One of William Shakespeare's most famous plays, “Macbeth” is a tragedy of a man who simply wanted power. The main character, Macbeth, is often considered a tragic hero. However, due to Aristotle’s definition of what a tragic hero truly is, Macbeth does not fit the role of one. Macbeth’s drastic personality change, lack of judgment, and not experiencing a self-realization moment of his horrible actions before his death, shows that Macbeth had no interest or desire in becoming Aristotle’s true hero. While Macbeth has a definite trait of ambition throughout the entire play, it changed Macbeth's personality for the worse. According to a critics article, they explain that Macbeth cannot be a tragic hero because of his evolving evil mindset. “Some critics assert …show more content…
This also explains that throughout the play, the readers may have a hard time showing empathy for Macbeth because of his horrible and unethical decisions. Macbeth’s actions are heavily influenced by the people he surrounds himself with, such as the prophecies of the witches and the manipulation of Lady Macbeth. These factors have definitely played a role in his lack of judgment. Even though Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero includes a downfall by some error in judgment that is understandable, it does not justify Macbeth’s actions in this case. According to a journal article, this author describes Macbeth’s lack of judgment in a realistic sense. “He is seriously flawed in that he cannot resist the powerful external force that is driving him to commit an act of unmitigated evil”(Golden). Macbeth knew the difference between right and wrong, and chose the wrong path deliberately, for power. Macbeth was an extremely arrogant man, which has led him to not have a reality check or change his ways. After murdering the king and taking the throne, Macbeth is full of guilt and