Macbeth Tragic Hero Research Paper

A good amount of plays and movies have tragic heroes who undergo meaningful suffering but then somehow learns from their mistakes; unfortunately, William Shakespeare's, Macbeth cannot be added to that category. Macbeth is about a noble general who falls to his own demise through his need for power and ambition. Macbeth does not resemble a tragic hero for many reasons, including him not learning from all his mistakes, not acting as a hero, and him being his own antagonist.

Although Macbeth falls under the name tragic, he does not fall under the name hero. The definition of hero according to Oxford Dictionary is, “A person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.” Macbeth could be described as a hero in the beginning of the play because many admired his courage and his outstanding achievements in the war. “You have achieved so much so quickly that I cannot keep up with the debt i owe to you.” (Duncan, I. IV. 15-18). However, once Macbeth started gaining more power he started to turn into an extremely evil man and no one wanted to praise him anymore. “I have no

The only time that Macbeth has ever fully learned from his own mistakes is when he killed Duncan. After he killed the King of Scotland, he went on to weep and cry about the crime that he had just committed. “First, because I’m his kinsman and his subject, then, because I’m his host, who should protect him from his murderer - not bear the knife.” ( Macbeth, I. VII. 14-17). Once he had recovered, he went on to make new mistakes. His main mistakes started with abusing his power and ambition. “My passion overwhelmed my reason.” (Macbeth, II. III. 120-121). These mistakes let to the loss of many innocent lives. Before Macbeth knew it he was out of control and had no time to learn from all of his mistakes. He would be soon killed by a man who lost his family to Macbeth’s