Macbeth's Tragic Heroes

William Shakespeare is considered one of the greatest play writers who ever lived. Students throughout the United States continue to read his sonnets and plays today. His style of writing and his use of metaphors are what truly make him a great writer. Shakespeare wrote many comedies such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado about Nothing, and The Taming of the Shrew. Shakespeare also wrote many tragedies such as Macbeth, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet. Many of Shakespeare’s tragedies contain a protagonist who is also a tragic hero. In order to determine whether or not a character is a tragic hero, one must find out what the qualities of a tragic hero are. According to Pepperdine University, a tragic hero must have noble stature, a tragic flaw, and free choice. The tragic hero must also suffer punishment he did not deserve, and have increased awareness (“The Characteristics of an Archetypal Tragic Hero”). Othello meets all of the qualifications in order to be a tragic hero. He had noble stature, a tragic flaw, and he had free choice. His punishment exceeded the crime, and his awareness increased before he had his downfall.

What is a tragic hero and why is Othello considered one? The tragic hero archetype is used in many different pieces of writing and with every character comes a different way of using it. While adding to the tone of the story it also adds to the characters overall personality from the reader's perspective. In Shakespeare's Othello he uses this in his main character. This slowly comes together throughout the play and is presented with many examples. There are examples of Othello's high status, tragic flaws, and his inevitable downfall.

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.

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

People always ask, “What is a tragic hero?” The question that should be asked is, “Who is more of a tragic hero, Macbeth or Hamlet?” Macbeth is the more tragic hero when compared to Hamlet because Hamlet had nothing to lose the whole time. The three things that make Macbeth a more a lamentable legend than Hamlet is his appalling blemish of being presumptuous, being vanquished toward the end and decapitated by Macduff and losing the greater part of his Fortune, and ultimately his acknowledgment of his results of his executing Macduff's family toward the end of the play. These are the reasons that will be used to make evident why Macbeth is more of a tragic hero than Hamlet.

Finally, the most crucial aspect of a tragic hero is his ability to evoke pity after his tragic downfall. This is afterall what makes the undoing of the hero so tragic, for at the very end he realizes his mistake and finally opens his eyes to the world around him. In regards to Macbeth, this revelation occurs a little too late. Only when Birnam wood moves up Dunsinane Hill does Macbeth realize that he has been manipulated by the three witches. At this point he starts to loose some faith, but he still holds tightly to the belief that “... none of woman born / Shall hurt [him]” (Act IV, Scene i, 80-81), and so rushes off into battle.

A tragic hero is a character that the audience identifies with. This character is born into a high position, or worked diligently to achieve their goal. They possess a quality unknown to them, that causes their downfall. Through strife and a long journey, the tragic hero is able to redeem humanity. Three main theories of the tragic hero are the Aristotelian model, the Shakespearean model, and the modern tragic hero. For instance, nobility is characterized by being upper class and having elevated character. Romeo satisfies both these criteria through his position as son of the Montague family, and he was even referred to as a gentleman by his enemies. Although he was respected by many, Romeo’s impulsiveness, or his fatal flaw that moves

The literary definition of a “tragic hero” is the main protagonist in a story or play that has a fatal flaw that leads to their demise. Shakespeare is especially known for his tragic plays like Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet. Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet is about the king of Denmark being murdered and his son seeking revenge for his father’s death. Hamlet sees his father’s ghost and discovers who the killer is and then Hamlet begins on his journey to gain revenge for his father’s death. Although Shakespeare’s tragic play Hamlet was based on Hamlet and his tragic flaw of hesitation it could also be based on Claudius, Polonius, Laertes and their tragic flaws.

Macbeth was a strong-willed man who thought about decisions with great thought, rarely acting upon a decision he had not yet considered copiously. On numerous occasions as a guest of Macbeth at his highly anticipated social gatherings, I would often encounter him wandering through his castle’s corridors, repeatedly lost in earnest contemplation and comprehending his proactive life. This made him realise that life should be taken for granted, it's delicate and short-lived, tagging it “a walking shadow”. Despite this dreary attitude, he would always lay out the consequences set out before him. Although this virtue did not permanently provide him with pleasure he desired, Macbeth would consider his actions, even in the direst of

A tragic hero is defined as a literary character of high nobility who makes a personal judgement error that often leads to their own fate. A tragic hero dominates a tragic flaw, a characters weakness such as excessive pride, aspiration, or jealousy. In literary cases, a tragic hero is neither benevolent nor immortal but has vigorous intentions. Ordinarily a tragic hero is of high royal birth, possesses a tragic flaw, has a downfall due to that flaw, and recognizes their error by accepting the consequences. In Antigone by Sophocles Antigone is a tragic hero, one who is from high noble birth, with grand intentions, and in possession of a tragic flaw.

A Tragic Hero is a common figure in many of Shakespeare’s works. A Tragic Hero is usually a figure of royalty, fame or greatness. This person is predominately good, but falls from prominence due to personality flaws that eventually lead to self-destruction.

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.