As the former president, Abraham Lincoln once said, “Nearly all men can stand with adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” People all over the world have their difficulties, but if someone gets the opportunity to change it and make things better, it is what they do with that power. Many people would take the power and make things worse. They might make things better for themselves, but that will not benefit others surrounding them. In Shakespeare 's Macbeth, the main character Macbeth had a huge opportunity. Macbeth got the opportunity to become king, but instead of building Scotland and making it better, he took the power and created violence and chaos. The things he did with the power benefited him in many ways, …show more content…
This made Macbeth lose all of his good characteristics and brought him down. By investigating Macbeth as a character and his tragic flaw, the error in his judgement leading to many consequences and his downfall, and his realization of wrong actions, it is true that Macbeth is a tragic protagonist. Macbeth 's character and his tragic flaw prove that he is a tragic protagonist. Firstly, Macbeth is of noble birth. If a character is born into nobility and aristocracy, then they can be considered a tragic hero. Macbeth has two titles that show he is of noble birth; Thane of Glamis and Thane of Cawdor and when he encounters the witches, they greet him, “All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Glamis./ All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor.” (Shakespeare 1.3.47-48). The witches meet with Macbeth to give him a prophecy and when …show more content…
The error in Macbeth’s judgement leading to his downfall show that Macbeth is a tragic protagonist. Firstly, Macbeth murders king Duncan leading to his downfall. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth had a plan to kill the king. At the sound of the bell, rang by Lady Macbeth, it meant the guards were drugged and duncan can be killed, Macbeth hears the sound and proceeds, “I go, and it is done. The bell invites me./ Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell/ That summons thee to heaven or to hell.” (2.1.62-64). Macbeth heard the bell and went to commit the murder; so that he will become king himself. Macbeth explains how Duncan will not know that this bell is his death bell and Duncan is off to heaven or hell. This act of killing the king of Scotland was the beginning of Macbeth’s downfall and showed that he had made a huge mistake, therefore proving Macbeth can be a tragic protagonist. Secondly, Macbeth listened to the witches equivocations. Macbeth is unsatisfied with his life as king and is worried about the prophecies given to Banquo. He meets with the witches for a second time and gets tricked into believing false information. Not knowing the information was untrue, Macbeth believes, “Whate’er thou art, for thy good caution, thanks;/ Thou hast harp’d my fear aright.” (4.1.72-73). The witches shown Macbeth three apparitions, one being an armed head, one being a bloody child and the last being a crowned child with a tree in his hand. The apparitions told Macbeth misleading material
In Macbeth, William Shakespeare portrays the end of a famed hero who chooses to go down a dark path, rather than choosing a path which would have led to glory, making him a tragic hero. When Macbeth is told his prophecy of becoming king, he intends on doing it on his own terms and decides to make impulsive decisions, such as killing Duncan, Banquo and slaughtering Macduff’s family. These impulsive decisions were an effect of Macbeth being blinded by becoming king, as he felt he had other options. Although it may seem that Macbeth was influenced by society to commit these atrocious acts, he was fully aware of the consequences and went ahead with his plan. Macbeth truly fits the role of a tragic hero as he brought his fate upon himself, through
One of the ways Macbeth is responsible for the tragedy is his weakness of character which shows even in the first act. Over and over Macbeth is shown to sacrifice his loyalty, morality, and his manhood in the name of power.
Macbeth had become everything that he had ever wanted to be which was the king of Scotland and when the witches told him that someone else was going to take his crown he went to extremes to try to keep them from doing that which was eventually what lead to him dying. The witches had told Macbeth that the sons of Banquo would take his crown so he decided to have Banquo and his son killed Macbeth said, “Our fears in Banquo stick deep/ And in his royalty of nature reigns that which would be feared”(3.1.49-51). Macbeth did everything he could to protect his crown, but that is eventually what lead to his downfall and his death. He killed his best friend Banquo which was when his ambition had gone to far and was the beginning of his decline.
He continues to climb the ranks through his hamartia and soon reaches king status. Macbeth was already on a higher level than his peers, but soon became head and shoulders above the rest when he becomes king. Finally, the last reason for why Macbeth is the most tragic hero is because at first he is pretty content with himself and his role. However, he soon becomes too ambitious
Consequently, a war breaks out and takes Macbeth and his wife. Macbeth is considered a tragic hero because of his excessive pride, reversal of fate when Fleance escapes, and his tragic flaw ambition. Macbeth is a tragic hero because of his excessive pride. This can be seen in Act III Scene IV when Macbeth says, “Ourself will mingle with society, And play the humble host.”
Often times, people go through rises and downfalls in their lives that they themselves are responsible for. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, both main characters, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, himself, are responsible for the downfall of Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is responsible for the tragedy because she convinces and manipulates Macbeth into doing the deed. However, Shakespeare accomplishes in showing that Macbeth is more responsible for his own downfall than Lady Macbeth because he listens to the witches and follows his ambition rather than his conscience. To begin, Lady Macbeth is responsible for the tragedy because she convinces and manipulates Macbeth into doing the deed by insulting him when he changes his mind.
MacBeth is the main character in Shakespeare's MacBeth and rightfully so. He is the character that changes the most and has the greatest impact on the story. MacBeth is the one whom the tragedy is placed on, and because of this it is his story. MacBeth's dynamic character changes throughout the play driving the story forward and showing the theme of visions of power create ambition in individuals. The first point that has to be explained is MacBeth's dynamic character.
In the play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, many of the main characters can be classified as tragic heroes. A tragic hero can be labeled as a character with a fatal flaw which eventually leads to their downfall. However, I believe that the main character, Macbeth, is overall the biggest tragic hero within the play. Macbeth's selfish ambition, low self-esteem, and general obsession with more power all contributed to his grand title of being a tragic hero.
Conclusion Sentence: With the evidence stated above, it is clear that Macbeth only cares about his ambitions and does whatever it takes to get to the top. This makes him not a tragic hero because in no way was he ever a hero, all he saw was power and one way to get to it. Transition: while Macbeth was blinded by his ambitions and lost all power in himself when he realize the witch mislead him and he was defeated. This leads to the conclusion that Concluding Paragraph: Restate thesis: Macbeth is not a tragic hero because although Macbeth knows what he is doing is wrong, he continues doing it resulting in him easily getting influenced by people around him, giving into his tragic flaw: ambition which lead into a series of crime, and losing all the power he gained.
Throughout literature, we see human characteristics in our characters. Characteristics such as punishment, downfall, middling character, free choice, and nobility. In this play called Macbeth we see all these characteristics fall into place throughout the good and bad choices acted on by our main character Macbeth. The play demonstrates how power will make or break character and lead to his/her own destruction by possessing a few of these characteristics. Macbeth demonstrates both literal and figurative nobility as the plot beings to grow throughout the play.
“And to be king Stands not within the prospect of belief,” -Macbeth Ambition can make people lose sight of what’s right. In the beginning of the story Macbeth didn’t think it was possible to become King. He was very hesitant at first, but not for long. Soon his temptations to become king and satisfy his wife became too strong. He murdered more and more people going so far that he could never turn back.
In conclusion, although some believe that Macbeth is aware of what he is doing for himself Macbeth is a tragic hero. In Shakespeare 's Macbeth he holds high praise of being Thane of Glamis and Cawdor, knows of his flaw and after putting himself in a situation he fought to the end of his own death. By Aristotle 's characteristics guide of a tragic hero and how Macbeth responses to his flaw is what makes Macbeth a tragic hero instead of an
The audience can now see his desires as well as his ambition. At this point, Macbeth is still hesitant of revealing his true nature, but the audience gets a peek of what he yearns for. In addition, the witches’ predictions are known to be paradoxical, their predictions are never straightforward; they tend to have different interpretations. Macbeth kills King Duncan to obtain the power he was told he’d get. Despite that, the witches never said to kill King Duncan; they told him he would become king.
He let his ambitions take control of his actions. Macbeth is a tragic hero because he redeemed a small measure of his nobility. He redeemed himself by fighting until the end of his life. He understood his fate and still fought.
Macbeth is Foul, Macbeth is Fair: An Analysis of Macbeth as a Tragic Shakespearean Hero In modern-day life, a tragic hero is an ordinary person who makes a grave mistake in judgement which causes his or her downfall, but does not necessarily result in death. However, in Shakespearean tragedies, a tragic hero is defined as a great literary character of high nobility whose tragic flaw and poor decisions lead to his or her unanticipated downfall and destruction. Ajsdhfjdhalsdhf Macbeth, the main character of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, fulfills the role of a tragic hero because of his rising status, the catharsis he provides for the audience, and his tragic flaw which leads to his unforeseen downfall. In every Shakespearean tragedy, the tragic hero is known to be either a war hero or a character of high status before the story turns for the worst; Macbeth covers both of these