How Is Macbeth A Tragic Hero

The story of Macbeth begins when Macbeth becomes a great war hero by killing the enemy leader. He secures the victory for Scotland over Norway and earns the respect of his king, Duncan. Macbeth is named the Thane of Cawdor, taking the title from a traitor during the war. Macbeth was called “noble Macbeth” by King Duncan, showing the respect he had earned (I,ii,78). Later, honorable Macbeth is told a very implausible yet fruitful prophecy by three witches depicting him as the King of Scotland. This slowly turns Macbeth evil as can be seen through dreams and hallucinations. Dreams and hallucinations are a theme throughout Macbeth, and they show us how Macbeth is changing through more than dialogue alone.

In the beginning of this drama, Macbeth, after battling with vigor, is praised by King Duncan of the Scots and is rewarded the Thane's title and land. Macbeth is content until he is told prophecies of him gaining the throne by three old witches. Greed overtakes Macbeth's soul. Macbeth then plots to kill Duncan when Duncan stays over his castle that night.

     After the death of Duncan Macbeth begins to work on his own without the help of his wife. He plans the murders of Banquo and the heir to the throne, Banquo’s son Fleance. Although it does not turn out as expected Macbeth remains calm until Banquo’s ghost appears. ‘... and keep the natural ruby of your cheeks, when mine is blanched with fear.’ This was the turning point in the whole story because until this point everything was going great for Macbeth, he had power, fame and fortune, all you could ever want;however, when this ghost appeared Macbeth went on a little insanity trip. He, also like his wife was engulfed with guilt and unable to function properly anymore. This led to another visit with the witches. Showing

Macbeth earned the title of the Thane of Cawdor because of his noble fighting against the traitor, MacDonwald, and the King of Norway. With Macbeth’s nobility and honor he fought valiantly for

    In the third scene of the first act, Banquo** asks, "...have we eaten on the insane root that takes the reason prisoner?" in response to the witches' prophecies.  Banquo is partly right in the assumption that Macbeth's mind is not pure.  When Macbeth says "The Prince of Cumberland!  That is a step/ On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap" (Act 1, Scene 4, 48-49), we see that Macbeth may have already the idea of killing Duncan.  Macbeth's ultimate goal is to become king; he does this with a certain amount of ease, but the process somehow awakens his tragic flaw, the ruthlessness with which he destroys his own reign.  After he kills the dead king's servents, his targets are Banquo and Fleance, who have heard or are involved in the third prophecy.  Macbeth sends the three murderers who stab the famous dying words out of Banquo's mouth: "Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly! (Act 3, Scene 3, 17).  Macbeth must crush dissent  he kills Macduff's wife and children.  Macbeth's reign of non-stop killing erodes Scotland's confidence in him and he has no chance

     A Shakespearean tragic hero starts out as a noble person; a great exceptional being who stands out. A tragic hero has a tragic flaw of an exaggerated trait that leads to their downfall and eventually to death. William Shakespeare often made his main characters tragic heroes in his plays. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the role of the tragic hero is given to the main character: Macbeth. This is because he starts off as a loyal and well liked man in the beginning, but has a tragic flaw of ambition which ultimately leads to his downfall.

The tragic hero has been a major storytelling tool in recent years that makes the audience relate to, respect, and feel sympathy for a character which is undone by the end of the story. But can this title be given to Macbeth, the titular hero of the Shakespeare play by the same name? Yes, absolutely- Shakespeare’s Macbeth follows this plot path in numerous ways. Throughout the play, we are introduced to Macbeth’s belovedness, the crushing of said established belovedness, and his own undoing.

According to the classical view, tragedy should arouse feelings of pity and fear in the audience. Does Macbeth do this?

The definition of a tragic hero, as stated on dictionary.com, is a literary character that makes an error in judgment that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on a tragedy. It has been argued for years whether Macbeth from Shakespeare’s, The Tragedy of Macbeth, can truly be considered a tragic hero or whether he is solely a villainous tyrant. Although there are some valid arguments for the Macbeth is pure evil viewpoint, by looking at Macbeth in a holistic way you can see the tragic, the heroic, and the tragic hero within him. Macbeth is a tragic hero in every sense of the definition.

Macbeth's feels that his destiny is to become King and rule with all the power that goes with kingship. The three witches on his way back to the kingdom, prophesied that he would rise to kingship. They said "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis" (I, 3, 48), and then as the thane of Cawdor "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor" (I, 3, 49). At this point in the play Macbeth had just become thane of Glamis, and the thane of Cawdor is still alive. Then, the witches greeted Macbeth as the King of Scotland saying "All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be King hereafter" (I, 3, 50). This is the point in the tragedy where Macbeth starts to think as a villain. If the witches had never greeted him as King on Scotland, then he would probably never have contemplated killing Duncan in the first place. At first, he believes that he will need to kill King Duncan. Though at the end of Act 1, Scene 3, he thinks that perhaps he doesn't need to do anything to become the king saying "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me without my stir.", showing he is a man of honor and morals. Then, Lady Macbeth hears of the prophecy in his letters and decides immediately for him that King Duncan must die, showing Macbeth's doubt. An

A Tragic Hero is a common figure in many of Shakespeare’s works. A Tragic Hero is usually a figure of royalty, fame or greatness. This person is predominately good, but falls from prominence due to personality flaws that eventually lead to self-destruction.

Macbeth's nobility begins with the title, "thane of Glamis" (1.3.74).  After the original "thane of Cawdor" (1.3.110) dies, Macbeth gains this title as well.  Once the witches reveal the prophecy that Macbeth would be

A tragic hero is someone whos fatal flaw, combined with other external factors, bring about ones demise, which is demonstrated by Macbeth in Shakespeares play Macbeth. Macbeth is portrayed as a courageous, brave and noble man who was haunted by superstition and an overpowering ambition. Factors that contributed to the degeneration of Macbeth include the prophecies told to him by the witches, the influence and manipulation of his wife, Lady Macbeth, and finally, Macbeths deep driven intent to become king. Although seen as a daring and valiant hero at the beginning of the play, Macbeths evil desires and long time ambition causes his downfall. Even though Macbeth seems like a malevolent and murderous tyrant towards the end of the play, he

Finally, act 5 scene 3 adds to the plot by using Macbeth’s stubbornness of the witches prophecy against him. Because of the seemingly impossible requirements that need to be met before Macbeth’s death, Macbeth develops a feeling of immortality to all things. In line 2, he reports, “Till Birnam Wood to Dunsinane I cannot taint with fear.” The reality of this event’s likelihood has struck Macbeth. This makes him seemingly unaware and unprepared for the army that approaches the castle and lessens the distance every hour. At this point in the story, Macbeth can be seen as either a protagonist or an antagonist. Macduff seems to be the one working for the cause of good, while Macbeth strives for power and immortality. This statement that Macduff makes leads us to the climax of our story, where the thought and imagination of Macbeth get’s ruined by the reality of Macduff’s birth.

Macbeth is the leading character of Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, in which he struggles to deal with the consequences of his actions. Is he a Tragic Hero? His brutal actions make it very questionable, but yes, Macbeth is a Hero in his own Tragedy.