there was a supernatural force involved in giving Macbeth the temptation. And many can argue that the 3 witches in the beginning of the play made him do it but that’s not necessarily true they never forced his hand in the murder of King Duncan and the numerous murders he had involvement in. He did this on his own due to the lack of his loyalty, sanity, or whatever trait other people wish to give him. Regardless of what trait he lacks the story and Macbeth do follow in the criteria of a tragic hero.

A Tragic Hero is a main character(protagonist) in any literature who comes in a miserable or unhappy ending, usually death(catastrophe). They are generally a person of importance in society, usually means being a king, duke, prince, company owner, etc. In the play, Macbeth, Macbeth is the epitome of being a tragic hero because he is the protagonist who comes to an unhappy ending, gets the part of being king, and suffers from his tragic flaw: weakness of character.

“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.

A tragic hero is a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat (). In the play Macbeth, the main character is Macbeth who is a Thane of Cawdor and eventually King of Scotland. Macbeth is known to King Duncan and everyone else as courageous and a delightful man, but his dark side is brought about by ambition. In the end, Macbeth dies a noble death, but is he a tragic hero or an evil villain who died. “There’s daggers in men’s smiles; the near in blood, the nearer bloody” (2.3.134-135). This shows how every man can either be good or bad. Macbeth is a tragic hero in the play Macbeth because he has high social status, a tragic flaw, and faces his or her downfall with courage and dignity. In a moment, Macbeth’s character of noble birth will support his position as a tragic hero.

The titular character in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a typical hero who undergoes a series of nasty situations, and gradually loses his humanity in the process. Although he begins the play as a traditional hero, he most certainly does not retain that title towards the end.

Macbeth’s major flaws are his ambition and impressionability. Due to their flaws, a Tragic Hero’s actions are often atrocious and cause them to battle with their conscience after their desires have been accomplished. These battles with their conscience evoke empathy from the audience. A Shakespearean Tragic Hero will always lose their life in the end of the play as a result of re-establishment of what is good in the play. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the title

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.

Macbeth is a very complex character whom reflects man's thirst for power through the drastic changes of his personality; thus being one of the slightest reasons in which make this intriguing character, greatest of all Shakespearean’s well-known works.

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.