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Is Macbeth A Shakespearean Tragic Hero ? Essay, Research Paper

In this essay, I will attempt to answer the above question, Is Macbeth a Shakespearean Tragic Hero ? To do this, I will need to do a number of things.

Firstly, I will need to establish what a Shakespearean Tragic Hero is. Afterwards, I will look at Macbeth?s character, actions, dialogue and the dynamics of the play to come to my own conclusions and ascertain whether Macbeth is a Shakespearean Tragic Hero.

In order to answer the above question with any degree of competency, it is necessary to have an effective and confident knowledge of what a Shakespearean Tragic Hero is.

Within the works of Shakespeare, a Tragic Hero is a common figure in many of them.

A Tragic Hero is usually a figure of royalty, fame or greatness. This person is predominantly good but falls from prominence due to flaws in their personality, possibly due to conspiracies against them.

Due to their flaws, a Tragic Hero?s actions are often evil or atrocious and throughout the play, the Tragic Hero suffers due to their actions and battles with their conscience even after their specific desire has been reached or accomplished.

Throughout the Hero?s suffering, other characters also suffer. These characters include the people of the country concerned, family and friends and even nature in some cases.

Even after committing such crimes, the battles with conscience trigger empathy from the audience. A Shakespearean Tragic Hero will always lose their lives at the end of the play, usually as a result of the re-establishment of what is good in the play, which opposes the Tragic Hero.

At the beginning of the play Macbeth already has a degree of responsibility or greatness about him. He has the title,

?Thane of Glamis?

and early in the play, he is also granted with the title,

?Thane of Cawdor?

Although this establishes his recognition as an important figure of responsibility, it does not tell the reader much about Macbeth?s personality. The very fact that Macbeth has these titles, however, shows us his greatness and establishes the fact that he is good, and this is reiterated by the quotation,

?For brave Macbeth ? well he deserves that name.?

These lines, spoken by the Captain, praise Macbeth hugely, telling us of his bravery and how he deserves the title ?brave?. This quotation proves that Macbeth is greatly praised by all, even the King who says,

?O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman?

and establishes Macbeth as being good and great at the beginning of the play. The King uses the word ?worthy? which indicates Macbeth must be worthy of what he has ( his title of thane of Glamis ) and shows the king?s appreciation of Macbeth.

At the end of Act 1 Scene 2, Duncan says in reference to the thane of Cawdor,

?What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won?

and indicates that Macbeth is to be granted with the new title. Again, Macbeth is praised and described as noble.

We are beginning to see in Macbeth some key attributes of a Shakespearean Tragic Hero.

The next part of the description says that a tragic hero

?Falls from prominence due to flaws in their personality?.

Macbeth, however, does not follow these guidelines. He does have flaws in his personality, which I will describe later, yet instead of falling from prominence, Macbeth grows in it. His personality and morals, however, fall and this could be a variation from Shakespeare in his description of the attributes of a Shakespearean Tragic Hero.

Macbeth has two main flaws in his personality, ambition and impressionability. Ambition is not necessarily a bad thing but in the case of Macbeth, his ambition is huge and seemingly impossible, which leads him to take action which is wrong and immoral to achieve these ambitions.

Macbeth proves that these ambitions exist in Act 1 Scene 4 where he says,

?Let not light see my black and deep desires?.

This quotation does not only prove that such ambition exists, but also that he does not want to show it.

Macbeth?s ambition is to be King of Scotland and this ambition is brought about due to an aspect of his impressionism which will be explained later. Macbeth?s ?new ? found? ambition leads him to take rash and sudden action and is one of his main character flaws.

Macbeth?s impressionism exists on two fronts, being his wife, Lady Macbeth and the three witches.

The witches are able to predict the future. This fact is proven early in the play when the witches hail Macbeth as,

?Thane of Cawdor?.

This is before Macbeth has been given the title and he challenges the witches as the Thane of Cawdor still lives.

Macbeth is subsequently granted with the title, however, and he realises that the witches can predict the future. The witches also say,

?All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter?.

Macbeth now knows that he will be king and this inevitably increases his ambition and alters his actions throughout the rest of the play. The witches also say to Banquo,

?Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none?.

This line from the witches implies that Banquo?s children will be King, as the word ?get? shows possession. They also tell Banquo that he is no king and also tell Macbeth that he will be king. This prophecy encourages Macbeth and enables his conscience to allow him to take such action as to fulfil the witches? prophecies.

The witches, however, are not out to help Macbeth. In Act 3 Scene 5, Hectate, the queen of witchcraft, says:

?As by the strength of their illusion

Shall draw him on to his confusion?.

This shows us that Hectate, as well as the witches are aiming to confuse Macbeth, proved by the dialogue of the second line. The

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