Macbeth: Aristotelian Tragic Hero

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.

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