Shakespeares Macbeth - The Tragic Hero :: Macbeth essays

Macbeth: Macbeth The Tragic Hero The most recent meaning of the word Tragic Hero as defined by Microsoft Works dictionary is "A hero of noble stature whose fortunes are reversed as a result of weakness." Many characters in the play were affected by tragedy for a number of reasons, but without argue, Macbeth and his reverse of fortunes are due to his own actions, and the rest of the cast were merely victims of this. Macbeth's action's lead to his very nemises. From the beginning of the play this tragedy of his was manifested through forces beyond human; the supernatural if you will. These forces were that of the witches. The next factor in determining his fate was his own decision's and action's. Lady Macbeth is the second reason for Macbeth's tragedy; without her support in aiding his decision, Macbeth would have never had the strength to lie, scheme, and destroy to such extremes. The last, and most devastating to Macbeth, was his cripled conscious which made him act out of selfeshness and lust. The sequence of these factors were most defenitely provoked by the evilness and twisted nature of the witches, for if it weren't for their influence, then Macbeth would have never turned his desires into reality. At the very beginning of the play Macbeth is nothing but a general fighting for his country. His fellow fighter's admire Macbeth, for in their eyes, and even in the eyes of the highest of authority, his nobility and couragousness is looked up to. His success for his acheivement is rewarded, and his confidence is made stronger because of this. But this is only the beginning, and soon these good fortunes will come to a tragic end. The audience is then introduced to a group of witches. Three witches who appear as wicked and repulsive. They seem to signify all that is wrong and corrupt. Macbeth's over- confident attitude is the first characteristic the witches detect, and they take advantage of this trait to make his life as miserable as they possibly can. He encounters the witches in Act1, scene1, and from this point he is now a step closer to realising what his future holds... so he thinks. The witches first address Macbeth as king, and Banguo as one "Lesser than Macbeth."(1.2.65) Infact, Macbeth isn't king, never the less, the witches insist in prophecising that he is and will be. The witches are already planting seeds of persuation into his head which are made to bloom into tragedy. These destructive and manipulative forces the witches have power over alter his viewpoints about his values and