Is Macbeth a tragic hero? Traditionally, a tragic hero is one of high birth who possesses a flaw in character that brings about his own downfall. This is true of Macbeth. How is Macbeth a hero? Macbeth is a hero because in the beginning of Act I, we hear the other characters talk about how heroic Macbeth was in a fight in defense of his king's land and how he defeated the enemy.
Like all tragic heroes Macbeth demonstrates he is doomed to make errors in judgment when he allows Lady Macbeth to convince him to commit murder in order to gain the crown. In addition we know that at the beginning Macbeth is good. He was rewarded the respected title Thane of Cawdor after the execution of the previous Thane. It is easy to identify with Macbeth as he is pushed by Lady Macbeth to commit the murders and faces the external and internal conflicts typical of a tragic hero. Another aspect of the tragic hero is that they are responsible for their own fate.
A soldier describes Macbeth as “Brave Macbeth…Like valour’s minion.” The soldier is implying that Macbeth only works for honour and loyalty. Macbeth’s wife, Lady Macbeth, also states “…yet I do fear thy nature./ It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness.” This is simply saying that Macbeth is very kind but also capable of immense bravery. A fatal flaw is required in the hero to cause his eventual downfall. Macbeth’s most predominant flaw is his enormous ambition. As soon as the witches tell him he would be the thane of Cawdor and then the king, he was sceptical
However, once the notion of royal power is introduced by the Witches, the dam is broken and a cascade of corruption follows. This corruption leads to the murder of Duncan and Banquo by Macbeth. Once the thrown is obtained by Macbeth, more corruption ensues leading to his fear and neuroses. This destructive combination of fear and corruption leads to a wake of destruction for Scotland. Debuting in the play with auspiciousness, Macbeth slowly becomes corrupted by his new-found power, ambition and, most importantly,
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is considered one of his darkest and most powerful tragedies. Macbeth is a brave soldier and a powerful man, but he is not a virtuous one. Due to the prophecies of the three witches, he is easily temped into murder to fulfill his ambitions to the throne. In the play, Macbeth is considered a tragic hero. He was of high standing, came from a noble background, and possessed a flaw in his character that brought him to his own downfall.
Through analysis of Macbeth’s choices in the play, it is evident that his ruthless ambition, blind trust in the witches, cowardice towards his wife’s demands and overconfidence were the key faults that led to his demise. One of the reasons Macbeth meets his untimely tragic defeat is due to his ruthless ambition. From the moment Macbeth hears the witches’ prophecy and the first of them is realized (becoming Thane of Cawdor), Macbeth begins to seek out future ambitions: becoming the King. His personal ambition, fortified by his wife’s drive for power makes him blind to the man he was before he met the witches and before he became Thane of Cawdor. When Macbeth debates with himself regarding the pros and cons of killing Duncan he states: “I go, and it is done.
He is a devoted husband to his ‘dearest partner of greatness’. 7. However, in Act 1 Scene 7, having been persuaded by Lady Macbeth, Macbeth decides to murder the King. At this point his character changes, he is driven to commit further murders by his need to protect himself from the consequences of his actions. He becomes ruthless, tyrannical deceitful and dishonourable.
It seems that most people believe that Macbeth is the real villain of the play, after firstly killing the King but then Banquo and Macduff’s family but through Macbeth’s own ambition and desire for power, Lady Macbeth was able to manipulate and evoke weaknesses in Macbeth’s character to cause his respectable needs as a loyal solider, to turn into evil motivations. In the course of the play Macbeth’s mind changes from thinking logically to thinking unreasonably and acting impulsively on every thought that comes to his mind. The ideas that Lady Macbeth had and the prophesies from the witches came together to lead Macbeth into the conflicted character he become, going from a loyal, respected soldier into a tragic flawed hero. Before Macbeth’s character shifted into villainy he was a loyal and respected thane. His desire for power grew throughout the play and begins when he first encoumis, then they hail him the thane of Cawdor, which he didn’t yet know of, to him soon would be his next, second title.
Macbeth is a tragic hero, a person of high rank who is brought to eventual ruin by a flaw in his character Macbeth`s tragic flaw is his ambition,which leads him to a series of bloody and increasingly indefensible acts. The most apparent flaw, and perhaps the most in Macbeth`s character, is his lack of patience and temperance. These shortcomings haunted Macbeth,causing him to let his overvaulting ambition rush fate, and hasten his doom. Macbeth could not wait for an appointment to a position of more power. Instead , he murdered the king to take his place.
In act 1 scene 3 the three witches foretold that Macbeth would become Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor and the King of Scotland. If not for the prophecies Macbeth’s curiosity and ambition to become King might never have begun in the first place, however when hearing the prophecies of becoming king, horrible imaginings of murder came across his mind. As it gets further into the play Macbeth increasingly relies on the prophecies given by the witches, this lead to the murder of many people and slowly corrupted Macbeth near the end of the play. The manipulation and influence of Lady Macbeth was also a factor of Macbeth’s becoming more and more evil. When Lady Macbeth reads her husband’s letter, she is afraid that Macbeth is not evil enough to do what he must to get the crown.