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Macbeth: Tragic Hero
In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, we discover that Macbeth is a
tragic hero. Macbeth is very ambitious, courageous, and a moral coward:
all these things lead to his tragic death at the end of the play.
At the beginning of the play, Shakespeare defines Macbeth as a hero very
clearly. From the courages in defense of Scotland is significant in the
opening scene. However, he is very ambitious to be king. At the beginning
of the play, he was loyal to the king. While he did imagine of murder his
mind rejects it and said, "Why, if fate will have me king, why, chance may
crown me," - Act I, Sc 3, p.44-45.
Yet increasingly his ambition defeated his good nature. When Duncan named
Malcolm the Prince of Cumberland, Macbeth decided on the murder of Duncan.
When Duncan arrived at Inverness, Macbeth controled his ambition for the
time being and did not kill Duncan. The failing of his decision was soon
reflected by Lady Macbeth who called him a coward. From then on, after the
murder of Duncan, Macbeth entered into a life of evil.
Since he overcomed his good nature, he no longer needed to be with his
friend Banquo. He wanted to protect his ambition, by killing the king, and
now he killed Banquo, due to the prediction of what the witches said about
Banquo's son becoming the king. Macbeth wanted to ensure that he would
reach his ambition without problems.
Macbeth, who now no longer needed any encouragement from Lady Macbeth,
started to leave her in ignorance of his plans. Near the end of the play,
Lady Macbeth sleepwalked and had a dream about the killing of Duncan and
Banquo. She died because of all this pressure and her guilt about the
murder. Soul of Macbeth have been destroyed since Macbeth love Lady
Macbeth very much, as shown in Act I, Sc. 5, p.58, "My Dearest Love."
The power of nemesis is shown clearly at the end of the play when Macduff
came back to murder Macbeth. Macbeth would never have guessed that Macduff
would come back for revenge for the killing in Macduff's household. This
nemesis shows an additional force beyond Macbeth's control. Because of
Macbeth's strong beliefs in ambition and the witches, when he found out
Macduff was not born of woman, and also found out the Birnam Wood had been
seen moving, he realized that the third apparition had deceived him and he
understood he was no longer safe.
Through the development of this tragedy, Macbeth has turned from a fine
natured person to an evil person. His ambition, strong belief in the
witches, has brought him to a tragic end of his life, and caused many
people to lose their lives.
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