Macbeth And Severus Snape Character Analysis

Throughout many books and movies, there always is a certain character who appears to have the qualities of a tragic hero. A tragic hero is a literary character who makes a bad judgment call that eventually leads to his or her own destruction. Both Macbeth in the play Macbeth, and Severus Snape from the movie “Harry potter and the deathly hallows: part two”, appear to have the characteristics of a tragic hero. Although Macbeth and Severus Snape both demonstrate that they are flawed and noble, it is clear that Snape is a better example of a tragic hero because Snape’s motifs are more honorable; and the audience feels pity and fear for Snape as opposed to Macbeth. These characters are known to be noble and flawed individuals. Both Macbeth and Snape are known to be very noble men, thus showing that they are tragic heroes. King Duncan first describes Macbeth as a “valiant cousin, worthy gentleman” (1.2.23), showing he is seen as an honorable man by even those in the highest ranks. Despite his hate for Harry's father, Snape's loyalty to Dumbledore to keep harry safe no matter what is what makes him so noble. This is seen when harry looks into the Pensieve using Snape's tear, and sees that Dumbledore says” you shall be the one to kill me, Severus. It is the only way”, and Snape does it (1:19:47).

Macbeth's motifs only concern his personal gain without caring for other people’s wellbeing, whereas Snape are in regards to the woman he loves and overall everyone else but him. Macbeth's eagerness to be king makes him commit brutal acts time after time because he states that he has only “scotch’d the snake, not kill’d it” (3.213).whereas Snape tricks Voldemort into thinking he is the master of the elder wand to save Harrys life, ultimately giving up his own life (1:08:00) Snape's motifs are not only better but make other