Macbeth: A Tragic Hero? Essay

The tragedy Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, follows the rise and fall of a loyal Scottish warrior. Macbeth is portrayed as a man of multiple sides, presenting three main traits – bravery, ambition, and self-doubt – throughout the play. The character is an example of how ambition and guilt can have terrible effects on an individual lacking in strength of character. Although some people may perceive Macbeth as malicious, his weak character shows that he is incapable of conquering guilt and self-doubt. The prime themes of the play are: ambition, loyalty and betrayal, good and evil, appearance versus reality, supernatural and fate. Shakespeare presents these themes through the actions of Macbeth and their results: the corrupting effects

     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.

It takes both the audience’s pity and fear to make a tragic and heroic character become a tragic hero. Macbeth earns both. The audience can fear Macbeth because they know that he is capable of murder. He lacks the ability to stand up to Lady Macbeth when he knows something is not morally right and that is frightening, but even after all the pain and suffering of other characters the audience

The three apparitions which appear to Macbeth are, "Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff, Beware the Thane of Fife. / Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn the power of man; for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth. / Be lion-mettled, proud, and take no care who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are. Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill shall come against him." Macbeth translates these prophecies as a meaning that he will reign as king until the day he dies of natural causes and will no longer have to fear Macduff for he can do no harm to him. Although he is assured by the equivocate predictions, his uncertainty gets the better of him. This can be seen in his actions; he kills Macduff 's family but leaves the man himself alive, he enters into battles screaming that no man of woman born shall ever harm him, not knowing that Macduff was born of Caesarian section, and eventually his foolish actions lead to his death at the hands of Macduff.

Humans typically tend to be greedy and take everything for thierself, but Macbeth goes above and beyond to make sure his heart’s desires are fulfilled. Power changes him into a pretentious person and forms a need for more jurisdiction that is unquenchable. The neverending loop of murder that Macbeth gets trapped in causes his excessive pride and ambition to grow leading him to his downfall. Macbeth is a tragic hero because he widley models a tragic flaw of ambition and he displays a large amount of excessive pride, causing him to ultimately become

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

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.

After the witches tell Macbeth his prophecies, Macbeth starts to act upon himself to make this fate happen by murdering King Duncan. Macbeth creates these “present fears” that are stronger “than [King Duncan’s] horrible imaginings” of “murder yet is but [what is] fantastical” (I.iii.137-142). In his own interest, Macbeth takes his own turn to change the prophecies in order to become king. During plotting Duncan’s murder, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth uses both their free will to carry out the deed thinking it’s the only way to achieve his fate. Later when Macbeth also kills Banquo, the two chamberlains, Lady Macduff and her children, Macbeth, along with his wife, begin to lose their insanity. Soon war between Scotland and England break out, and Macbeth states “I’ll prove the lie thou speak’st./ Thou wast born of woman./But swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn” (V.viii.10-14). After given the apparitions, Macbeth thinks he is indestructible. Whether or not the witches’ prophecies and apparitions were true, it was Macbeth free-will to believe them and act upon them. Born unnaturally, Macduff kills Macbeth altering the apparitions. During the whole play, Macbeth puts his fate in his control which leaves his life going in a spiral

According to the classical view, tragedy should arouse feelings of pity and fear in the audience. Does Macbeth do this?

The Three Witches then summon three apparitions, which state, “...Macbeth! Beware/ Macduff;/ Beware the Thane of Fife/...laugh/ to scorn/ The pow’r of man,/ for none of women born/ Shall harm Macbeth/… Macbeth shall never vanquished be until/ Great Birnam Wood to High Dunsinane Hill/ Shall come against him.”(4.1.121-123). The interpretation of the apparitions is Macduff will stand in his way, no one who is born that of a women shall kill Macbeth, and that he will never die until he fights against Great Birnam Wood to his castle hill. This gives a sense of overconfidence to Macbeth, if never have known this info who knows what would have happened and what he would have done. He fights a war against the the English Army who are in command of Macduff and Malcolm. They tell their men to dress themselves up in camouflage so they use the Birnam Wood branches to march up to his castle and so the third prophecy is fulfilled. Macbeth knows about this and accepts this prophecy so, he leaves his castle to fight in the battlefield. Young Siward and Macbeth have a fight because Macbeth still thinks that he can’t be killed of a man born from a women, who then kills him fueling his overconfidence even more. Macduff finds Young Siward dead and hunts for Macbeth, who tells Macduff that no one that is born of a woman can harm Macbeth; Macduff was not naturally born from a woman he was “ripped out of his mother's womb”. Finding out this info Macduff knows he can kill Macbeth and Macbeth knows that he is going to die. He accepts death rather than suffer humiliation so Macduff kills Macbeth confirming the first and second

The tragedies of William Shakespeare often include a tragic hero. A tragic hero is one who brings about his own ruin and the ruin of those he loves. The tragic hero is not necessarily evil, he is simply human and has human flaws. Often there is a "fatal flaw" which leads to his downfall. In the play, Macbeth the tragic hero is the lead character, Macbeth. He is tempted by the chance to take the throne and he will do anything to get it. He becomes progressively isolated until in the end he dies alone.

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.

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.

More people start to become treats along with becoming suspicious to Macbeth. In order to make sure that he stays in power without letting anyone know about his previous scandals Macbeth hires people to do it for him. Macduff finds out that his family was murdered and wants to kill Macbeth before he destroys the kingdom. At the end of the story. Macduff battles Macbeth saying “I have no words,My voice is in my sword. Thou bloodier villain,Than terms can give thee out! (Act 5 Scene 8) meaning that Macduff is full of rage and wants Macbeth dead. As the battle continues, Macbeth is defeated knowing that he couldn't be killed from anyone born from a