Role Of Heroism In Macbeth

Miguel de Unamuno once said, “The greatest height of heroism to which an individual, like a people, can attain is to know how to face ridicule.” From the tragedy of MacBeth by Shakespeare, there are three characters that exhibit contrasting aspects of heroism. The protagonist Macbeth and the antagonists MacDuff and Banquo all play very important roles in the story that makes it a more popular read from Shakespeare’s collection. The story is told from the villain's side of the story and with this the reader is able to experience where the character went from the beginning of the story to the end. The beginning shows Macbeth’s innocence and his relationship with other characters and throughout the story we experience a big change and it all starts with the witches prophecy being announced to him.

The short lived character of the story, Banquo, was proposed as generous friend of Macbeth’s who has

known him for a while. Their relationship was portrayed to be tight at the beginning of the play because they would always speak with each other and they would ride horses. The two served important roles of power, Macbeth being the Thane of Cawdor and Banquo being Thane of Lochaber. When the chance at King of Scotland was in Macbeth’s cross hairs, he aspired to grasp it and in a heartbeat he had become the King. Although Banquo was loyal all this time he began to be skeptical of the hole situation. Banquo had showed his suspicion a little too much when he questions him saying, “Thou hast it now: king, Cawdor, Glamis, all, As the weird women promised, and I fear Thou played’st most foully for ’t. Yet it was said It should not stand in thy posterity.” (3.1.1-4) Through this quote, it reveals that Banquo, although short lived, served a purpose of showing how Macbeth had changed from a friend to an enemy. Macbeth believes he has no choice but this decision just leaves him in more misery. Although Banquo had a short part in the tragedy Macbeth, he served an important role of exemplifying his bravery and loyalty to Macbeth.
Macbeth being the protagonist shows the readers his more innocent and brave side at the beginning when he returns from a battle and when is told his prophecy by the witches. He is depicted as a bold war legend before all else of the play. He is all around regarded as an outstanding warrior in his group and he doesn’t seem to keep the same outlook towards the end of the play. Macbeth becomes an irresponsible mess who cannot keep his responsibilities in line. His mistakes in the outlook of the tragedy lead to his ruin and pulverization. From the time in which he was a well rounded, respected respected man, Macbeth falls so far from his own control until he achieves a status no higher than an lowlife having to murder his own good friend. Macbeth quotes, “He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour to act in safety.” which is saying that Macbeth is concerned that Banquo might know too much about the murder of King Duncan. Through this quote made by Macbeth, the hired murderers can tell as well as the audience that Macbeth is a distraught executioner, as well as a miscreant.
The final character that probably has one of the bigger roles in the play is Macduff.

He is the real hero in this story. He exemplifies honor, intelligence, and some observing skills that possibly saves Scotland. Macduff was able to pick point out the flaws of Macbeth. Macbeth was so suspicious through his actions that it made him transparent to Macduff. He went with his gut which was to leave Scotland to apply for help by the King of England. This was the smartest thing to do to save Scotland because he left without notice and if he had hesitated he would have been killed by Macbeth as well. The tactics Macduff proposed to attack Macbeth and fight back happened to bypass the prophecy and he was able to reach the castle and attack him. The attack was filled with Macduff’s wrath through his fight against Macbeth for Macbeth and his decisions. Macduff says, “I have no words. My voice is in my sword. Thou bloodier villain than terms can give thee out!” (V.VIII.7-9) Macduff explains he has no words for Macbeth and that he would rather explain his hatred through his sword

fight.
As you can see, the characters in Macbeth serve very important roles that show their true selves. Macbeth was unable to handle the responsibility of power and he chose to throw his life away by killing almost everyone in his sight. The decisions one man made was able to ruin the lives of many others and through this the audience was able to see who the true heroes were and the different types of traits heroes can have.