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Macbeth Tragic Hero Essay

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The Tragic hero of Macbeth

The play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare in 1606 was just one of his famous plays that ended in catastrophe. Macbeth is a story of a brave general who received life-changing news from three witches. The witches proclaim their prophecies to Macbeth, that Macbeth will soon become King of Scotland. This started his obsession with taking the Scottish throne for himself. Macbeth started as a man who answered to his wife, he became overconfident and was fully consumed in everything that was happening around him by the end of the play he was slowly losing his humanity. Macbeth was a play full of tragedy which leads to death in the end. Greed and ambition helped Macbeth stride for power, which drove him to act the way …show more content…

He was dependent to stay king no matter what. His ambition grew larger as more people started to get in the way of his throne. He had the ambition of killing Banquo and Macduff's whole family as revenge. Macbeth killed Duncan out of the selfishness of wanting to become king which shows that he would've done anything. All that this killing is doing is bringing down Macbeth slowly. The more people he killed the worse his ambition had gotten. Macbeth started his killing spree when he tried to kill Banquo and his son as he felt threatened by them because he was next in line to be king. Mathbeth was willing to do anything in the world to keep his title; he was so consumed with wanting to have the throne all to himself. Macbeth decides that he was to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. The killing of Banquo is irrational because he did it mainly out of greed and a desire to stay King. Murderers were hired to kill both Banquo and Fleance. The murders inform the "Most royal sir, [that] Fleance is 'scaped" (3.4.19-20). It's weird how "some people are willing to betray years of friendship just to get a little bit of spotlight" (Conrad). This just shows that he wanted to be and stay the king no matter what even if that meant killing his own best friend while keeping it secret from his wife. Macbeth felt threatened by the fact that Macduff knew that he killed Duncan and that he went all the way to England to find Duncan's son to take his title as king away. When Macbeth was feeling this way he soon revealed that he had to get revenge on Macduff somehow. Everyone was confused as to why Macduff had left town; his wife, Lady Macduff was especially confused as to why he would pick up and leave his wife and family in such urgency. Running away to try and warn Malcome was just like "running away from everything" (Churchill) he ran away from the real problem and that was Macbeth. While feeling betrayed by Macduff a nobleman with whom

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To continue his family’s name but also assuring he has a lot of power he had to kill King Duncan as shown in Act 2 Scene 1 lines 33-35 Macbeth says “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?” this was when he was on his way to murder Duncan. Macbeth also had to murder his companion Banquo and others to keep his ambition going.

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His desire for the crown outweighed his conscience to do what was morally right. Now, void of morality, he kills the guards to cover up and divert any suspicion from himself. And, as his thrust for power grows, he kills his friend Banquo to eliminate all threats that would stand in his way. His tyranny did not stop there; not only was he a lying murderer, but he now personified evil as he set eye on “The castle of Macduff” by ordering the killing of everyone in the household (4.1.151). Macbeth reigned with fear, berating those around him or killing them to maintain control.

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To start, Macbeth shows greed many times throughout the play, he kills just so he can get what he wants. The text states, “ Both of you know Banquo was your enemy” ( Shakespeare 3.1.113b-114a). This quote from the play shows how Macbeth lied to the murderers so that they would kill Banquo. Macbeth wanted Banquo killed because he thought that he would be a threat towards Macbeth becoming king. To add, Macbeth killed Duncan out of greed solely because he wanted to be king.

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She told him to kill King Duncan so he could take his place, but Macbeth said he felt guilty because Duncan was a good man and deserved better. Eventually he does kill Duncan but immediately feels remorse, guilt, and even hallucinates. After Duncan’s murder, Macbeth kills the guards as to not have any witnesses. The he begins focusing on killing Banquo because the prophecy said that his sons would one day be kings. He persuades some assassins to kill Banquo and his son by blaming their problems on Banquo.

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Throughout the play, the guilt leads him to kill more and more people because he needs reassurance that he is safe. Because of this constant reassurance, he would end up killing Banquo. As he says, “Our fears in Banquo stick deep.” This quote shows that Macbeth was worried over the fact Banquo was the only one who knew about his prophecy. He needed reassurance because he needed to be sure that Banquo could never find out that he killed King Duncan otherwise his position would be put under threat which could’ve led to his downfall much sooner.

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First, Macbeth expresses fear when it comes to Banquo’s prophecy. “Then, prophet-like, they hailed him father to a line of kings. Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown, and put a barren scepter in my gripe, thence to be wretched with an unlineal hand, no son of mine succeeding” (Shakespeare 3. 1. 57-61). This shows that in Banquo’s prophecy he will heir kings and Macbeth will not. This proves that Macbeth killed Duncan for no reason and Banquo is making him look like a fool for doing so.

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Macbeth is trying to manipulate others to bury the past. Macbeth manipulates the murderers to carry out his wicked deeds in Killing Banquo and Fleance and accepts the same rhetoric that Lady Macbeth used him to murder by questioning their manhood to make them angry. “I am one, my liege, whom the vile blows and buffets of the world, hath so incensed that I am reckless what I do to spite the world”- Second Murderer (3.1.109-11). The murderers claimed to be men to Macbeth and expressed their rage at his anger, which Macbeth wanted to

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Macbeth is a famous play written by Shakespeare. In this tragedy, a Scottish general is told that he will be king by 3 witches. With this new information and a little motivation from his wife Macbeth kills the king and takes his place. Due to his lack of sleep macbeth becomes extremely paranoid and commits more unnecessary murders resulting in a war and his death. This play shows the destruction that ambition can cause if morals are not present.

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Due to his actions, he lost all things that make life with living, and this metaphor that he uses demonstrates his recognition of his actions and a level of regret for his actions. Furthermore, Macbeth demonstrates anagnorisis prior to his conflict with Macduff. He states that he does not want to kill Macduff because he already has enough of his family’s blood on his hands due to his actions of murdering Macduff’s family and servants. His hesitation in killing Macduff demonstrates his recognition of his actions- he knows that his murders were wrong and he does not want to repeat them, proving that he has developed anagnorisis. He urges Macduff to leave so that he does not have to carry through with the action that he clearly recognizes is wrong.

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Macbeth orders the murder of Banquo and his son Fleance, simply because he believes that they pose a threat to his seat on the throne. Macbeth remembers the prophecy Banquo was told when he asked of his future which they responded “lesser than Macbeth and greater. Not so happy, yet much happier. Thou shall get kings though thou be none.” (I.III.68-70).

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Even after Macbeth became the thane of cawdor he still wanted more power “Now I’m the thane of Cawdor, just like they said I would be. But if this is a good thing, why do I find myself thinking about murdering King Duncan” (Act 1, Scene 3). Macbeth is so obsessed with power he is willing to kill the king. Macbeth is willing to do whatever it takes to abstain more power even if it means hurting someone that is innocent. This power that he has will only lead him to more

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While Fleance was able to escape, Banquo was not so lucky. The reason for his murder was because the witches say to Banquo that his sons will be king Macbeth is out of control, and it also led to his decision to kill Macduff’s family, as Macduff was considered a threat, having figured out his insanity. []. By the end of the play, Macbeth is lost in a pit of state. The crimes he committed had desensitized him.

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During the first act, Macbeth is very skeptical of the witches because he doesn’t trust them, but once he is named Thane of Cawdor, then he starts to take more of an interest in the prophecy that he was told. He gets more excited and to make sure that it becomes true, he decides to kill King Duncan, which is when things start to go downhill. As stated before, Macbeth doesn’t want anyone to know that he was the one who killed the king. Therefore, in order to make sure that no one finds out, he decides to hire two murderers to kill his friend Banquo and his son Fleance. This is when Macbeth starts to go crazy and almost greedy.

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The Tragedy of Macbeth was a Shakespearean tragedy that tells a story about a brave Scottish man named Macbeth. Macbeth receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that tells him he will become the king of Scotland. This prophecy becomes fulfilled when Macbeth kills Duncan and takes throne for himself. Macbeth is a play about contradictions and ambition. Driven to become king, Macbeth kills all and any that get in his way.

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Macbeth had become everything that he had ever wanted to be which was the king of Scotland and when the witches told him that someone else was going to take his crown he went to extremes to try to keep them from doing that which was eventually what lead to him dying. The witches had told Macbeth that the sons of Banquo would take his crown so he decided to have Banquo and his son killed Macbeth said, “Our fears in Banquo stick deep/ And in his royalty of nature reigns that which would be feared”(3.1.49-51). Macbeth did everything he could to protect his crown, but that is eventually what lead to his downfall and his death. He killed his best friend Banquo which was when his ambition had gone to far and was the beginning of his decline.

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