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.
This play goes to show the flaws and attributes of Macbeth’s character. In the play Macbeths says “My thought, whose murder is yet fantastical, shakes so my single state of man that function is smothered in surmise, and nothing is, but what Is not” (1.3 . 139- 142) . His thoughts are tending towards the murderer, he is hinting that things may not always as they seem. This quote shows the reader that Macbeth is thinking of others but he is
Shakespeare's characters illustrate that tragic heroes are neither fully good nor fully evil. During the development of the plot, a hero's mistakes, rather than his goodness, lead to his tragic downfall. An example of a tragedy is Macbeth. Macbeth is driven up the hill of greatness, and then his untamed ambition leads him to death. The process of a tragedy is slow to let the audience become comfortable with the power and happiness of the main character.
Romeo AND Juliet In one of the most celebrated and retold plays in history “Romeo and Juliet” written by William Shakespeare depicts many tragedies and unforeseeable events, that all contribute to the eventual demise of the main characters. Shakespeare manages to stress that the deaths endured at the hands of the Romeo and Juliet were mainly not preventable as misguided and poor decisions made at hands of the elders involved meant that disaster was inevitable. Fate also hints at the fact that tragedy was going to be around the corner as Romeo and Juliet were willing to test the boundaries as to how far their relationships would go, although such a catastrophe could have been prevented through the mending of ties between the feuding families. A contributing factor as to why the deaths of the main characters were predominately not preventable was the profound fact that both Romeo and Juliet were clearly misguided by those around them. Shakespeare employs Friar Lawrence as one of these characters that abets the death of Romeo and Juliet as he fails to deny the two “star crossed lovers” any part in marriage instead aiding their eventual demise through the careful yet greatly flawed plan where Friar Lawrence “gave thee remedy” that formed the basis of the two characters deaths.
Without a doubt, guilt plays a big role in Macbeth by Shakespeare. It gives motivation for characters to do uncommon things. It forces the character to dwell on the situation and rethink their actions. It removes any and all sense of judgment. While looking at that dark inner feeling that motivates and haunts an individual in reality and even in dreams, guilt, a huge aspect of Shakespeare's writing style will forever shun readers for many centuries to
He has the good traits and flaws of a typical hero such as loyalty and intelligence. Hamlet's negative features include his rudeness towards others and his violent nature. To be a good antihero, the audience must also have sympathy for the character. Also, Hamlet's main flaw, which inevitably leads to his downfall, is his procrastination towards killing Claudius. As an anti hero, Hamlet's good traits, loyalty and intelligence are seen throughout the play.
Conflict influences everyone in how they act and what decisions they make. Macbeth (by Shakespeare) and Ladyhawke (by unknown) are perfect examples of this. Both stories have people in them, Macbeth in Macbeth and Philippe in Ladyhawke, that face conflicts that will affect how they act and the decisions they make. Conflict influences the decisions and actions of both Macbeth, a tragic hero, and Philippe, a hero. In Macbeth, Macbeth was a tragic hero because he had a flaw in his personality that ultimately caused him to perish.
We always make decisions without knowing the exact outcome of what we do, despite whether our intent is good or evil. In the play, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, he develops the idea that an individual’s good intentions can have devastating results. This idea is developed through the characters Romeo, Friar Laurence, Juliet, and Mercutio. In the scene where Mercutio and Tybalt were fighting, Romeo intervenes and ends up losing Mercutio the match, costing his life. “I thought all for the best.”(Act 3, Scene 1, line 99) Romeo had the best intentions however; best intentions in Shakespeare’s plays always have a negative impact.
Aristotle’s definition of tragedy is “Tragedy is a story taking the hero from happiness to misery because of a fatal flaw or mistake on his part. To be a true tragic hero he must also elicit a strong emotional response of pity and fear from the audience.” (Aristotle) Creon fits perfectly into this description of a tragic hero.There have been many controversies regarding the true nature of Creon in the play “Antigone” by Anouilh.In this essay of mine, we shall perceive Creon as a noble man rather than an arrogant tyrant.In my view,Creon was the protagonist while Antigone was undoubtedly the antagonist, the cause of the whole tragedy who caused her own downfall as well as the downfall of Haemon and Eurydice courtesy of her obnoxious and immature behaviour. To prove my point here, I shall start with the fact that Creon hadn’t desired power.He was a patron of art, a lover of music, an idealist. This had been stated by the Chorus in the Prologue. This throne had been forced upon him by the circumstances after the death of Eteocles.
The Deterioration of Macbeth Most readers of Shakespeare’s Macbeth understand that the play is a tragedy and that the conclusion of the play is brought about by the tragic flaw of the play’s hero. Macbeth’s tragic flaw is his ambitious nature. The play shows the arc of a man who is destroyed by his own ambition. In doing so, a great irony is displayed to the play’s audience. As he becomes more ambitious and successful, his actual personal power and sanity decrease.