The Archetype Of A Hero In Shakespeare's Macbeth

To what extremes would a person go to get powers that they seek? During the 1600’s, people would go to great lengths to get power. Power was the element that separated the powerful from the weak. The more powerful a person was, the more respected they were. In Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Little did Macbeth know, having his hands covered with the victim’s blood, would eventually lead to his own downfall. Macbeth’s eagerness to become powerful shows the reader how through violence and power, following the witches saying, “ Fair is foul and foul is fair,” can eventually go wrong in the long run. This tragic story can be told in many different perspectives. A reader’s understanding of character, plot, and theme in Macbeth can be …show more content…
The archetype of a hero is to prove himself worthy through a journey. Some if all heros, show competence, courageousness, and strength. On the other hand, Macbeth is below that archaeotype. Macbeth showed hero characteristics in the beginning of the story. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is practically presented as a hero and is recognized with honor by the king. Although Macbeth showed great courage and strength to his king, he slowly starts to loose some hero characteristics. As a hero, you put the people or the land first, instead of yourself. Instead of Macbeth trying to be the king for the people, he demonstrate his bad ego to his audience. He clearly shows his private or personal thoughts by his speeches. When King Duncan shares his thoughts of passing on the his power to his son Malcolm, Macbeth shows his sense of irritation towards the king’s choice by saying,”’ The rest is labor, which is not used for you’” (Act 1, Scene 5, Line 44-45). Although Macbeth failed to demonstrate strong hero characteristics, he showed his human side to the audience. When he is about to forgo in the murder, Lady Macbeth mocks his manliness by saying, “‘Does unmake you. I have given suck, and know How tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me.I would, while it was smiling in my face,Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this’” (Act 1, Scene 7, Line 55-60). While he showed he showed some sort of humane characteristics of being a hero, he ended up killing the king. After the killing of the king, Macbeth starts showing evil, villain characteristics. Because lady Macbeth made fun of Macbeth’s manliness, he demonstrates how superior and manly he really is. At this point in the story, Macbeth has developed himself as a careless human being. As he does more murders or is involved in them, he gets less humane, until he