Preview

Macbeth Tragic Hero

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
743 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Macbeth Tragic Hero
In William Shakespeare’s. Play Macbeth, the main character Macbeth, was a tragic hero. Macbeth was a tragic hero, because by the end of the play he is alone and has many conflicts other characters, his tragic flaw was his ambition, and finally his actions lead to his downfall, Macbeth’s growing character degenerates from a noble man to a truant. Macbeth was the perfect example of the tragic hero. Macbeth was a tragic hero because by the end of the play everyone was against him. By Act 5, he was once a noble warrior and had become an evil murderer. He killed Macduff family after Macduff knew Macbeth killed his son and wife Macduff was angry. “All my pretty ones? Did you say all? O hell-kite! All? What, all my pretty chickens and their dam. At one fell swoop?”(Macbeth. Act 4 Scene 3) By Act 3, we saw that Macbeth was killing his friend, Banquo. At this time we saw that Macbeth began to lose his friends, during the banquet Macbeth began talking to Banquo’s ghost confusing all the guests “Prithee, …show more content…
By Act 1, he was an ambitious man and he believed the three witches prophecy. But Macbeth’s ambition couldn’t wait long time to be a king, as a result he planned to kill Duncan with Lady Macbeth “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself and falls on th’other.” (Macbeth. Act 1 Scene 7) the quote means Macbeth had the desire to be a king, so he is preparing to kill King Duncan. When King Duncan came to his castle at night and he would kill King Duncan. By Act 3, In the prophecy Banquo’s son would be king, after Macbeth. So Macbeth hired three murderers to kill Banquo and Fleance “I'll call upon you straight; abide within. It is concluded. Banquo, thy soul’s flight, if it find heaven, must find it out tonight."(Macbeth. Act 3 Scene 2) He thought the Banquo and Fleance must die, so the prophecy couldn’t be truth and no one couldn’t take away his

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    While Macbeth has no tragic hero qualities he technically is a classic shakespearean tragic hero. He was a good warrior MacBeth kills the first Thane of Cawdor and gets rewarded for it. Once Macbeth kills all the innocent people he goes through a lot of suffering from guilt, fear, paranoia, insomnia, hallucination. The man goes seriously insane that he believes he sees the ghost of banquo. HIs guilt keeps him up at night and doesn't allow him to sleep. Despite his great suffering from the suffering he's caused others he's still not a tragic hero because he’s too evil.…

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth: A Tragic Hero

    • 106 Words
    • 1 Page

    Even now knowing that MacDuff and an entire army is on their way to storm his castle, Macbeth refuses to flee. Soon you will find out what will happen to Macbeth and what his downfall will be. “Why should I play the roman fool and die on mine own sword?” (V. VIII.1-2) this means that Macbeth is saying was the point in me fighting Macduff because he already killed his whole family why would MacDuff be any more different. In a turn of events MacDuff kills and beheading Macbeth in order to end his rule as king and get revenge for Macbeth having his family…

    • 106 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Renowned play, “Macbeth” written by William Shakespeare in 1606, is one of the most prestigious dramas to date. Valiant and truthful soldier, Macbeth experiences dire changes of evil, in order to gain his thriftless ambition for king. His immoral change might have been influenced by Lady Macbeth and the witches’ prophecies suggesting Macbeth is a tragic hero who had no intent of abhorrent deeds. Once honourable Macbeth pledges glory to his king and gained honour through valiant accomplishments. Fear strikes him as his mind starts to deteriorate into utter chaos by his treacherous actions. His self-conscious mind transforms him into a superstitious villain who suffers in despair as he implicates regret.…

    • 349 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Written by William Shakespeare, Macbeth, is a well known tragedy based on the influence of greed. The main character, Macbeth, is described to be a greedy, selfish, cowardly man, and as the story continues, Macbeth portrays these traits as he fights for the crown. As the last scene comes to an end, and Macbeth falls, I see Macbeth’s death to be a good thing; Because he did not rightfully get the crown, he simply stole it from others. Satisfaction came with Macbeth’s downfall as well, I did not believe he was a great man nor did I believe that his fall was the death of a heroic man. However; as I make that statement, I agree with the beliefs that Macbeth is seen as a tragic hero. Though this seems like a contradiction to my previous statement, the true definition of tragic hero, as described by Shakespeare himself, is portrayed and seen by Macbeth in this tragedy.…

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Macbeth is a brave yet conflicted character that has to face a lot of decisions throughout…

    • 1262 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Aristotle was not only a scientific genius, but someone who carved the path for the way we depict plays and furthermore, how we write them. Aristotle made it a mission to read the plays of his era, while doing so he discovered many similarities among them, creating a tragedy. A tragedy is a form of drama that is composed of three basic parts: values, characters, and a conclusion. A value is what will determine the fate of the tragic character in the play, usually the value is represented by a supernatural power. While the character has to display certain characteristics like nobility either by birth or action, it is most noted for the characters downfall. The downfall occurs either by limitation of knowledge or by a tragic flaw within…

    • 1043 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gender Roles In Macbeth

    • 1778 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a fictional play about the famed general Macbeth and how his ambition ultimately leads to his downfall. In the beginning of the story, Macbeth is seen as a great hero after assisting the…

    • 1778 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “A tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction” as said by Aristotle, a Greek philosopher and a scientist who came up with the characteristics of tragic hero. William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a play about a tragic hero named Macbeth who was told about his prophecy by three witches and one of them was him being king, in which he succeeds by killing all in his way. The term tragic hero applies to Macbeth. Through three witch’s predications, Lady Macbeth’s encouragements, and the fact that he is a courageous man.…

    • 871 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Is Macbeth A Tragic Hero

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The play Macbeth is classified as a tragedy because it contains a tragic hero. To be a tragic hero, one must be brave. A captain from the rebellion says; “all’s too weak;/ For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name)”. (Act I sc (ii), lns 17-18) Macbeth fought hard for his king during the rebellion and this makes him brave. A tragic hero must also make choices. Macbeth had to make difficult decisions involving…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth New Honors

    • 1343 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Shakespearean hero is a perfectionist and protagonist that has become the victim of tragic flaws. Macbeth tragic flaw was his vaulting ambition that made him want to kill the kind. His tragic flaw was also his greed for power and the trait of being gullible. This is what led him to self-fulfilling the witches prophecy and ultimately his downfall. Macbeth had many desires and obsessions that led to a great demist to himself, his marriage, and a letdown to his country.…

    • 1343 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth by making him curious to why they greated him as Thane of Cawdor and…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth practice essay

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare, being a tragic hero or villain is a debatable dilemma of Macbeth's character. Some people think Macbeth is a tragic-hero because he is forced to commit his crimes by the spell of the three witches and the pressure from his wife. But other people think that Macbeth may be a villain due to his bloody deeds and over-ambition.…

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The witches’ prophecies lead to his ambitions of wanting his descendants to be Kings causing him to keep the truth from everyone and live in secrecy. This in a way leads to his death. From Banquo’s first encounter with the Weird Sisters, his life also changes and he loses sleep. “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be one.” 1, 3, 35. The witches’ prophesized that Banquo will be father of Kings, yet he cannot be King, but his ambitions overwhelm him leading to a point where the truth no longer could be spoken. Like Macbeth, Banquo is also very ambitious but compared to Macbeth, his selfish wants never over powered his honour nor the good of Scotland. Banquo is seen as a threat to Macbeth as Banquo is slowly becoming suspicious of him, “…As the weird women promis’d, and I fear Thou playd’st most foully for’t…” 3, 1, 2-3, hence triggering Macbeth to kill him, but Macbeth’s conscience won’t let him live it down, hence the scene where Banquo’s ghost visits Macbeth during his state banquet. “Here is a place reserv’d, sir…Where…Here, my good Lord. What is’t that moves your highness?” 3, 4, 46-48. On the same night of Macbeth’s state banquet is the same night in which the murder of Banquo occurs. Whilst making his way home with his son Fleance, they are attacked by three murderers who are ordered by Macbeth. However, the murderers are not as fortunate when Fleance, son of Banquo escapes leaving the murderers to discard of…

    • 1287 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth vs macduff

    • 604 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Macbeth was indeed a true tragic hero. He had many noble qualities as well as several tragic flaws, but this didn’t mean he wasn’t a courageous, brave and a good nobleman who was sadly haunted by superstition and a selfish ambition. Through the play, his flaws start to overcome his qualities to the point where they cannot be seen in him anymore. This major change starts right after he commits the murder of Duncan. Here Macbeth's personality is clearly becoming astray. Macbeth's theme becomes tyrannical and evil, completely opposite as in the start of the play.…

    • 604 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth: A Tragic Hero

    • 1109 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A sequence is a set of related things, but obviously some things are more relative than others. Let us say you had two circles and one oval, sure an oval could join the sequence since it is spherical with no sharp edges but the other circle is more related to the circle because they are identical. That is to say, when we talk about archetypes we can understand that some characters would be more relative to the archetype than other characters. Notably, this also occurs with tragic heroes, some are bound to fit the archetype more than others even if they still are both tragic heroes. Consequently, Macbeth and Braveheart’s William Wallace both demonstrate that they are flawed and noble; however, it is clear that Macbeth is a better example of a tragic hero due to the absence of defining characteristic events that were not taken place in Braveheart.…

    • 1109 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays