Macbeth as a Tragic Hero: Shakespeare and Polanski
Macbeth Project
Part I- The Tragic Hero
Both Aristotle and Shakespeare included the presence of a rigid code of conduct in their definitions of “hero”, but they didn’t need them to be morally upright. The inventory of people who could be heroes included sinners; the requirement to be nice is never even suggested by either, and “fitness of character” is more about determination and discipline than anything else. Aristotle preferred that the hero be “good or fine” in The Poetics, but he also implied that nobility of birth was enough to make someone a hero, as did serious responsibility, such as that of a king or general.
He also preferred that they display greatness. He wanted the hero to stand above and apart from common folk, either by extraordinary talent or by exceptional temperament (although not necessarily pleasant). Shakespeare liked his heroes to be a “cut above” as well, but his collection of heroic characters are as remarkable for their diversity as they are for their deeds, perhaps more so. The point here is that the hero for both Aristotle and Shakespeare didn’t necessarily wear a white hat.
We consider this as we track Macbeth’s trajectory from battlefield hero to cold-blooded murderer, a trajectory that leaves room for the argument that he is tragic because he is victimized by extraordinary elements (e.g. the witches or Lady Macbeth), but also allows the argument that the tragedy is in his runaway ambition, the classic character flaw that makes him much more a predator than a victim.
The latter argument gains traction if we also consider Macbeth’s own words, as we see in the early insights Shakespeare offers into the inner or “real” person”. For example, the enormity of the pending assassination weighs heavily on his sensibilities:
And pity, like a naked new-born babe,
Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubim, horsed
Upon the sightless couriers of the air,
Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye
That tears shall drown the wind.
Part I- The Tragic Hero
Both Aristotle and Shakespeare included the presence of a rigid code of conduct in their definitions of “hero”, but they didn’t need them to be morally upright. The inventory of people who could be heroes included sinners; the requirement to be nice is never even suggested by either, and “fitness of character” is more about determination and discipline than anything else. Aristotle preferred that the hero be “good or fine” in The Poetics, but he also implied that nobility of birth was enough to make someone a hero, as did serious responsibility, such as that of a king or general.
He also preferred that they display greatness. He wanted the hero to stand above and apart from common folk, either by extraordinary talent or by exceptional temperament (although not necessarily pleasant). Shakespeare liked his heroes to be a “cut above” as well, but his collection of heroic characters are as remarkable for their diversity as they are for their deeds, perhaps more so. The point here is that the hero for both Aristotle and Shakespeare didn’t necessarily wear a white hat.
We consider this as we track Macbeth’s trajectory from battlefield hero to cold-blooded murderer, a trajectory that leaves room for the argument that he is tragic because he is victimized by extraordinary elements (e.g. the witches or Lady Macbeth), but also allows the argument that the tragedy is in his runaway ambition, the classic character flaw that makes him much more a predator than a victim.
The latter argument gains traction if we also consider Macbeth’s own words, as we see in the early insights Shakespeare offers into the inner or “real” person”. For example, the enormity of the pending assassination weighs heavily on his sensibilities:
And pity, like a naked new-born babe,
Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubim, horsed
Upon the sightless couriers of the air,
Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye
That tears shall drown the wind.
Bibliography: Shakespeare, William, Stephen Greenblatt, Walter Cohen, Jean E. Howard, Katharine Eisaman Maus, and Andrew Gurr. The Norton Shakespeare: Essential Plays, the Sonnets. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2009. Print. Macbeth. Dir. Roman Polanski. Perf. Jon Finch and Francesca Annis. Columbia Pictures, 1971/1999. DVD.