Cause Of Hubris In Macbeth

Hubris, a reckless pride or ambition, has been a major factor in all the accomplishments humans have ever made. The drive of hubris is consequently prominent in literature from all eras, showing the hero overcoming odds or succumbing to their own lack of forethought, but is hubris the virtue it is often represented as in this species’ history, or is it a vice, causing unneeded conflict and death? Many of the writings that present hubris, Macbeth, Oedipus, and Into Thin Air in this case, will show how this part of human nature causes more strife than advancement. Possibly some of the oldest literature that uses hubris as a character’s tragic flaw is Oedipus Rex or Oedipus The King, written by the Greek philosopher Sophocles circa the year Four hundred and thirty BCE. This theatrical literature is about Oedipus, who became King of

This is especially true for Macbeth. In it, Macbeth is confronted by three agents of chaos, depicted as witches, who tell him and his friend Banquo that they are destined for royal power and offspring with royal power each. Macbeth tells his wife, Lady Macbeth. The two of them plot and arrive in power after treacherously murdering their king. When Macbeth asks the witches more questions about his fate and finds out that he is practically invulnerable except from a specific and vague danger his hubris takes over. When he hears of a host of enemies approaching he states, “All mortal consequences have pronounced me thus:'Fear not, Macbeth; no man that's born of woman Shall e'er have power upon thee.' Then fly, false thanes, And mingle with the English epicures: The mind I sway by and the heart I bear Shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear.” (Shakespeare ___) He does not fear anything simply based on what the witches and their apparitions told him. His lack of foresight or precautions lead to him being slain by Macduff who he had also been told to