Examples Of Hubris In Macbeth

Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a very clear and commonly quoted play with several examples of both Greek and Christian hubris, or ambitious pride. Macbeth conveys a relatable idea that both forms of hubris are ultimately the downfall to an individual, even if the Christian form offers a more hopeful note to Shakespeare’s tragedy.

In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is hardly even in charge of his own house hold, judging by how easily his wife manipulated him. In his household, hubris is very clearly represented in how Macbeth views his relationship with his wife. In Macbeth’s letter to his wife, read aloud in the fifth scene of the first act, he refers to her as his “dearest partner of greatness,” which shows that he considers them both to be

great, perhaps a more eloquent term meaning ‘power couple’ (10). Hubris is also clearly acknowledged by Macbeth himself when he recalls his own “vaulting ambition” as his reason to kill Duncan, foreshadowing that unchecked ambition will be his downfall in the end (27). As the amount of hubris Macbeth possesses grows, his guilt and paranoia grow with it, leading him more quickly to madness.
Once Macbeth becomes king, his ego is already inflated from his successful murder of his predecessor, King Duncan.

The witches purposefully inflate it further, telling him that “none of woman born/shall harm Macbeth” and leading him to believe that he’s practically impossible to kill (80-81). The belief that he’s close to invincible is the most definite reason that Macbeth dies in the end, as he goes down practically not even believing that he was taking his last breaths. Macbeth is also extremely overconfident during his talk with the doctor in Act V, Scene 4, stating that he “will not be afraid of death and bane” (59). Macbeth’s ability to brush off death so absently is another defining moment in his descent into insanity, and it becomes increasingly obvious to those around him, as well, like Macbeth’s wife, who’s getting paranoid as well, and all the guests that see Macbeth having one of his episodes. This trait in Macbeth swiftly brings him to a point he can’t return from in his battle with

Macduff.
The result of Macbeth’s hubris comes into play right at the end, when Macbeth loses all of his power.

By this point, he has alienated all of his friends and acquaintances, and people have grown suspicious of him. When Macbeth is informed of his wife’s death, he seems numb, despite the great amount of love there was between them. In the scene, he states, “She should have died hereafter;/There would have been a time for such a word… Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player…It is a tale/Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,/Signifying nothing.” (16-28). In this moment, the audience becomes aware of just how much Macbeth’s loss of power has undone him, and how much power has truly taken him over the edge. Macbeth reaches his all time low in his battle with Macduff, when he says “…damned be him that first cries ‘Hold, enough!’” (34). Though Macbeth is aware that Macduff is not one of woman born, and thus fits the criteria to be Macbeth’s killer, Macbeth remains confident. All chance of Macbeth recovering and losing pride is gone, and the ultimate effects of hubris are revealed. Both Greek and Christian hubris are in this final act. Greek hubris his resulted in Macbeth’s doom, whereas Christian hubris leaves a note of hope when Malcolm, who exhibits many of the characteristics that define a good king, takes over the

throne.
Throughout the play, Macbeth experiences multiple instances of hubris. From the very beginning, the audience or reader is aware of the repercussions of Macbeth’s pride, partially from the foreshadowing when the witches are talking in the first scene of the play, and partially from having any basic knowledge of how Shakespeare’s plays tend to operate. Despite the vaguely optimistic ending of Macbeth with Malcolm’s rise to power, there is little positivity in the ending of the play, and it can be concluded that Macbeth’s hubris (a trait that one can assume Malcolm lacks) is Macbeth’s downfall.