William Shakespeare's Macbeth

William Shakespeare's Macbeth

My opinion of tragedy is when someone is injured or killed. I would

call that tragic. The person doesn't have to be of high status for

their death to be tragic and it is more of a tragedy if you personally

knew the person. I believe that it is tragic if a person is seriously

injured in an accident and has to live with their injury for the rest

of their life. This is far more tragic than someone's death as when

you die, you are gone but if you are injured for the rest of your life

then you have to live with that.

However, according to A. C. Bradley, the writer of 'The substance of

Shakespearean tragedy', tragedy consists of a lot of things.

Shakespearean tragedy must involve the death of a powerful man or

woman in high estate and be an exceptional calamity. The death must be

a deliberate action of a man or woman. It must include events leading

up to the death of an important character or main protagonist and must

affect the well being of a whole nation. The events must give a sense

of the powerlessness of man and the omnipotence of fate or fortune.

Shakespearean tragedy can involve the supernatural or abnormal

conditions of mind. They also involve accident or chance.

'Macbeth' is an example of a Shakespearean tragedy as it fulfils all

of the factors drawn by A. C. Bradley. It is a story of exceptional

calamity, as we wouldn't expect such events to happen in everyday

life. The death of a man in high estate is the murder of King Duncan.

The killing of a king is a sacrilegious murder and Duncan's virtues

'will plead like angels, trumpet-tongu'd, against the deep damnation

of his taking off'. They will make people sorry for his death. After

Duncan is dead he is talked about as 'his silver skin lac'd with his

golden blood'. This makes him seem as though he is like a precious

treasure because gold and silver are expensive and valuable.