Essay On Macbeth As A Tragic Hero

The question at hand is whether or not Macbeth is a tragic hero. According to the philosopher and scientist, Aristotle, a tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction. Along with his theory, he also states that "in order for a character to be a tragic hero, the character must not be a saint nor a villain, he should have some virtues, have a tragic flaw, and have excessive self-pride. Similarly, in the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt textbook, the characteristics of a tragic hero is that she or he is of high rank, has a tragic flaw, suffers complete ruin or death and faces his or her downfall with courage and dignity. Macbeth meets all of the criteria, and therefore he can be called a tragic hero. I personally think Macbeth should be considered a tragic hero because, despite the fact that his fate was predestined by the witches in the play, he is nevertheless responsible for his own actions and ultimately his own demise.
To start off, Macbeth possesses a major and tragic flaw, one the leads him to his death. The flaw being that he is over ambitious to become king. This flaw of his becomes evident when he is confronted with the supernatural and the prophecy of becoming king. Macbeth's over ambition leads to many deaths which are eventually avenged when Macduff and Malcolm return
Though there are many factors that contributed to the fall of Macbeth, the influence of other characters on Macbeth's actions were one the biggest reasons for his death. These following influences contribute greatly to Macbeth's death: his fate, which were told to him by the witches, Lady Macbeth who manipulated Macbeth's judgment, and finally Macbeth's ambition, which drove his aspiration to be king. Macbeth's character in the play degenerates from a nobleman to a violent