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Macbeth: Aristotelian Tragic Hero

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People view a hero as someone who works to save people from any sort of evil. A hero is meant to be “perfect”. In contrast, an Aristotelian tragic hero suffers a single great flaw, leading to their ultimate downfall. The flaw is known as hubris, which is defined as excessive pride. These elements are found in William Shakespeare’s tragic play, Macbeth. Macbeth begins the play as a war hero, but in the end, he is killed for his evil ambitions. Throughout the play, Macbeth makes choices that affect him negatively, to the point of death. Macbeth fits the definition of an Aristotelian tragic hero because of his nobility, his fatal flaw, hubris, his fall from grace, and he redeems a small measure of lost nobility through a moment of self-awareness. …show more content…

Macbeth is tempted to kill Duncan because he likes the idea of being king. Once he informs Lady Macbeth of the prophecy, she is hooked on the idea. She tells him to stop being a coward. She wants to do it herself so that she feels more like a man. At first, Macbeth was hesitant about killing the king because he knew that King Duncan is a great ruler. The people love him, Macbeth is his host, and he is afraid of getting caught. Despite these considerations, however, Lady Macbeth convinces him. She tells him that they will murder Duncan at night, and they will blame it on the guards. After Macbeth agrees to the plan, explains that he has “no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself And falls on the other…” (I, sc vii, 25-27). Unlike most Aristotelian tragic heroes, Macbeth admits outright his fatal flaw. Macbeth’s flaw encourages him to kill King Duncan and many other negative actions, which sets up him for his downfall. Once Macbeth has power in his hands, he will not want to let go. Without this fatal flaw, Macbeth would have no ambition or motivation to murder the

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However, his susceptibility to manipulation when Lady Macbeth convinces him to murder Duncan it is a clear weakness that links to the choices he makes

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Around 2,300 years ago Aristotle defined a tragic hero. An Aristotelian tragic hero's internal flaws are hard to overcome. These flaws make it difficult for them to make good choices. Macbeth's first instinct is to do what is right, but his hubris causes him to make bad decisions.

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He feels that because the witches said it that it must be true no matter what the consequences in the future are. This is a leading factor that causes Macbeth to decide to murder King Duncan. Macbeth consciously makes the decision to commit treason and knows that it will have consequences. He even ponders the fact that although he will have a prosperous life on

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He already knew that the forest wouldn’t come together and the women part was just luck. Because of this, another flaw of his is being selfish. This made Macbeth want to kill Duncan so he could become king and have all the power.

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When Duncan's murder is proposed, Macbeth shows that he is terrified and anxious and does not want to follow this line of action. However, Lady Macbeth convinces him to do so. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a respectable man, who does not feel the need to kill for the crown. The killing of Ducan leads Macbeth into a deep, dark and long murderous path and eventually his downfall. Macbeth makes the decision to reject all ideals he previously believed in and ultimately loses his mind as the play comes to an end.

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Macbeth shows that he is willing to kill King Duncan because he is interested in the witches prophecy, after they tell him that he will become ‘Thane of Cawdor’ and then the King.

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Consequently, a war breaks out and takes Macbeth and his wife. Macbeth is considered a tragic hero because of his excessive pride, reversal of fate when Fleance escapes, and his tragic flaw ambition. Macbeth is a tragic hero because of his excessive pride. This can be seen in Act III Scene IV when Macbeth says, “Ourself will mingle with society, And play the humble host.”

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Macbeth soon became a tyrant leader, and his fall became inevitable. Therefore, in Shakespeare 's play Macbeth, the main character Macbeth fits the definition of an Aristotelian tragic hero because he begins with nobility, and because of his ambition, he suffers a fall from Grace, however, he regains a small measure of nobility and self-awareness.

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In the play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, many of the main characters can be classified as tragic heroes. A tragic hero can be labeled as a character with a fatal flaw which eventually leads to their downfall. However, I believe that the main character, Macbeth, is overall the biggest tragic hero within the play. Macbeth's selfish ambition, low self-esteem, and general obsession with more power all contributed to his grand title of being a tragic hero.

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The audience can now see his desires as well as his ambition. At this point, Macbeth is still hesitant of revealing his true nature, but the audience gets a peek of what he yearns for. In addition, the witches’ predictions are known to be paradoxical, their predictions are never straightforward; they tend to have different interpretations. Macbeth kills King Duncan to obtain the power he was told he’d get. Despite that, the witches never said to kill King Duncan; they told him he would become king.

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Macbeth’s ambition is what is causing him to intervene with his prophecy and pursue his goal (rather than leave it to chance). In a way, it is Macbeth’s own “black and deep desires” that make him kill in the first place as the witches never tell him to do so. Furthermore, apart from ambition, it is Macbeth’s own weak will and moral system that causes him to do the actions that result in his downfall. Macbeth’s weak will is undeniable and is illustrated before killing Duncan. “I have of spur/To prick the sides of my intent, but only/Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself/And falls on the other” (I, VII, 25-28).

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Macbeth fits the definition of an Aristotelian tragic hero because he starts with nobility, and because of his tragic flaw of excessive pride, he suffers a fall from grace; however, he regains a small measure of the small nobility and self-awareness and these were all present in Aristotle’s definition and the three elements of hamartia, peripeteia, and anagnorisis. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is seen as courageous on the battlefield and is celebrated by King Duncan and the Scottish nobles. In Act 1, scene 2, the Captain recalls Macbeth’s heroic performance in the battle against Macdonwald’s forces by telling King Duncan. “But all’s too weak, For brave Macbeth-well he deserves the name-Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel, Which smoked with bloody execution, Like valor’s minion carved out his passage

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Macbeth fits these particular characteristics; his downfall was caused by his pride and ambition for power. Macbeth’s downfall, to some, may have not been caused by his own flaws, but Macbeth’s trust in the witches and Lady Macbeth leads him to his death. Because of his flaw, Macbeth has caused the death of Banquo, his trusted friend, and Macduff’s family’s deaths. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, does not seem to have a flaw that lead her to her demise. “I cannot taint with fear.

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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.

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A tragic hero is the protagonist of a tragedy. The tragedy of Macbeth tells a story about a man named Macbeth that wants to be king. Macbeth was a very twisted man and was power crazy he did everything to become king he even murdered innocents and whomever stood in his way. Macbeth was considered a tragic hero because Macbeth had many people follow him he also had a down flaw that led to his death but went down heroically. Macbeth 's great downfall that proved was a tragic hero was stated as, “ I will not yield to kiss the ground before Malcolm 's feet and to be baited with the rabble 's curse” (5, 8, 28) this quote taken from the story explains that even though Malcom is trying to kill him Macbeth claims he won 't yield nor beg because Macbeth thinks he has won the fight.

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