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Macbeth: An Aristotelian Tragic Hero

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An Aristotelian tragic hero is a character born of noble birth and, by destiny, has a tragic flaw that inevitably leads to his or her downfall and redeems his or herself by the end of the tragedy. For one to consider a play a tragedy, the character of the play must be noble, and the play typically starts off with happiness and wealth. The play ends with sadness and the hero has a tragic flaw that causes their downfall. In The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth fits the definition of an Aristotelian tragic hero. Macbeth is a tragic hero because he starts by being loyal and trustworthy, develops a tragic flaw that leads to his downfall, and he redeems a small measure of himself before he dies. In the beginning of Act I, Macbeth …show more content…

That tragic flaw is his ambition to be king. He wants to be king so badly that he will murder if that is what it takes. Macbeth allows Lady Macbeth to manipulate him into killing Duncan and his desires are so strong that he acts on them. He gets extremely guilty and starts to hallucinate voices, people and objects. “I 'll go no more. I am afraid to think what I have done; Look on 't again I dare not.” (Act II, sc ii, Lines 48-50). Macbeth is getting extremely paranoid and feels bad killing Duncan. Macbeths ambitions caused him to murder Duncan, but he also had Banquo murdered, and wanted to murder Banquo 's son, Fleance. Macbeth wants Banquo killed because he saw him as a threat; however, Banquo had been Macbeth 's friend and thought he could trust him. "Fail not our feast"(Act III, sc i, Line 27). This shows irony because Banquo had trusted Macbeth, not knowing what Macbeth was planning for him. Macbeth wanted Banquo to come to a feast, only to actually have him murdered. Macbeth 's ambitions to become king had been so high that he had murderers murder his close friend. If Macbeth was not so ambitious and power hungry he would not have killed his friend and king, Macbeth had been a nobleman and had the trust of all the people he murdered. He let his ambitions take control of his actions.
Macbeth is a tragic hero because he redeemed a small measure of his nobility. He redeemed himself by fighting until the end of his life. He understood his fate and still fought. Macbeth also experiences guilt after everything that he has done. That shows he still has a conscious and has some good left over in him. “ Methought, I heard a voice cry, 'Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep '.” (Act II, sc ii, Lines 45-47). Macbeth is extremely paranoid and guilty. He doesn’t believe he will be able to sleep after committing this

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With Macbeth being a general in the Scottish military, he had major influences on people and their daily lives. After the murder of King Duncan, Banquo’s suspicion of who committed the murders arose around a single suspect, Macbeth. Knowing that Banquo most likely knew the truth that Macbeth killed King Duncan, Macbeth went back to his evil ways with ease. Through his attendant, Macbeth summons three murderers. Shakespeare introduces the murders with stage direction “[Re-enter Attendant, with two Murderers]” (Shakespeare, 363), in which Macbeth he uses Banquo as bait in order to gain their graces and loyalty “That it was he in the times past which held you so under fortune, which you thought had been our innocent self: this I made good to you in our last conference, pass'd in probation with you, how you were borne in hand, how cross'd, the instruments, who wrought with them, and all things else that might, so half a soul and to a notion crazed, Say 'Thus did Banquo.'”

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Banquo says, “I fear thou play’ds most foully for’t” (Act 3 sc 1 lines 2-3). I feel that Banquo is seeing that Macbeth is getting everything that he wants and Banquo is noticing that it’s out of the ordinary and he ends up getting suspicious of Macbeth. Macbeth notices that Banquo is getting suspicious of him. Also, the weird sister told Macbeth that one of Banquo sons is going to be king one day. Macbeth doesn’t like the idea of both of these, so Macbeth hires murderers to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance.

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In the next scene, Macbeth and his wife execute their murder plot and temporarily escape any suspicion that they are the culprits. This murder showcases Macbeth’s greed as he was aware of the positive reputation that King Duncan had in Scotland, but murdered him anyway to eliminate anyone that stood in the way of the throne. Next, Macbeth sets out to murder his former best friend Banquo and his son Fleance as the prophecies revealed that Banquo’s sons would ascend to the throne. “So is he mine; and in such bloody distance, That every minute of his being thrusts Against my near'st of life.” (Shakespeare 25)

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A tragic hero is defined as a man or woman of high standing and respect. A person who has many positive character or personality traits, but has one major character flaw. This flaw will ultimately be the downfall of the hero. They also have the ability to endure great suffering. Also the audience must relate to the character but also accept that their downfall was necessary.

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A tragic hero is a character who has the potential to have heroic qualities, but their fate is a tragic downfall. Aristotle defined a tragic hero as “a person who must evoke a sense of pity and fear in the audience. He is considered a man of misfortune that comes to him through error of judgment”. Some tragic heroes in literature are John Proctor in The Crucible and Macbeth in the play Macbeth. It is possible for two characters to be labeled a tragic hero, but the audience can feel differently about them.

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First Macbeth felt guilty after killing duncan. “I'll go no more. I am afraid to think what I have done; Look on't again I dare not”(Shakespeare 2.2 50). Macbeth talks about how he is afraid to think about what he has done meaning he feels guilty about the murder. Next Macbeth felt guilty after killing Banquo.

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After murdering King Duncan he realizes that he is just one step closer to the crown. As a result, he has the desire to kill anyone who stands in his way of him getting the throne. Banquo stands in his way as he knows that King Duncan needed to killed. In this case, Macbeth hires murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. He tells the murderers, “To leave no rubs nor botches in the work /

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In Shakespeare’s well known tragic story,“Macbeth”,there are multiple various scene’s involving war, celebration and murder. In the play, many character’s are described to have different types of literary characteristics and Macbeth, the main character, is considered a tragic hero. Macbeth’s tragic flaws qualify him as a tragic hero, these flaws are ambition and having lack moderation. The tragic flaws contributed to Macbeth’s downfall since it set his life to be in danger from the events taken place after the tragic decisions he made from his actions/flaws. Macbeth in Shakespeare’s well known play is considered as a tragic hero, with tragic flaws and those flaws contributing to his death.

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The term tragic hero is a character of noble birth who can emphasize with the audience by qualities. A tragic hero must create a situation that he or she can not change. According to Aristotle there are also certain characteristics in which a tragic hero must convey through their actions. In Shakespeare 's Macbeth some may see Macbeth as an antagonist, but Macbeth is a tragic hero because he holds high positions and works his way to more, recognizes his flaw, and shows responsibility for his doom.

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