Name: Hailey Couperus Hour: 4 Lit.Comp. In The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth is the tragic hero. As a high-ranking thane who becomes King of Scotland, Macbeth, who is not completely innocent or wicked, has a tragic flaw of excessive ambition. He makes several decisions because of his tragic flaw that leads to his downfall. Finally, he recognizes his errors only after it is too late to change anything. Macbeth, a high-ranking, well-respected thane, who is not totally innocent or totally wicked, has a tragic flaw. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is portrayed as someone of very high power and prestige, which is proved from King Duncan naming him as Thane of Cawdor right at the very start of the plot. He is …show more content…
Macbeth goes through a series of events related to his flaw that leads to his downfall and death. The very first event that Macbeth experiences which ultimately began showing the negative impacts of his ambition was his encounter with the witches who told him his destiny: “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!/ All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (MB1.3.49-50). If it was not for Macbeth being made aware of his fate and what was in store for his future, it’s very likely that these thoughts would never have occurred to Macbeth in the first place about killing King Duncan. However, the second event that happens keeps and even pushes Macbeth further into the mindset of achieving. After Lady Macbeth hears the news, she immediately wants to take action and urges Macbeth to agree with her in believing that the murder of their leader would benefit them, which he indeed does fall victim to. Once Duncan is killed after Macbeth decides to go through with his plans, he does not quite feel satisfied. He, therefore, makes the decision to kill Banquo completely on his own without the input of Lady Macbeth, since he believed that Banquo knew far too much about what Macbeth had done to Duncan. At this point, Macbeth is already King of Scotland, but he feels threatened by more than just a single person. Macduff, one of the two sons of Duncan, is the next person victimized by Macbeth. Since he believed that