Macbeth begins the play as a hero through his bravery, morality, and self-awareness. However, after his hamartia is tempter, he begins to make choices that lead him to become a tragic hero. The choices he makes are influenced by the opportunity he is given to make them, and can be sympathised due to their parallels with normal human error. Everyone, given the right circumstances, can become Macbeth.
When King Duncan asks the Captain about the stance of the battle, he says that Macbeth, through his brave fighting, is single-handedly winning the battle for Scotland; this is said in, “For brave Macbeth–well he deserves that name–Distaining Fortune, with the brandished steel, [w]hich smoked with bloody execution” (1.2.16-18), because Macbeth is …show more content…
He also calls Macbeth, “Bellona’s bridegroom,” the Goddess of War, which is as though he his calling him the God of War, Ares. Morality in a hero is important to make sure his actions are with good reasons. Macbeth’s morality is displayed through what he says, what other say about him, and what the Earth displays about him. When the King greets Macbeth, he is met with praise for his hard work, but through his response he shows his morality. In, “The service and loyalty is own, [i]n doing it, pays itself” (1.4.22-23), he demonstrates his honour because Scotland is his home and to fight for them and to help them win is enough reward; his actions are not for any sort of compensation. When Lady Macbeth says, “Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness” (1.5.17-18), she explains that she is concerned that Macbeth is too kind to knock others down to raise himself; “the milk of human kindness” is used to describe Macbeth as being too feminine due to his “nature” containing a …show more content…
This pity for Macbeth can be derived through the parallels of this story to one’s own life. If no correlation could be made from the choices Macbeth makes to normal human experiences, his fall would be deserving and not tragic. When the wyrd sisters tell Macbeth that he is going to become King in, “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter” (1.3.50), and they now expect Macbeth to complete this task. This relates to an experiment done by Robert Rosenthal where students given higher expectations to succeed are more likely to do so. The power of expectations works both positively and negatively, shown in a statistic where 90% of surveyed prisoners were told by a parent growing up, “They’re going to put you in jail.” Macbeth falls victim to this this expectation and chooses to listen to the wyrd sister through his actions to becoming King. Lady Macbeth tries to influence Macbeth so he will kill Duncan though attacking his masculinity. When Lady Macbeth says, “When you durst do it, then you were a man; [a]nd to be more than what you were, you would [b]e so much more than the man” (1.7.49-51) and, “They have made themselves and their fitness now [d]oes unmake you” (1.7.53-54), she challenges him by saying that he was a man when he was going to kill Duncan, but now that he is not, he is no long a man. This, along with other influences, leads Macbeth to kill the King.
When King Duncan asks the Captain about the stance of the battle, he says that Macbeth, through his brave fighting, is single-handedly winning the battle for Scotland; this is said in, “For brave Macbeth–well he deserves that name–Distaining Fortune, with the brandished steel, [w]hich smoked with bloody execution” (1.2.16-18), because Macbeth is …show more content…
He also calls Macbeth, “Bellona’s bridegroom,” the Goddess of War, which is as though he his calling him the God of War, Ares. Morality in a hero is important to make sure his actions are with good reasons. Macbeth’s morality is displayed through what he says, what other say about him, and what the Earth displays about him. When the King greets Macbeth, he is met with praise for his hard work, but through his response he shows his morality. In, “The service and loyalty is own, [i]n doing it, pays itself” (1.4.22-23), he demonstrates his honour because Scotland is his home and to fight for them and to help them win is enough reward; his actions are not for any sort of compensation. When Lady Macbeth says, “Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness” (1.5.17-18), she explains that she is concerned that Macbeth is too kind to knock others down to raise himself; “the milk of human kindness” is used to describe Macbeth as being too feminine due to his “nature” containing a …show more content…
This pity for Macbeth can be derived through the parallels of this story to one’s own life. If no correlation could be made from the choices Macbeth makes to normal human experiences, his fall would be deserving and not tragic. When the wyrd sisters tell Macbeth that he is going to become King in, “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter” (1.3.50), and they now expect Macbeth to complete this task. This relates to an experiment done by Robert Rosenthal where students given higher expectations to succeed are more likely to do so. The power of expectations works both positively and negatively, shown in a statistic where 90% of surveyed prisoners were told by a parent growing up, “They’re going to put you in jail.” Macbeth falls victim to this this expectation and chooses to listen to the wyrd sister through his actions to becoming King. Lady Macbeth tries to influence Macbeth so he will kill Duncan though attacking his masculinity. When Lady Macbeth says, “When you durst do it, then you were a man; [a]nd to be more than what you were, you would [b]e so much more than the man” (1.7.49-51) and, “They have made themselves and their fitness now [d]oes unmake you” (1.7.53-54), she challenges him by saying that he was a man when he was going to kill Duncan, but now that he is not, he is no long a man. This, along with other influences, leads Macbeth to kill the King.