A Shakespearean tragic hero may be defined as “an exceptional being of high degree” who contributes to his own degeneration and illustrates a personality flaw. The character of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is in all ways the perfect example of a tragic hero. His greatness and bravery in battle for his country ultimately leads him to be a great thane and eventually a powerful king, making his actions have a significant impact on a country. Macbeth’s ambition on becoming a king leads to an obsession to remain in his current position. His ambition comes to a point where he falls to the temptation of evil which leads to Macbeth’s inevitable downfall. There are many factors which contribute to the fall of Macbeth. The three points which contribute …show more content…
Lady Macbeth's character in the beginning reveals that she is a lovable person. When Lady Macbeth was ready to kill King Duncan herself, it showed that Lady Macbeth could not murder King Duncan because he reminded her of her father. This proves that Lady Macbeth has a heart deep inside her. Lady Macbeth plays an important role in this play because she provided a scheme which caused Macbeth to assassinate King Duncan. After Macbeth had killed King Duncan, he later regrets on his wrong doing. At the point of this play the audience can note the change in Macbeth's character. Macbeth's first murder was a trying experience for him, however after the first murder, killing seemed to be the only solution to maintain his reign of the people of Scotland. Therefore, it was Lady Macbeth who introduced the concept of murder to Macbeth. Macbeth's ambition also influenced his declining character. However, Macbeth's ambition had not been strong enough to carry the motive to kill King Duncan. Lady Macbeth's influence also comes in to play because if not for Lady Macbeth, his ambition would not have been intensified enough to drive him to obtain and maintain his title of King of Scotland no matter what it took, even if it meant murdering. Macbeth's ambition influenced the cause of his new character. This new character of Macbeth contained greed, violence, and power hunger. Aristotle's theory of a tragedy is used by Shakespeare in this
When William Shakespeare created "Macbeth" he included in the title character all the key elements of a tragic hero. Macbeth has a decline from his good standing, reaches a lowest point and soon after turns himself around, the epiphany, and finally rises in his morals and standing; however it is too late and his death is apparent. Macbeth's decline begins when he heeds the witches prophecies. His lowest point is reached when he decides that life does not matter to him anymore, soon followed by his epiphany when he decides that he will fight honorably even if it means his death. He then raises his moral standing and regains his honor. Through well written literature, William
But despite Macbeth’s desire to take the throne, he does not want to kill Duncan. What pushes Macbeth over the edge is Lady Macbeth. She tells Macbeth to follow his ambitions and kill Duncan. She says that murdering Duncan is not a sin, and that it is all worth it for the crown. These words from Lady Macbeth’s mouth are what made Macbeth decide to follow through and commit murder. “I am settled and bend up each corporal agent to this terrible feat.” (1.7.92-93). Macbeth will do the act, but he is very reluctant to do so. In conclusion, Macbeth’s ambitions and his loyalty towards Lady Macbeth are huge factors for why Macbeth was torn, and why he decided to kill Duncan.
Macbeth’s ambitious ways takes over his whole inner self throughout his time of first wanting to be king. Macbeth was thought to be a great leader and war hero before he was king. Macbeth was hatched an idea by three suspicious witches in whom he had never come in contact with before. They told him that he would one day become King of Scotland. After the witches disappeared, he got to think a lot about what they told him and pondered the words they spoke. Macbeth sends a letter to his wife about his feelings of what he had heard. When Macbeth returned back to his castle his wife wanted to lead him down a dark path and feed his ambition. Macbeth decides he wants to go after the crown after consulting his wife. "I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself, and falls on th'other...." (Act I, scene vii) This shows that Macbeth’s only reason to kill Duncan is for his ambition. Macbeth ends up killing Duncan. The way Macbeth killed Duncan made it a great crime scene. Macbeth still
In William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, the main character exhibits the traits of a tragic hero. Beginning in Act I, as we are introduced to Macbeth, until his death in Act V, this characterization is evident. Macbeth is an Aristotelian tragic hero because he rose to high stature, is extremely ambitious, fell from authority, and experienced a moment of self-acceptance and realization.
To start off with, Macbeth is an example of a tragic hero because of him being the protagonist. Throughout the play, Macbeth had many qualities as well as some tragic flaws. He was a courageous and brave man who was flawed by the witches and with his ambition. This all happened due to the prophecies that the witches told him, which was of Macbeth to be king. In Act 1, Scene 7, Macbeth says, “I have no spur/ To prick the sides of my intent , but only/ Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself/ And falls on th’ other.” This drove Macbeth to commit murder on King Duncan of his desire to be king. Although he was courageous and brave and he is seen as the hero at the beginning of the play, his overconfidence causes his downfall.
Back in the old days, in Stagira, a city in the north of Greece, a boy named Aristotle was born. Later on with all the knowledge he possessed Aristotle became one of the greatest philosophers and scientists. He is now referred to as the “ Father of western philosophy.” Part of the many things he did, Aristotle formalized a theory for Tragic Heroes, containing many different characteristics. Today, there are many tragic heroes in the world of literature but the one that is mostly forgotten is Macbeth. From what was concluded by Aristotle Macbeth is a Tragic hero at the beginning of the story but by the end he isn’t anymore.
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most dynamic tragic heroes. A tragic hero is person who possesses the characteristics of a hero, but suddenly that hero’s world is rattled by some sort of evil doings in my words. First, Macbeth started out being a hero because he was a loyal and noble warrior in King Duncan’s army. Second, Macbeth’s mind was corrupted and influenced by the three witches and their predictions. Finally, Macbeth world is completely turned around when his evil doings caught up to him to bring his life to a tragic end. Macbeth was intended for a desired future, however his ambition got the best of him which crushed his dreams.
King Duncan was killed early on in the play of Macbeth, and it was his murder that caused the characters of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth to undergo development. After enduring much pressure from his wife, Macbeth had committed regicide, and killed the king. Lady Macbeth had to pester her husband to go through with the treacherous act of killing the king, because she believed that
From war hero to tragic hero let's journey through the downfall of MacBeth. The term tragic hero usually follows a main character who has a very powerful role in a drama. This prestigious role is always cursed with a flaw that leads to his or her demise. The flaw can sometimes be a regretful decision that the character has no control over. Once the flaw is revealed to him or her the plot is usually too unbearable for the tragic hero to avoid. In Shakespeare's Play MacBeth the witches prophecy, Lady MacBeth, and MacBeth’s ambition itself play a role in MacBeth’s downfall. MacBeth sees what his future holds and compromises his nobility and honor to make his future a reality prematurely. This flaw can be diagnosed as unchecked ambition.
And to be more a man than what you were, you would be so much more a
According to the classical view, tragedy should arouse feelings of pity and fear in the audience. Does Macbeth do this?
A tragic hero is a person of many things, noble stature, and the audience tends to feel pity and fear for them. A tragic hero has a tremendous downfall and degeneration that occurs throughout the play. Macbeth portrays those characteristics throughout the play. Macbeth had potential for greatness but possessed many things that lead to his tremendous downfall. He was a loyal, courageous servant to the king and was on the fast track to success until his ambition of desire for power lead to him doing horrendous things. Macbeth’s tragic flaw in achieving his ambitions was evident in his strong personality that influenced him to fulfill his destiny by following a dark path. As well Macbeth being isolated from his close friends and family caused nothing but trouble, will all forces eventually going against him. In addition, he is also heroic because of his response to suffering, he discovers fate by his own actions and not by things happening to him. Throughout the play Macbeths growing character degenerates from a noble man to a violent individual.
A tragic hero is usually a person of high esteem or social ranking cursed with a flaw or obsession that will eventually lead to their demise. Macbeth is a tragic hero. Examining the events that occur as Macbeth travels the typical path of a tragic hero easily supports this claim.
Many of William Shakespeare’s works portray the role of a tragic hero. The characteristics of a tragic hero are normally a person of noble status who is generally good but changes in character cause a tragic flaw. The tragic hero’s lack of judgment leads to his own destruction which usually results in death and causes the reader to feel fear and pity for them. There are three major factors that contribute to the changes in Macbeth’s character that defines a Shakespearean tragic hero. These factors include the prophecies of the witches’, Lady Macbeth’s influence and manipulation towards Macbeth and Macbeth’s ambition for greatness which all lead to his ultimate downfall resulting in his death.
For a writer to take a good, noble man and destroy him is no easy task. To do