Macbeth Aristotle Character Analysis

The term tragic hero results from the Greek term hero which means a character who not only faces hardship and misfortune but one who also demonstrates and exhibits bravery in the face of danger. Unfortunately, in the end, the tragic hero also faces a bitter downfall. Sometimes, if not always, the tragic hero is a character that can conjure sad emotions like pity, anxiety, or distress. William Shakespeare chooses his lead character, Macbeth, to represent the tragic hero in his play Macbeth. Macbeth suffers from being the tragic hero of the play where he has numerous flaws but most noticeably his uncontrolled ambition and desire for power which leads to his tragic defeat.

“For brave Macbeth, well he deserves that name,with his brandish’d steel,Which smok’d with bloody execution, ( I.ii.15-23)”. It is vital that the audience is aware of Macbeth’s strengths early in the play, because it evolves Macbeth as a tragic hero when the audience witness Macbeth’s downfall, instigated by the witches and Lady Macbeth. Macbeth is seen as intelligent and kindhearted by Lady Macbeth who illuminates Macbeth’s personality" too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness/ Thou wouldst be great (1.v.15-19)”.

However, as said before, greed is a sin, and those who sin are

“Greed is so destructive. It destroys everything.” Eartha Kitt. Macbeth was a true Shakespearean tragic hero. He had many noble qualities as well as several tragic flaws.

In the beginning, Macbeth felt a deep guilt about planning to kill King Duncan. Once he did kill him, though, his conscious slowly started ebbing away. Within a short time, he was killing and manipulating many people; he even went as far as to kill the innocent wife and children of a man whom he considered his enemy. What started out as a doubt acted upon became a quick, almost unstoppable path of destruction. Every aspect of who he was, his conscious, was covered by the dark shadow cast by the corrupting sin.

Macbeth’s deterioration initiated with slaying Macduff’s family. By doing this, he only creates Macduff as an enemy who is now declaring revenge for his slaughtered family. When Macbeth commits this crime, it reveals that he is a tragic hero, in view of the fact that he continues performing disastrous deeds which only demolished his downfall. Upon following this, Macbeth’s epiphany, when he recognizes that the three witches had cleverly tricked him, was an exemplary point on how Macbeth is a tragic hero seeing that this individual finally becomes aware of the horrendous crimes he has accomplished in the play. In the following catharsis, Macbeth releases those emotion, “And be these juggling fiends no more believed,/that palter with us in a double sense,/that keep the word of promise to our ear,/and break it to our hope” (5,8,23-26).

While hallucinating Macbeth claims, “Ay, and since too, murders have been perform'd/ Too terrible for the ear: the times have been” (III iv line 77-78). In this situation, guilt from his ambitious murders of Duncan and Banquo overcomes Macbeth . Ambition clouds Macbeth’s vision; and therefore, he sees every person he knows as an opportunity for power or a liability to his power and not as a fruitful relationship. Overall, Macbeth evolves to the life of a murderer through guilt and hallucinations, which cause his sanity to nosedive into more

This action negatively impacts him due to the developed hatred the other characters gain towards Macbeth. His ambition has led to not just the death of Duncan and Banquo but also many others such as the Duncan’s chambermaid and Macduff’s family. This slaughter ruins Macbeth’s original image of a brave, valiant, worthy gentleman to the point that others begin to address him as tyrant. Young Siward, when Macbeth told him his name, stated that “The devil himself could not pronounce a title more hateful to mine ear.” (V. vii).

At the first stage, a Captain describes Macbeth as a loyal subject dedicated to serve King Duncan. As time passes when the three witches prophesy his fate, this causes the shifting his perception of integrity. Ultimately, Macbeth loses his integrity and meets his downfall due to his lust for power. Shakespeare introduces the audience to the concept of integrity by comparing Macbeth, a man rich in integrity, to Macdonwald, a man with poor integrity.

Of course, the king 's pride clouds his judgment and leads to his utter downfall and cataclysmic realization of his faults. Through his story, it is evident that Creon is the tragic hero of the story Antigone because he exhibits

A tragic hero is defined as a great character who is all but destined for downfall. The tragedy of Macbeth falls in line with this depiction perfectly. Macbeth was a noble warrior, he experienced a downward spiral at the top of his game, and was overcome by a flaw, his pride, that led to his ultimate destruction. Macbeth was a noble warrior, an excellent soldier admired by all. We know this because throughout the play this fact is brought to light.

The Power of Ambition For many individuals pride is the driving force behind motivation and ambition but when one’s pride gets the best of him or her it can cause the individual to break down and self destruct. Every human has a little pride in them but when that pride becomes selfish and done for personal benefit that is when it can become dangerous, taking focus away from the things that really matter like honor, love, family, friends and integrity. In his play, Macbeth, Shakespeare suggests that if one’s motivation is selfish and pride-driven, eventually honor and integrity are lost leading to one’s destruction. Initially, when one’s selfish ambition and motivation is just starting to grow, one is able to maintain honor and integrity.