Macbeth's Tragic Flaws Essay

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In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth’s growing character diverts from a noble man to violent individual. His image to the Scottish people turns from a hero to an enemy. Macbeth displays this deflection from a common Shakespearean trait; the tragic hero. A tragic hero, whose destiny is downfall, are the protagonist of a dramatic tragedy. Macbeth faces and conquers strange obstacles in order to achieve the throne. Macbeth ruins his life with the more power he gets along the way. Macbeth loses his life in the end, but the message of restoring power in the play reestablishes. Macbeth has many tragic flaws in his character. He is dominantly good, but suffers a self-inflicted falling out due to flaws in their personality. Tragic flaws lead to the downfall …show more content…

A tragic hero must suffer from a tragic flaw, and these flaws begin to be his greatest weaknesses. Macbeth shows strong ambition; even as it demonstrates inner conflict. Macbeth’s ambition leads to many deaths, including his friends and a person he respects. Before killing Duncan he says, “Stars hide your fires; Let not see my black and deep desires” (1. 4. 50-1). Macbeth recognizes in order to be King, he has to commit deeds that are contrary to his conscience. Macbeth lets his ambition take over and does not confess his crime to others. Macbeth wants to keep his desires a secret as they are evil, and overthrow the noble bloodline after Duncan. Moreover, Hecate the witches Queen realizes overconfidence is Macbeth's greatest enemy saying, “His hopes 'bove wisdom, grace and fear / And you know, security / Is mortals’ chiefest enemy” (3. 5. 31-3). Hecate believes Macbeth's overconfidence pushes him towards destruction. Hecate also states Macbeth denies all evidence of his enemies prevailing against him, which contributes to his cocksure flaw. To summarize, Macbeth thinks he can defy fate to achieve greatness. Although, Macbeth's ambition and his idea of being invincible leads to his

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