In the play Macbeth the main character Macbeth is a tragic hero despite the large number of people who would argue that he is not. Macbeth is a noble and highly renown which is one of the five characteristics of being a tragic hero. One example of him being highly renown is that at the beginning of the play he is Thane of Glamis and Thane of Cawdor. Later in the play he ends up being King of Scotland which is a noble position. In the beginning of the play it says how Macbeth is a great warrior or soldier and earns him fame which adds to the characteristic of him being a tragic hero. A quote from the book is “O valiant cousin! Worthy gentleman”.
Macbeth shares the responsibility for his downfall with a couple of characters from this play. One of the characters who was also at fault for the downfall for Macbeth is Lady Macbeth. The reason Lady Macbeth is also at fault for Macbeth’s downfall is that she pushed him and was arguably the largest motivating factor for Macbeth to kill King Duncan and take his crown which ultimately led to his downfall. Another person(s) who led to the downfall of Macbeth are the three Witches. The Witches are also at fault because they told Macbeth that he would become king and Macbeth interpreted that as that he had to kill Duncan for the crown.
Macbeth is not all bad or all evil. In the play Macbeth is a brave warrior for his country. Another reason is that Macbeth for the most part of his life is loyal to Duncan and served his country.
Macbeth has a tragic flaw. Macbeth’s tragic flaw is that he has a need for power that ends up never being enough. For example, Macbeth was thane of two places and was very highly respected but still needed to go and murder someone to achieve greater success. An example of his tragic flaw is that in the book it says “Stars hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires” which is when he is thinking about killing Duncan.
Macbeth elicits pity into the audience or reader. Although Macbeth is not always good the audience feels bad for him at points such as when his wife emasculates him and pushes him to kill Duncan. Another point in the play where the reader feels pity for Macbeth is when he sees Banquo’s ghost and the reader can see that he is starting to go insane. Macbeth also loses his wife at the end of the play which causes the reader to feel pity for Macbeth. An example of a tragedy is “I will not yield, to kiss Malcolm’s feet, and to be baited with the rabble’s curse.”. This is an example of a tragedy in which Macbeth went through because it is at the end of his life and he had just lost his wife and kingdom. Therefore Macbeth is a tragic hero in the play Macbeth.
