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. Therefore, Macbeth is considered a tragic hero. Firstly, one of the characteristics of a tragic hero Macbeth demonstrates is hubris. Hubris is when a hero makes a mistake on account of excessive pride. The first time Macbeth displays hubris is when he kills Duncan, the king of Scotland, to fulfill the third prophecy. This is the first of many mistakes leading to his downfall. The quotes, “Let not light see my black and deep desires” (1.4.58), and, “I am afraid to think what I have done; look on’t again I dare not” (2.2.66-67), shows Macbeth’s evil thoughts and confirms his dreadful deed. The rising ambition of Macbeth wanting to fulfill the third prophecy the witches tell him about leads him to committing this mistake. Another exemplar of Macbeth exhibiting hubris is when he believes that nothing can harm him which leads him to become over-confident. The quote, “Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh…
The tragic hero is one of the most commonly misused terms in literature. Although difficult to find a character fitting of these qualities, Shakespeare’s Macbeth is deserving of the tragic hero status. In accordance to Aristotle’s poetics, Macbeth is not all good and not all bad, he undergoes proper anagnorisis, as well as proper peripeteia, making him a tragic hero. To be a tragic hero, Aristotle writes in Poetics that the hero must be not all good and not all bad. Scholars who argue Macbeth…
Shakespeare’s play Macbeth is about a man who rises to power as a king and is eventually killed. The main character, Macbeth, is a tragic hero. There are several characteristics that define a tragic hero. He is someone of high standing who brings about his own downfall through a tragic flaw. Additionally, he undergoes meaningful suffering, learns from his mistakes, and arouses pity through his demise. At the start of the play, Macbeth meets three witches and they say, “all hail… thane of…
The Tragic Downfall of a Hero The great Aristotle, created the term ‘tragic hero’, defining exemplary characters like Hamlet, Oipedus the King, and of course, Macbeth. The term, simply means, a character with the qualities of noble, and high-standing, but has flaws eventually leads to a tragedy. Macbeth is just like any other human, with morals, goals, and of course, bad human qualities. William Shakespeare conveys Macbeth as tragic hero when he is represented as noble, brave soldier, but falls…
Every hero has a flaw. The Random House Dictionary defines a tragic flaw as “the character defect that causes the downfall of the protagonist of a tragedy”1. Every epic poem needs a tragic hero with a flaw in order to create a conflict. Tragic flaws add depth and realism to a fiction story. Playwright William Shakespeare is famous for using this very concept and applying it to the heroes in his works. In his play, Macbeth, Shakespeare develops the concept of a tragic hero as the story unravels.…
Tragic Hero is a hero of a noble status that is destined for his/her own destruction because of a judgment error made by him. The play, “The Tragedy Macbeth”, written by William Shakespeare has an ideal example of a tragic hero, Macbeth. The character of Macbeth’s distorted perception causes him to make wrong decisions that eventually lead him to his downfall. The actions and the decisions of Macbeth give an insight into his flaw that eventually causes him to die in the end. In “The Tragedy…
Killing everyone in sight, Macbeth has become a senseless king on a rampage. How could one picture Macbeth, such an innocent, heroic man, becoming such a cold-hearted, insane king? As the reader plunges into Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the reader follows through Macbeth’s tragedy as it unfolds. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth, the superior, honorable thane, is portrayed as a brave soldier with power and good will who is looked up to by many. As Macbeth begins to gain more and more unnecessary…
The Tragic Hero in Macbeth Humans possess the gift of free will and the ability to make decisions, yet it is the consequence of these choices that determine one’s future. The story of Macbeth by William Shakespeare tells the tale of a virtuous thane’s transformation into a ruthless king. Driven by his lust for power, Macbeth becomes king by means of murder, forcing him down a path of wickedness as his conscience continuously deteriorates. In this story, Macbeth would be considered a…
Tragic heroes are within everyone, but cannot be fully exposed or understood without the essential tragic qualities. One must be a potentially noble character who endures heroic qualities and has respect and admiration from the society. Consequently, they must be essentially great. Also within the character must be a flaw or weakness that leads to a fall. Lastly, one is required to possess an element of suffering and redemption. Remorse and regret is a necessity for ones wrong doings or deeds.…
In many tragedies, the tragic hero is often brought to his downfall by his tragic flaw. This trend holds turn in William Shakespeare’s, Macbeth. More specifically, throughout Macbeth, the audience is demonstrated to a high degree that one’s heroic and admirable traits, which can contribute to great success, can also contribute to great destruction. For Macbeth, the tragic hero, his traits of ambition, manliness and bravery are among his numerous traits which led to his downfall. The trait which…