Who Is A Tragic Hero In Macbeth

Shakespeare’s Macbeth is one of his most popular plays, and with good reason. The play is known as one of Shakespeare’s tragedies, but it is set apart from his others. The villains in his other tragedies are ruthless and immoral; Macbeth is known as a tragic hero. Shakespeare develops Macbeth in the play through the characters Macbeth comes into contact with, strange and powerful supernatural forces, and a constant guilt that never goes away from one bad decision. The play begins with Macbeth and his friend Banquo returning from war. They have been successful in battle, and we learn that Macbeth will be named Thane of Cawdor. However, this is unknown to Macbeth at this time. Along the way home, Macbeth and Banquo run into three unnatural …show more content…
They were diverse so as to make the play diverse, but also they were made so we can relate to them easily. Even though Macbeth made bad decisions, we can relate to them. Macbeth is a tragic hero. Through the entire play he is struggling between his dark, selfish desires and his good, moral ones. Macbeth does not needlessly slaughter multiple innocents for his own happiness like other villains Shakespeare created. Macbeth was made on a level that we can relate too. Despite his evil deeds, he has a loving and compassionate character, as seen through his guilt. Although he turns away from what is right, we can still see ourselves in him, and that is what makes Macbeth a tragic hero. Macbeth’s foil is Banquo. Banquo is pure and moral; he does not heed the witches and their prophecies. Banquo shows his wisdom by telling Macbeth not to listen to the witches because they will try to trick him. Unfortunately, Macbeth does not listen to Banquo. Lady Macbeth is a cruel and ruthless women, perhaps even the cruelest women Shakespeare has written. She is the catalyst that began inner turmoil of Macbeth by forcing him to murder Duncan. She wishes to break the “gender wall” by taking control of the situation herself and killing Duncan. She feel no remorse or guilt until the very end of the play, where it drives her mad and causes her to commit …show more content…
In every Act, these ideas play a very large role on what happens and why it happened. The largest supernatural event is the event of the witches. The witches literally shape the play and the way it progresses. We do not know what the witches are, but one thing is for sure - the witches are beings of darkness. The witches are clairvoyant to some extent, but how? It seems as though they can read body language and facial expressions to influence the person, and that is what they do to Macbeth. By reading him, the witches see that he is overly-ambitious and simply planting a thought in his head is enough. The witches must have some kind of demonic powers because of the fact that they can vanish and reappear anywhere at