Macbeth: The Tragic Hero's Downfall

The Tragedy of Macbeth
In the play Macbeth, William Shakespeare does an astounding job at developing the story plot in a fascinating manner. Throughout the play, it is easy to begin to noticing common trends in the behavior of Macbeth. His judgement quickly becomes impaired when King Duncan grants him a new title “Thane of Cawdor”. With this new power granted to him, overambitious Macbeth becomes murderous. In order to claim power he murders King Duncan, turning Scotland into a dangerous place. With the much loved king gone, the kingdom is left under merciless Macbeth’s control. Of course his horrible actions do not go without consequences and soon Macbeth pays for his actions both mentally and physically. Over the course of the play, Macbeth shows common characteristics of a Shakespearean. Leaving us with the question is Macbeth a tragic hero?

The once noble Macbeth had a bright future ahead of him as a great leader.

He started out as someone reliable, kind, wise, and brave. He was a self-less man who made the wellbeing of his country Scotland a priority. In war, he fought gallantly for his king and proved himself as being someone worthy of trust. The king was so impressed with Macbeth’s bravery that he rewarded him with a title, “Thane of Cawdor”. With just the slightest taste of power granted to him, Macbeth turns from being a kind man to a blood thirsty murderer. His newly awarded title wouldn’t be enough for him. Macbeth had a strong desire to prove himself to his wife. In addition, she taunted him to kill King Duncan, a terrible deed. “That made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man.” ( 1.7-48 ) Macbeths new courage pushed him to commit an unforgivable crime and molded him into being someone overly ambitious. Ambition used in a positive way can bring good to the world. Macbeth’s over ambition quickly lead to his down

fall.
In the play, “Macbeth” the judgement of the protagonist becomes questionable. To start he believes lies told to him by three witches. Without being sure of the witches’ creditability, Macbeth commits a serious crime. He also accepts bad advice from Lady Macbeth who guided him into making further mistakes. ” Add Quote”. Again, Macbeth’s poor judgement leads strongly to his down fall. After killing Duncan, Macbeth seems to make one bad decision after another. Once Macbeth claimed the throne he was determined to keep it. In doing so, he kills anyone whom he feels could be a potential threat. This includes even his closest friends. Unfortunately for Macbeth, his killing spree doesn’t go unnoticed. After Macbeth kills Macduff’s family, an infuriated Macduff seeks revenge.
The crimes committed by Macbeth are inhumane. Immediately after Macbeth kills Duncan he feels deep remorse. He begins suffering from paranoia and the guilt he feels drives him to insanity. Macbeth started having hallucinations causing him to both hear and see figures that weren’t actually there. At night, Macbeth could not sleep and in the day he would stay locked in his chambers. Macbeth goes through a great deal of suffering. Even though Macbeth realizes the seriousness of his actions, he continues killing others until eventually he feels no sorrow.
Macbeth possess a tragic flaw. He is overly ambitious witch ultimately leads to his downfall in the near future. Macbeth’s lack of good judgement leads him in making poor decisions which no one positively benefits from in the long run. The once pure a genuine man turns into a heartless murder.