The great Aristotle describes a tragic hero as having, among other characteristics: excessive pride, status, good fortune, and a fatal flaw that brings this fortune to an end. (Aristotle) In life, but especially in stories, we encounter tragic heroes, and Macbeth by William Shakespeare is an example of one such story. Macbeth’s tragic hero is particularly heroic and particularly tragic. The title character, Macbeth is incredibly prideful as seen when he trusts the witches. He is also of high status, being a warrior, twice a thane and once a king. Of course, Macbeth has his fatal flaws: obsession and faith in the witches, and a human conscience. All of these characteristics, pride, status and flaws, contribute to one’s heroism, but also to a spectacular downfall.
Pride and ambition are traits abundant in any hero, but especially in Macbeth. His overconfidence is a very large part of his personality, and one that heavily influences his decisions. In act five, Macbeth makes the poor decision to not prepare for the ten thousand English troops on their way. Instead, he leaves his safety to his faith in the witches and their prophecy, as well as the notions that a forest could never walk towards him, and every one of his enemies must be born of a woman. (Shakespeare 5.5 49-51) This stark example of …show more content…
Trust, for example. Blind trust, putting all of oneself into one thing, often blocks out all other reason and leads to destruction. Macbeth puts quite a lot of trust and faith in the witches. So much so, in fact, that he leaves his castle virtually unprotected against the oncoming English army. Even when the most impossible of the witches’ prophecies comes true, Macbeth still has so much faith in the other prophecies that instead of preparing his castle for a siege, he laughs in the face of the English army. (Shakespeare 5.5 1-7) This overconfidence leads quite directly to this hero’s tragic
Pride and ambition are traits abundant in any hero, but especially in Macbeth. His overconfidence is a very large part of his personality, and one that heavily influences his decisions. In act five, Macbeth makes the poor decision to not prepare for the ten thousand English troops on their way. Instead, he leaves his safety to his faith in the witches and their prophecy, as well as the notions that a forest could never walk towards him, and every one of his enemies must be born of a woman. (Shakespeare 5.5 49-51) This stark example of …show more content…
Trust, for example. Blind trust, putting all of oneself into one thing, often blocks out all other reason and leads to destruction. Macbeth puts quite a lot of trust and faith in the witches. So much so, in fact, that he leaves his castle virtually unprotected against the oncoming English army. Even when the most impossible of the witches’ prophecies comes true, Macbeth still has so much faith in the other prophecies that instead of preparing his castle for a siege, he laughs in the face of the English army. (Shakespeare 5.5 1-7) This overconfidence leads quite directly to this hero’s tragic