macbeth as a tragic hero

619 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Tragic hero Macbeth

Macbeth the Tragic hero

<Tab/>"I go, and it is done; the bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan, for it knell that summons thee to heaven, or to hell." This is a quote from Shakespeare's play Macbeth. The quote symbolizes Macbeth turning to the dark side. Macbeth is a historically based play. James I is placed into the play with his distant relationship with Banguo. Macbeth is a tragedy in which human actions have unavoidable consequences, where the characters sins and mistakes are never forgiven or rectified. Every tragedy has a tragic hero in this play Macbeth is the tragic hero. Macbeth is the tragic hero because he has a high station, tragic flaw, and a downfall in which he redeems before his death.

<Tab/>Macbeth receives a station as high as king of Scotland. He also obtains title of Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth fought valiantly in the battle against Macdonaldwald and fought him face to face and defeated his army. Macbeth sounds like an honorable and courageous man. Well, he is until he starts to turn to the dark side.

<Tab/>The three witches tell him three apparitions the first being beware of Macduff, Second one is no man of woman born shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him. Hearing the apparitions makes Macbeth greedy and overconfident. He believes that he can do as he pleases and will never falter. These two things are Macbeth's tragic flaws. These and other things lead to Macbeth's downfall.

<Tab/>Macbeth comes across three witches that greet him in three different ways Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and king here after. Macbeth did not think much of these greetings. Well, until he receives the news from Ross that he has become the Thane of Cawdor. This is where Macbeth's downfall beings to show it's ugly little head. His mind becomes cloudy and begins to focus on how he will obtain the crown. Macbeth later murders Duncan, the king, in his sleep. This action turns Macbeth's downfall in to a rapid decent. Not long thereafter his wife drives herself crazy thinking of Duncan's murder and commits suicide. Macbeth also loses the throne, and his life in the final act. These actions symbolize the completion of his down fall. Even after all his deceit and corruption he still seems to redeem his honor and courage to the audience.

<Tab/>Macbeth regains is honor and courage just before his death.

Show More
Related

  • Essay On Racism By Brent Staples

    1694 Words  | 4 Pages

    The relationship between life and death is explored in Woolf’s piece, “The Death of a Moth.” Woolf’s own epiphany is presented in her piece; she invites her reader, through her stylistic devices, to experience the way in which she realized what the meaning of life and death meant to her. Woolf’s techniques allow her audience to further their own understanding of death and encourages them consider their own existence.

    Read More

  • Comparing Macbeth To A Tragic Hero

    506 Words  | 2 Pages

    Comparing Macbeth to a tragic hero would be like comparing Spiderman to Venom. Although Spiderman was the hero in the beginning, he had a bad side too. This is much like Macbeth in the beginning of the story. He went against his wife and did not want to kill until she finally got into his head and convinced him that it was the only way for him to receive the throne. Now, is Macbeth a tragic hero? No. Macbeth is not a tragic hero due to the fact that tragic heros always learn from their mistake and always undergo some sort of meaningful suffering; Macbeth did neither.

    Read More

  • Is Macbeth Becoming A Bystander To Evil

    1663 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the beginning of the book, the main character Macbeth is a honorable man that stumbles upon 3 wicked witches that corrupt his mind. When Macbeth and the witches first meet, the witches tell him that he will be Thane of Cawdor, Thane of Glamis, and king, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis.”(17) The witch’s corrupt Macbeth’s mind with the fact that he can obtain these titles by doing certain things like killing Banquo to progress farther in his ranks. Toward the end of the book, Macbeth isn’t a bystander anymore, but an enemy to many to where he will be slain by a man who was not of woman born. During a battle, a man named Macduff comes and kills Macbeth, “And let the angel whom thou still hast served tell thee Macduff was from his mother’s womb untimely ripped.”(185) Macbeth became the evil that he stood by from in the beginning.

    Read More

  • Better Ways to End Prison Overcrowding

    1024 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...t of people who return back to a law breaking mentality after they get released from prison. When you release people instead use these alternatives versus confinement it is less of a waste of expensive resources, taxpayer’s money, as well as time. A medium between control and treatment needs to be met in all of the prisons, or jails. Some men or women need more strict conditions and supervision practices while others may just need more of the services that should be offered such as rehabilitation, and alcohol or drug prevention. Any of these options will not be easy nor diminish this overcrowding issue quickly. It will take time, patience, and cooperation with both the inmates or ex-offenders family, friends, courts as well as law enforcement and jails.

    Read More

  • Lady Macbeth's Deception

    880 Words  | 2 Pages

    The play Macbeth by William Shakespeare starts off with a noble warrior Named Macbeth that is titled thane of Glamis by his own uncle, King Duncan. Macbeth is awarded thane of Cawdor due to the switching sides of the original title holder who is hanged for treason. Macbeth who is deceived by his wife kills the king in a plot for power and they put the blame on the guards by laying bloody daggers next to them. Macbeth begins to lose himself as the play goes on. He kills his best friend Banquo and Macduff’s wife and kids. Lady Macbeth kills herself as she goes crazy from all the killings and then that is when Macbeth completely loses himself. Macbeth is told by the witches that he cannot be killed by any one of women born. Macduff and Malcolm, heir to the throne who fled Scotland think of a plan to kill Macbeth. Macbeth faces Macduff and Malcolm’s army alone as he is labeled a tyrant and is abandoned by everyone. He faces the army fearlessly as he cannot killed by any one of woman born but fails to realize that Macduff was born of C-section leading to his downfall and Macbeth is Beheaded. Malcolm becomes the new king. Lady Macbeth's deception had a dramatic effect on the play leading to a dramatic change in many lives. The three main points that will be discussed are how Lady Macbeth becomes deceived; how Lady Macbeth deceives others and the results from Lady Macbeth deceiving others. Lady Macbeth, was simply minded and became easily deceived.

    Read More

  • Macbeth as the Aristotelian Tragic Hero

    1104 Words  | 3 Pages

    The first criterion that a tragic hero must comply to is that they must be above average.  They must be Khrestos.  Macbeth is khrestos.  He is described as "valour's minion" 1-2 19.  Valour's minion means bravery's favourite.  Also he is spoken of as "brave" and "Bellona's bridegroom".  Bellona was the goddess of war.  Duncan, the king, describes Macbeth as "noble".  And also uses a familiar term for Macbeth, as if he is in the kings family.  "o' valiant cousin, worthy gentleman".  These quotations from Duncan carry more weight as they are from the highest nobility, the monarch himself.  These quotes evidence that Macbeth is khrestos. Everyone thinks highly of him and he is already Thane of Glamis, then he becomes Thane of Cawdor.  The Thane of Cawdor is executed for being a traitor, so Macbeth inherits the label of a traitor, even though it is not known.

    Read More

  • Bad Decisions In Macbeth

    1731 Words  | 4 Pages

    A tragic hero is a great character that is destined for downfall. Macbeth’s fate is first portrayed when the witches say "All hail, Macbeth Hail to thee, thane of Glamis! All

    Read More

  • Examples Of Arrogance In Macbeth

    843 Words  | 2 Pages

    In fear of losing this power to his friend Banquo or his son Fleance, whom of which the witches said would be king after Macbeth and would yield a long line of kings, Macbeth had them murdered in the woods while they were out horseback riding. This proves that he truly believes in what the witches have to say about him and his future, which leads him to back to seek out more of the witches half truths to see what else would come of his future. The next set of prophecies that the witches had to offer were shown in a set of three apparitions. The first said “Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff. Beware the thane of Fife,” the second apperition then spoke “none of woman born can harm Macbeth,” the third aperition then said “Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill Shall come against him”(Shakespeare,168-170). Some say it was the witches fault for Macbeth’s actions next, but in reality it was Macbeth’s and Macbeth’s alone. Due to these three prophecies Macbeth’s level of arrogance went up along with his hunger for power as well, his level of common sense was decreasing faster and faster. Macbeth’s lack of common sense caused him to make rash decisions without thinking them through. Such as when he says “From this moment the very firstlings of my

    Read More

  • Macbeth's Corruption

    1293 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the beginning, Macbeth is a strong, brave and noble soldier. He is considered brave by all the people he was fighting around. When the captain is relaying the events of the battle, we find him saying to the king "For brave Macbeth- well he deserves that name" (1.2.16). As a result of Macbeth's actions on the battlefield, Duncan names him Thane of Cawdor in Act one Scene two. From this, we can see that Macbeth is a good soldier. He has no intention of doing anything other than serving the king.

    Read More

  • The Farce of Prison Rehabilitation

    906 Words  | 2 Pages

    "Prison." The World Book Encyclopedia . Vol. 15. Chicago: World Book, Inc., 1986. pp. 709-712.

    Read More

  • The Swedish Criminal Justice System

    1470 Words  | 3 Pages

    Rather than capital punishment, “Swedish prison systems gradually gained a reputation as a relatively open system with liberal policies for visitors & furloughs,” (von Hofer p. 171), “the breakthrough of imprisonment in Sweden occurred in the first half of the nineteenth century, during the period from 1810-1840 the number of prisoners quadrupled,”(Nilsson, R. (2003). The point Sweden was trying to make in the early days of the prison system was that social control is a necessity for the overall safety of society. The responsibility of Sweden’s prisons relies on the National Prison Board, which has made reforms and adjustments to the daily operations of prisons since they became centralized. Swedish prisons changed dramatically during the nineteenth century and, “the new disciplinary techniques had become formalized in a minutely worked-out system of rules, comprising every part and every phase of the activities inside the prisons. The nineteenth century prison broke the connection between the criminal and society,” (Nilsson, R.

    Read More

  • Macbeth: A Tragic Hero

    1162 Words  | 3 Pages

    Seeking for greater power, Macbeth murders Duncan who is the king at that time, which caused a great pain for the kingdom. Duncan is a great king, but just not a so good human reader. He has never been aware of Macbeth. He never have a thought that Macbeth might be a danger, who is willing to kill him for the throne. On the other hand, Macbeth does not accept to be just a general for the rest of his life. He wants a greater power, higher position than he is having at the time. Because of the suggests from the trio witches: “ All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!/ All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!”(1.2.49-50), Macbeth has the thinking about killing the king to take his throne. By calling Macbeth the Thane of Cawdor, they give Macbeth the thought that being a king is his fate. On the night Macbeth is planning to murder Duncan, the Old Man see many strange events: “And Duncan’s horses (a thing most strange and certain),/ Beauteous and swift, the minions of their race, /Turned wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out/ Contending ‘gainst obedience, as they would/ Make war with mankind” (2.4.14-18). It creates a scary feeling in the kingdom, and means something bad will happen to the kingdom.

    Read More

  • The Lust for Power in Macbeth by William Shakespeare

    853 Words  | 2 Pages

    The tragedy of Macbeth opens up with him returning home from a victorious military battle, displaying his honor and excellence. This is, also the first time he is presented with the opportunity for power. His success covered him with glory in defense of the crown. Macbeth is busily basking in his own glory and soaking up credit when Duncan basically steals his spotlight from right over his head, proclaiming Malcolm, Duncan's son, as the heir-apparent. This action also belittles Macbeth's achievement, since the procession of the throne is not necessarily dictated by bloodlines. Duncan is basically announcing that Macbeth, while noble, is inferior to his son Malcolm. This is where Duncan provokes Macbeth to hate him and also points out what Macbeth must do to become King. Duncan even tempts Macbeth, by pronouncing him as the Thane of Cawdor. This gives Macbeth a taste of power and he begins to have a desire for more. This desire or ambition is his fatal flaw. Shakespeare, by using Macbeth as a guide, shows that even the honorable men can fall into the hands of evil just like everyone else. No one is safe from his or her own ambitions of power and success. It is clear that Macbeth ends up a far more brutal and simple...

    Read More

  • Jails, Prisons, and Rehabilitation

    982 Words  | 2 Pages

    In general, the prison holds people for a period of more than one year. Prisons consist of many facilities since most people serve for long periods behind the bars. They are inclusive of exercise places, dining rooms, places to socialize and education facilities like classrooms, libraries, churches and workshops. Prisons hold more people as compared to jails in which they are ranged according to the crimes committed by the offenders, and this is due to safety precautions. Prisons also have such facilities as to carry out ...

    Read More

  • Factors Contributing to Macbeth's Downfall in William Shakespeare's Macbeth

    432 Words  | 1 Pages

    In William Shakespeare's famous play Macbeth, there are many reasons for Macbeth's gradual downfall. Numerous factors contributed to Macbeth's ruin, such as his own character flaws and his demanding wife, Lady Macbeth. The Three Witches, however, caused Macbeth the most trouble. First, the sisters stirred his dormant ambitions to be king. In addition to this, the witches' prophesies gave Macbeth a false sense of security. Finally, their predictions falsely led Macbeth to believe he would some day be happy. The Witches' contributed the most to Macbeth's destruction by first stirring his deep lying ambitions, also by giving him a false sense of security and finally, by allowing Macbeth to believe he would someday be content.

    Read More

More about macbeth as a tragic hero

Open Document