Defining Macbeth of William Shakespeare's Play

The third criterion is that the character must have one tragic flaw, which leads to his downfall. Last of all, the tragic hero must redeem himself despite his flaw and eventually create sympathy for the character. Macbeth is presented at the start of the play as a noble man, one full of all the good qualities a man could desire - bravery, strength, loyalty, manliness and health. In Act 1 Scene 2, Macbeth is talked of as a heroic warrior that "brandished steel which smoked with bloody execution". Many other characters in the play also see Macbeth as a honourable man, with the King acknowledging this with comments such as "O valiant cousin, worthy Gentleman".

But, consequently, Macbeth's ambition has another face and is what leads him to his tragic downfall. Had he not been so enveloped with becoming King and remaining powerful, he would not have continued to kill innocent people in order to keep his position. It was because of these killings and his overbearing attitude that caused him to be overthrown and killed himself. Macbeth, at the beginning of the play seems to be a very noble person. He is characterized as being very loyal and honorable.

Whiles I see lives, the gashes Do better upon them.” (V, viii). At the beginning of the play, we view Macbeth as being a hero who would defend his King and country against traitors. He also holds a lot of guilt about killing Duncan, and is commanded by his own wife to do so. When Macbeth progresses into a villain, he becomes more detached from Lady Macbeth and can make decisions without her. With this, he becomes more ruthless in his efforts to stay as the King of Scotland and people describe him as ‘This tyrant’ (V, iii) and ‘A dwarfish thief’ (V, ii).

She was the one who planned to kill the King not Macbeth because he didn 't have a good poker face, more reason why he 's a tragic hero. Macbeth wife control him through the whole plan. Macbeth didn 't want to kill the King, he was scared until his wife questioned his manhood. This is our biggest weakness as men when somebody question our men hood we just go crazy. We might know that what we are about to do is wrong, but we 'll still go through with it because we don 't want to look weak, this is actually what Macbeth did.

This means that killing a King is much worse than a normal murder. Which is also reflected in the play. Qualities of Kings is one of the major concerns in the play. Some of the qualities that make a King are to reward those who do good deeds e.g Malcolm making his thanes Earls, to punish the treacherous e.g Duncan giving the order to hang the thane that betrayed him, to respect all those who fight on your side. These qualities are spread between all the kings in Macbeth.

Macbeth as a Shakespearean Tragic Hero In this essay I will be exploring how far Macbeth is considered to be a Shakespearean tragic hero. According to A.C Bradley, the man who defined what a Shakespearean tragic hero is, a typical Shakespearean tragic hero is a person of greatness and high power. We can see at the beginning of the play that Macbeth is the 'Thane of Glamis' but is then promoted, due to the execution of a traitor, to the 'Thane of Cawdor'. A Shakespearean tragic hero also has many character flaws, which lead to their downfall. Macbeth is an extremely ambitious character; he knows what he wants and how to get it, even if that means murdering Duncan to become King.

This also gives the impression that he fights for his king to the best of his ability. Secondly, Macbeth knows the difference between right and wrong, enforcing his heroic character. An example of this is before he assassinates King Duncan. Before doing the deed, Macbeth mentions that “First, as I am his kinsman and subject, / Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, / Who should against his murderer shut the door, / Not bear the knife myself.” (I, vii, 13-16) and that Duncan is a great king to his people. Macbeth takes into account the consequences of him killing the king, what the king has done for the country and why he should be protecting and not harming him.

Macbeth: His Downfall Was Due to His Ambition for Power In the Shakespearean novel Macbeth, the protagonist Macbeth is caught in a down spiral induced by his ambition which in the end, was the cause of his tragic end. Macbeth, once a great hero falls victim of his ambition for power. Although the protagonist initially tries to resist his human urge, he in the end committed crime his country, his friends, and sadly himself. Macbeth's first great crime was the crime against his country. In the beginning, Macbeth was described by his fellow noblemen as a great, loyal soldier, giving all he has for his country.

Not all of the characters who died deserved to die just because of their flaws. Duncan shouldn’t have been punished for trusting someone and Banquo would have said something, but was waiting for the right time or some physical evidence. If Macbeth had not been so ambitious, none of the problems that occurred would have. In the end their flaws were the cause to their demise.

He was also a man who would out his own life on the line since he had waded into the thick of the battle until he took on Macdonald himself therefore Macbeth being described as the ‘God of War’. ‘As sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion’ describes how courageous Macbeth and Banquo were. These reasons were why Macbeth was Duncan’s one of his favourites since he called him ‘O valiant cousin, worthy gentlemen’. Duncan sees Macbeth as a brave soldier and family man because of Macbeth’s attitude and services to Duncan. However, being provoked to do an evil deed by the prediction of the witches had caused him to commit high treason.