What would one have to achieve or go through in order to receive the title of a tragic hero? According to Shakespeare in his tragedy Macbeth, one would have to possess most characteristics essential for being a tragic hero. These include an appropriate noble stature, a tragic flaw, one's free choice, an element of injustice, one's increased awareness and an involvement of a catharsis in the audience. The character of Macbeth undergoes irreversible changes while ignoring his tragic flaws, ignorantly relying on the supernatural more than on himself and, finally, experiencing an inevitable downfall followed by an epiphany. As a tragic hero, Macbeth has everything and loses it all.

The tragic flaws Macbeth attains greatly contribute to the equally tragic downfall of this noble man and gradually degrade his being. Since too much of anything cannot ever be good, his overwhelming ambition, accompanied by confidence, is among the...