Macbeth Tragic Hero Essay

The story Macbeth by William Shakespeare centers on the tragic hero Macbeth. Macbeth is a tragic hero because his decision to become king leads the people around him to suffer and ends in Macbeth’s demise. Macbeth actions as a tragic hero resulting in the suffering of the countrymen, Banquo, Lady Macbeth, and Macduff contribute to the tragic vision that violence only leads to more violence.
Macbeth decides to become king, as he is lead to believe it is his destiny to become king. He does this by assassinating Duncan which is his tragic decision that sets the path to his demise. This action of killing Duncan leads to the kingdoms’ worry and suffering as mentioned in the book by the lines of ‘it being a wicked night’ and how the sky looked like blood. This is only the beginning of the impact Macbeth has on the countrymen, as by the end of the book they are so dishearten by Macbeth that they rebel against him or change sides against him in the fight at the end of the book. His paranoia at …show more content…
Banquo which had also heard the witches’ prophecy worries for his life, once Macbeth becomes king, as he knew that it would be his descendants who would be future kings not Macbeth's. Banquo a longtime friend of Macbeth has to worry for his own life due to Macbeth stealing the throne. Macbeth’s betrayal in killing him stuck such a cord in Banquo that he became a ghost set on making Macbeth acknowledge what a betrayal he had done to Banquo. Banquo had suffered such wrong by Macbeth that he became a ghost instead of moving on. It was also Banquo’s death that sparked more suspicions in the countrymen on whether Macbeth had gotten his crown honestly and if he was a corrupt king. Banquo’s suffering by the hand of Macbeth helped lead to the war against Macbeth leading into the tragic vision of violence leading to more