Macbeth as a Shakespearean Tragedy

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Cameron M. J. Webb Mr. Macdonald EENG3U1-02 8 January 2013 Macbeth Macbeth, a play by William Shakespeare, is a Shakespearean tragedy. This play was written in 1606 A.C.E.. Macbeth displays many of the required traits of a Shakespearean tragedy, in particular it has very good examples of anagnorisis, peripeteia and tragic hero. Anagnorisis is the part of the play when the protagonist recognizes who and what the root of his downfall is. Peripeteia is the ironic point of the play where there is a massive turn in the plot. The element ofP the tragic hero is that the protagonist must be a likable character or else the reader or viewer will not feel empathetic towards the hero of the story. Macbeth holds several fantastic examples of all three of these characteristics. Anagnorisis is perhaps one of the most important of all of the features. Anagnorisis is when the tragic hero of the story realizes what the cause of his demise is. For Macbeth this occurs when Macduff informs him of how he was "untimely ripped" (.5.8.21) from the womb of his mother by cesarean section meaning he was not technically born by a woman. Macbeth then realizes that the witches had been planning to trick him from the beginning and that listening to the witches was what caused all of the misery, horror and tragedy to occur in his life. He (Macbeth) knows this because the witches told him that no man born of a woman could kill him, but they knew that there was no way Macbeth would think of that being brought into the world by cesarean section would not count as being born by woman. Macbeth's child like naiveness could be one of the reasons why he is a tragic hero, he is so likable as a man who is capable of such treacherous acts. A tragic hero is a protagonist who is likable enough that the watcher of the play is capable of feeling empathetic towards them. Macbeth
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