Theme Of Macbeth As A Tragic Hero

Improved Essays
Macbeth
Macbeth is a play written by the famous playwright William Shakespeare and is thought to have first been performed in 1606. The play is a Scottish tragedy and is about a general named Macbeth, who one day gets approached by three witches, who reveal a prophecy that Macbeth shall one day be king of Scotland. Spurred on by ambition and his own wife Macbeth kills the current king, Duncan, and takes the thrown. The guilt of killing the king leads to down spiral into madness and paranoia as Macbeth continues murdering people to keep his secret. In the end he becomes a tyrant and is taken down in a civil war. There are several themes in the play that occur.
A theme that is represented in Macbeth is that of a tragic hero. A tragic hero is a character that the audience pities or sympathises with despite their wrongdoings, but does not necessarily forgive. Macbeth himself is the most obvious tragic hero in the play. He did not want to murder the king, but was persuaded by Lady Macbeth and even after conquering the throne,
…show more content…
An important theme in Macbeth is that of a tragic hero and a fallen man. Which means a character who falls from a position of superiority to that of humility due to their own actions and ambitions, such characters are pitied by the audience but not necessarily forgiven. Another theme is blood and its role in the play. Imaginary blood gets used to symbolise the guilt of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as well as their decent to madness, while physical blood represents the consequences of the character’s evil deeds. Witchcraft and its ties to evil is the third theme brought up, it shows how in the end it was the witches who were the root of evil in the play by setting Macbeth unto the path of a

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Macbeth is known throughout history as a classic example of the telling of a tragic hero. With Shakespeare's iconic writing style, the audience are accompanied by the characters themselves as the poetic and dramatic elements bring them to life. As the main protagonist of Macbeth, Macbeth is a round dynamic character. Being such, there’s hardly any black and white lines. The majority of Macbeth’s character is a vast sea of gray: indistinguishable from what’s ethically perceived as right or wrong.…

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Macbeth outlines the indications of the tragedy through the links of numerous convections which characters lead on and create problems in the story plot. Macbeth specifically demonstrates a significant tragic hero trait who soon establishes the fall of a nobleman. Lady Macbeth is constantly driven by ambition, spreading her fatal flaw and undertaking a ny possible scenario, to get what she wants. The weird sisters are led by deception and can manipulate belief from anybody displaying their supernatural…

    • 79 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Macbeth there were many themes developed throughout the whole tragedy. One theme that stood out the most was betrayal. Betrayal was brought out mainly through Macbeth: When The Thane of Cawdor “that most disloyal traitor” of Scotland betrays Scotland and fights on the side of Norway, Macbeth betrayed his King Duncan and killed him, and Banquo was betrayed and killed by Macbeth.…

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Macbeth Motif Essay

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Macbeth Motif Essay Lack of sleep can make a man go mad. This happens in Shakespeare’s, Macbeth, the three witches give a loyal soldier, Macbeth, the false prophecy that he will be king. The thought of being King of Scotland triggers Macbeth’s tremendous ambition that makes him spiral into a malicious tyrant, who murders anyone in his way. He is forced by his wife, Lady Macbeth, to become a murderer if that means she would get to be Queen of Scotland.…

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    he never had any ambition to be king . Macbeth was happy with his place as a thane . The future tellings which were told by the…

    • 993 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Motifs In Macbeth

    • 1803 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare uses motifs throughout the play to drive the plot. Motifs such as violence, guilt, and the supernatural are used to manipulate the character’s minds that drives them to make horrific decisions. During the course of the play, these motifs interconnect; as a consequence they affect the actions of the character. Although each character has his/her own visions of their future, none seem to understand the driving forces behind their behavior and therefore settle into the comfort of their altered personality. These motifs further the plot by one connecting with another.…

    • 1803 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Tragedy of Macbeth is written by a famous author named William Shakespeare. In Act One the play takes place in a wild and scary place where three witches meet in medieval Scotland. The three witches meet a general named Macbeth; whom they tell will become King. Soon after Macbeth is told he will become King, he plans to murder King Duncan. Macbeth is accompanied by his wife Lady Macbeth, who helps and does anything to make sure Macbeth becomes King.…

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Theme Of Death In Macbeth

    • 710 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A play that begins with praise, happiness, and honor soon takes a turn for the worst when the tragic hero brings grief among his wife, leader, friends, and colleagues. Macbeth brings about suffering to all of these characters in his grasp for power contributing to the tragic vision of the play. Macbeth goes from a stand up, respected warrior to a bloody tyrant. It is his flaw of greed that turns him into an unruly king, bringing his closest companions down with him.…

    • 710 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Consequently it seems evident that Macbeth could justly be considered a “tragic hero” as his grievous story satisfies the defined criteria for a tragic hero. Macbeth holds a substantial amount of power, shows essential truths about humanity through his suffering, has tragically wasted qualities, contains a tragic flaw leading to his downfall and ultimately finds some form of resignation in his…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Shakespeare’s novel, Macbeth, is sometimes hard to understand. Especially, characters’ identities are ambiguous. In Macbeth, which is one of the Shakespeare’s tragedy novel, Some people are confused whether Macbeth is a kindhearted villain or tragic hero. Several pieces of evidence support Macbeth as a tragic hero. Tragic heroes are usually of royal descent who possess a flaw in their character that causes them to make bad decisions eventually leading to a downfall.…

    • 1180 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Macbeth is a play of a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, best known author in the English-speaking world. This tragedy tells of a man who is deceived by himself and his wife. Witches and witchcraft play a major role in The Tragedy of Macbeth and the characters in the play (Macbeth, Online-Literature). Throughout the play Macbeth, three witches perform witchcraft to show and tell Macbeth his future to become king, who stands in his way of becoming king, and how to kill the king of Scotland Duncan, to become the new king.…

    • 1225 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The theme of ambition is constantly recurring in the play; it starts off as Lady Macbeth being the more dominant character in the play, she is deceitful and has an ugly two-face but the serpent underneath and the other character (Macbeth) must hide his innocents although he is guilty. She is plotting or persuading Macbeth to kill Duncan, yet…

    • 1234 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Macbeth is a classic Shakespearean play which outlines the rise and eventual fall of a general in Scotland due to his own actions and intentions. The play looks at Macbeth and his path through the royal hierarchy. Ultimately, the path chosen is not the wisest and leads to his drastic demise. A tragic hero is a common element within Shakespearean plays which is a highly esteemed/prosperous main character who falls into misfortune on account of his mistake(s) according to Aristotle. Macbeth accurately demonstrates the specific characteristics of hubris, anagnorisis, and peripeteia.…

    • 1120 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Macbeth is a play written by William Shakespeare about a “dead butcher and his fiend like Queen” (5.8.82). In the beginning of the play, the main character Macbeth is a noble war hero who is honest and morally upright. Macbeth is then introduced to a group of evil witches who begin to play psychological mind games on him, which eventually lead to his destruction. The major causes of Macbeth’s downfall are hubris, errors in judgement, and forces beyond his control. One character flaw Macbeth possesses is Hubris.…

    • 1229 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Universal Theme In Macbeth

    • 1090 Words
    • 5 Pages

    English Essay- Macbeth Rose Hillard 10A, Mr Zitser Universal themes are communicated to the audience in William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth through the use of varying literary techniques and dramatic effects. This essay will look at the timeless nature of themes such as ambition and appearance versus reality in Macbeth, and how their transcendence of human nature contributes to the play’s relevance today.…

    • 1090 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays