Macbeth as a Tragic Hero | Macbeth as a Tragic Hero

Aristotle defined a tragic hero as a man who " falls into misfortune through some

flaw." In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, this definition of a tragic hero by Aristotle

relates, and Macbeth is portrayed as a man who falls from his position of honor and respect due to

a flaw in character which eventually turns into a tragic death. Macbeth is a good example of a tragic

hero. Although Macbeth has a good nature, he unfortunately contributes to his own fate more than

what is implied. All of the strengths that Macbeth has, soon turn out to be his weaknesses.

At the beginning of Macbeth, he was a military hero, and was praised and loved by the

people. Macbeth had defeated many of the troops and was highly trusted by everybody. Even King

Duncan said, "He is a gentleman on whom I built an absolute trust" (I iv 14-15). The Captain really

looked up to Macbeth as well, he said " For brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name- disdaining

fortune, with his brandished steel, which smoked with bloody execution, like valor's minion, carved

out his passage Till he faced the slave; which nev'r shook hands, nor bade farewell to him, Till he

unseamed him from the nave to th; chops, and fixed his head upon our battlements."(I ii 16-20) This

quote shows that the captain has a lot of respect and trust in Macbeth. Macbeth was a true hero at

the beginning of the play, but when he is tempted to become the king, that is when jealousy takes

control over his life.

One factor that contributed to the decline of Macbeth was the three witches. If the witches

had not said, "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to the...Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and King of

Scotland,"(1 iii 45-50) Macbeth would still be himself, and he would not have any jealousy on the

king. As the play progresses, Macbeth begins to rely on the witches predictions. Shakespeare uses

the witches as an aid for Macbeth's curiosity, which corrupts his character. The witches not only

named Macbeth strong titles, but they also told him "thou shalt be king hereafter." (I iii 49) This line

means that Macbeth will eventually be king, according to the witch"s predictions. This makes

Macbeth feel a sort of jealousy toward the king and it made him want to be king. You can tell that

the witches are meant to be evil from the beginning of the play when there is a big boom of thunder

and lightening. Shakespeare wanted to create atmosphere of evil, to show the readers that the witches

are evil, and he did this when the witches first enter in and there is a big boom of lightening and

thunder. We also know that the witches are supernatural because they begin to plan the future, and

predict that they will meet Macbeth. Although the witches have a definite impact on the choices that

Macbeth makes, it is still Macbeth that made the decisions that he did.

Another character that contributed to the decline of Macbeth was his wife, Lady

Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is the one who first introduced the idea of murdering King Duncan, so that

Macbeth would become closer on becoming king. This is why she is part to blame in the decline of

Macbeth. Although she was a major part in the decline of Macbeth, her character in the beginning

reveals that she is a lovable person, and a very good friend to Macbeth. An example of this is when

she was ready to kill King Duncan but could not murder him because he reminded her of her father.

This proves that Lady Macbeth has a heart deep inside her. Another example of how she is a loveable

person, to Macbeth is when she says, "[you (Macbeth)] shalt be / what though art promised" .She

questions Macbeth's character: "Yet do I fear nature; it is too full o' th' milk of human kindness to

catch the nearest way" (I V 17-19). Lady Macbeth shows that she cares a lot about Macbeth and she

feels like she can tell him anything. Lady Macbeth plays an important role in this play because she

provided a plot, which caused Macbeth to assassinate King Duncan. After Macbeth kills King

Duncan, he regrets it a lot. He regrets this because it created more problems and it led to him killing

more people. At this point of the play the audience can see the drastic change in Macbeth's character.

Macbeth's first murder was a trying experience for him, however after the first murder, killing

seemed to be the only solution to maintain his reign of the people of Scotland. Therefore, it was Lady

Macbeth who introduced the concept of murder to Macbeth. In the play, the line that describes Lady

Macbeth"s personality is when she says, "Your hand, your tongue like the innocent flower, but the

serpent under't" (I V 64-65). This line is said when she is talking to Macbeth about killing Duncan

and she is telling him how she portrays him. Obviously Lady Macbeth had a big impact on forcing

Macbeth to do what she thought was best for him, but it turns out that she made a bad decision and

brought out the worst in him.

Although Macbeth had many good qualities in the beginning of the play, his blind

ambition resulted in his destruction and all of his past accomplishments and happiness became lost.

Macbeth was the tragic hero in this play because he fell in to misfortune through some flaw

throughout the entire play. He fell through flaw, when he listened to the witches at the very

beginning of the play, also when he let Lady Macbeth persuaded him into killing Duncan, and then

when he kept killing more people because he didn"t know what else to do, and also when he chose

to not follow his own heart through out the entire play. At the end of the play, all of his flaws come

back to him, and he is defeated and killed by Macduff. This shows that his strengths were not as

strong as his weaknesses, and this killed him in the end.