Chantelle Driver English 12-1B Ms.Turner 15 December 2011 A Tragic Hero Named Macbeth Sometimes a tragic hero is created, not through his own villainy, but rather through the flaws in him. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth is our main example of our common tragic hero who possesses a tragic flaw, but what is a tragic flaw? A tragic flaw is a flaw in a character that brings about the downfall of the hero of a tragedy. Shakespeare uses Macbeth to show the terrible effects that ambition and guilt can have on a man who lacks strength of character. Ambition, moral weakness and selective perception, would be the major flaws of our character, Macbeth.
Both people put their life in danger, be it from themselves or guards looking for them; the difference is how they handle it. Macbeth, in the end, cracks and is killed while Philippe triumphs and is a hero. They both learned the same lesson though, that good always triumphs over evil. In both stories good triumphed over evil. Macbeth ended up dying from the results of his tragic flaw, ambition, and Philippe ended up becoming a hero for helping the two lovers.
This description describes Macebth’s sword killing the rebel MacDonald. It is a violent image, suggesting that Macbeth is willing to sacrifice his own life and be out in the front defending his king. Due to this action, Macbeth is referred to as ‘noble’ by Duncan. “For brave Macbeth- well he deserves that name… Noble Macbeth…’ in this quote, the adjective ‘brave’ is used to describe Macbeth’s actions in battle. He has loyally defended his king, Duncan.
His greedy and power hungry wife, Lady Macbeth, assists him in devising plans to kill King Duncan and seize Scotland. The image of blood portrays the central idea and mood of Macbeth, guilt. There is a clear progression of the motif of blood from something brave, honorable and complimentary to something evil, shameful and full of guilt. At the beginning of Shakespeare’s Macbeth blood represents honor. Such as the enemy’s blood on Macbeth's sword after the war shows that he is a brave hero.
A person with so much power will go to extremes to achieve or maintain it. A tragic hero is Aristotle’s view on a great or virtuous character that has a major flaw which leads to a downfall or suffering. Macbeth kills King Duncan in order to take his place after being named Thane of Cawdor because of his flaw of being too easily persuaded. In the beginning of the play Macbeth was a great man respected by all the people of Scotland. He is given hope by the supernatural giving him the dream of once becoming King of Scotland.
The great Achaean warrior Achilles posses all the traits of hero, “valor”, strength, skill, and a quest. Achilles quest is what sets him apart, for its not like most heros, who fight for glory, riches, honor or to protect. He is fueled by rage and hatred and only seeks vengeance. It is this rage that causes Achilles to disregard Hektors plea to return his body “No more entreating of me, you dog, by knees or parents”. This vengeance is for his dear friend Patroklos, who Hektor killed.
This play exhibits tragedy because, though Proctor had many opportunities to change his fate, he chooses his demise because his tragic flaw prohibits him from doing otherwise. John Proctor is the tragic hero of the play, “The Crucible.” He has a high social status in the town, yet, because of his tragic flaw, he cannot bring himself to prevent his own death and tragic downfall. Proctor exhibits these tragic traits, making this play a tragedy of self-respect prevailing over shame and public
These wrong decisions land Eddie with failed relationships with those who are close to him. Dramatic tension escalates continuously in act two ending with Eddie's fatal flaw, his own death. Eddie's death is fatal because it affects his family who care about him and they suffer as a result. Eddie is described as a tragic hero as he is an ordinary person, as opposed to a modern hero, who is stereotyped as a strong character, able to save the world. Eddie suffers as his happiness turns to misery because of his mistakes prompted by his harmartia.
With the death of Macbeth, William Shakespeare shows an insight of a perfect example of a classic tragic hero. Despite bending a few rules, Shakespeare illustrates that if a character is not held by fate, causes their own downfalls and realizing it was their own fault, they are what many call a tragic hero. Being a tragic hero isn’t limited to just stories or plays, but can be applied in the real world as well. Richard Nixon was thought to be a great man, but after following the same road Macbeth had taken, they both found themselves destroyed by guilt, and are now considered, “Tragic
At the beginning of the play Macbeth is a warrior that fights for freedom and what he believes in which is good. Captain brags about how great of a warrior Macbeth is when he is describing the battle Macbeth just fought in by saying, “For brave Macbeth […] And fixed his head upon our battlements”. (1.2.16-23). Macbeth fought against one of his enemies Macdonwald. He split him in half before he could get a word out.