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In the play Macbeth by William Shakespear the main character Macbeth is a tragic hero according to Aristotle's characteristics of a tragic hero because he posses each of these characteristics. The first characteristic of a tragic hero that Macbeth possesses is that he is famous for being the man who led the Scottish army to victory in two recent battles. He is noble in the sense that he has the respect of his king and that he is respected by most people as one of if not the best warrior in Scotland. He is also prosperous as his king will reward him greatly for the service he has done for his country as Duncan gives him the title of Thane of Cawdor. The next characteristic of a tragic hero that Macbeth has is that he is neither wholly good nor
Macbeth could justly be classified a “Tragic Hero” as his tragic story fills out the defined criteria for a tragic hero. Macbeth holds a significant social status, reveals essential truths about humanity through his suffering, has tragically wasted talent, contains a “tragic flaw” leading to his downfall and finally he finds some relief in his death.
In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth is a classic example of a tragic hero who is constantly struggling with his fate. In the opening scene of the play Macbeth receives a prophecy from three witches. They proclaim that he will be the thane of Cawdor. He responds by saying, “By Sinel’s death I know that I am thane of Glamis/ but how of Cawdor”(I, iii, 70-73)? At first, he does not realize to earn this title what he must do, but when he realizes he is taken aback. His bewilderment prefigures his perpetual struggle with his fate. Macbeth also is excessively ambitious which constantly affects him throughout the play. He is too determined to become king and will kill anyone to ensure that this will transpire. Macbeth’s struggle and ambition make him the quintessence of tragic hero.
Macbeth exhibits most, if not all, of the classic traits of a Shakespearean tragic hero almost flawlessly. From his rise to greatness to his ultimate destruction and death, he is most certainly a tragic hero.
In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, the main character Macbeth is labeled as either a tragic hero or a villain. A tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgement error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction. A villain is the bad guy of the story. They are the ones who come up with a diabolical plot to somehow cause harm or ruin (“Literary Terms.”). As of now where we are at in the play, it seems as if Macbeth is a character who does reckless things but intends to do the right thing. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is faithfully serving the king by slaying the enemies who try to invade the great land of Scotland. Although selfish by killing King Duncan, his righteous morals and servant attitude says otherwise in the
that he is compelled to commit so many acts of violence by his lust for power.
The great Aristotle, created the term ‘tragic hero’, defining exemplary characters like Hamlet, Oipedus the King, and my personal favorite, 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 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 to the manipulation of his wife and the witches, making ambition and over confidence his tragic flaws.
I believe that Lady Macbeth is a tragic hero. A tragic hero can be defined as a character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction. In the case of Lady Macbeth, she’s the one who persuades Macbeth to kill Duncan when he has second thoughts about the prophecy, simply because she wishes to have the power as well. This is a judgmental error on her part as she only sees the short-term effects and doesn’t realize the long term ones that could arise from this mistake. Macbeth is traumatized by these decisions, and as he continues to make worse and worse decisions lady Macbeth begins to feel guilty for what she persuaded her husband to do.
He spoken very highly of, and the first adjective used to describe him informs the audience that he is a courageous and likeable character. The third positive characteristic to being a tragic hero, is that the protagonist must be admirable, since heroes are looked up to as a beacon of hope, and are depended on to make the rights choices. “Macbeth’s excessive ambition motivates him” (Principal Topics, 238). Despite his ambition motivating him to kill King Duncan, he still has ambitions nonetheless, which is an admirable trait that a tragic hero must pos...
A tragic hero is one of noble stature, and is good. Macbeth is known as
Tragic heroes often have distinct qualities to them which makes them different compared to the other characters. Often times, the tragic hero has an abundance of ambition to acquire a certain goal. This leads to the tragic hero to obtain guilt,, as they have trouble accepting what they have done, or the person they have turned into because of their ambition. Lastly, pity and fear is felt by the audience, often during the downfall of the tragic hero. William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth displays a tragic hero perfectly. Macbeth displays a vast amount of ambition, guilt, and is capable of creating pity and fear within the audience making him a true tragic hero.
Tragic heroes, who destined for a serious downfall, are the protagonist of a dramatic tragedy. A tragic hero is usually a great hero, who gets the most respect from other people; on the other hand, a tragic hero can also lose everything he gained because of his mistakes. His downfall is the result of a wrong judgment, a flaw which might combined with fated and external forces. The downfall can cause the tragic hero to suffer for the rest of his life. In many literary works, the downfall of the tragic heroes usually happen in their highest point. In the same way, Macbeth is a tragic hero in the play called “The Tragedy of Macbeth” which is written by a legendary writer, William Shakespeares. Macbeth is a great general who gained many respect from the people and even the king. In the highest point of his life, because of seeking for greater power, it created Macbeth’s downfall. Macbeth, a tragic hero, causes suffering for himself and others by committing murders and creating distress, which are the negative effects of seeking for a greater power.
When William Shakespeare created "Macbeth" he included in the title character all the key elements of a tragic hero. Macbeth has a decline from his good standing, reaches a lowest point and soon after turns himself around, the epiphany, and finally rises in his morals and standing; however it is too late and his death is apparent. Macbeth's decline begins when he heeds the witches prophecies. His lowest point is reached when he decides that life does not matter to him anymore, soon followed by his epiphany when he decides that he will fight honorably even if it means his death. He then raises his moral standing and regains his honor. Through well written literature, William Shakespeare is able to portray Macbeth as a typical tragic hero.
A Shakespearean tragic hero starts out as a noble person; a great exceptional being who stands out. A tragic hero has a tragic flaw of an exaggerated trait that leads to their downfall and eventually to death. William Shakespeare often made his main characters tragic heroes in his plays. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the role of the tragic hero is given to the main character: Macbeth. This is because he starts off as a loyal and well liked man in the beginning, but has a tragic flaw of ambition which ultimately leads to his downfall.
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. One’s pays for their wrong doings because of failure to find happiness and regrets for actions taken. Therefore they die heroically. In the play “Macbeth” this quality of a tragic hero is portrayed though the character Macbeth.
The tragic hero is a very specific character and must meet several criterias. This tragic character must not be an extremely virtuous individual that instead of the audience feeling pity or fear for their downfall, they feel anger. The character must as well not be so evil that the audience wishes their downfall, simply for the sake of justice. This tragic hero is best described as someone ‘’who is neither outstanding in virtue and righteousness; nor is it through badness or villainy of his own that he falls into misfortune, but rather through some flaw", Macbeth fitting this character perfectly. He is introduced to us as a military hero who has proven himself in battle time and time again, but still an average man, easily comparable to a modern day soldier. Along with all of Macbeth's many positive attributes comes his tragic flaw, a moral weakness of being extremely ambitious. It is this seed planted in him that inevitable takes over this ordinary man and entraps his will and leads him down his