In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth starts out as a hero. He is a very loyal and trustworthy person. As the play progresses Macbeth ruins himself because of the impact of vaulting ambition. Greed takes over and soon he is making ill-advised decisions. Macbeth changes into a tragic hero by his tragic flaws tainting his decision making.
Macbeth was seen as a brave and noble man by all of his peers, and even King Duncan himself. This is why Duncan proclaimed “What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won,” (1.2.67) referring to the fact that he named Macbeth to be Thane of Cawdor. One would think that after such accomplishment, Macbeth would be satisfied with his position. However, this is not the case. Chris risks his family, his secrets, his position gained in the high class society.
A tragic hero is a character who makes an error of judgment that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on a tragedy. In addition, this character is happy at the beginning of the play. A tragic hero must be of noble birth and demonstrate a tragic flaw throughout the story. This character will realize their flaw once it is too late to overcome the conflict. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Marcus Brutus exhibits qualities that make him the tragic character.
From the very beginning of the play there are allusions to what he ideal man is supposed to be like. In the first scene, Macbeth is characterized as the quintessential man. He is strong and courageous and battle, a characteristic that is seen by many to be ideal. He fights for his country and the love of his king. “For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name—/ Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel/ Which smoked with bloody execution/ Like valor’s minion carved out his passage” (I, i, 16-19).
In the beginning of the play it is made known that Creon is a powerful ruler. It also seems that he is a good ruler and his people are loyal. One of the chorus members states, "If that is your will, Creon son of Menoikus, you have the right to enforce it: we are yours"(Line 37). It is also obvious that Creon ignites fear in his subjects. For example, when Antigone asks Ismene to break the law Ismene replies in fear saying "Think of how terrible than these deaths, our own death would be if we were to go against Creon."
In the beginning, Macbeth carries traits of strength, courage, nobility, and is admired highly as a good soldier, all the appropriate traits for a good king. Yet he has no chance of becoming king due to his position, or so he believes at the beginning of the play. Macbeth may seem a near perfect Thane initially but every person has his flaws and unfortunately Macbeth had several that eventually lead to his downfall. Macbeth’s moral cowardice is a one of his tragic flaws, as well as his overwhelming ambition and belief in superstition, Progressively throughout the play, these flaws consume his initial good qualities to the point where all that can be seen of him by the are his flaws. Macbeth is a character ready for
Characterizing King Creon A tragic hero is defined in most cases as a literary character of great power whose morals lead to tragedy yet self-awareness brings that character to make right decisions. A tragic hero in the Greek world is different from today’s prospective of a hero. In today’s world we consider a hero as Spiderman, Superman and etc. A tragic hero is an average person who still has flaws and performs bad actions yet comes to realization of their wrong and attempts to better themselves. Creon shows his character throughout the play as he recognizes his weaknesses, downfall and controlling demands.
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is considered one of his darkest and most powerful tragedies. Macbeth is a brave soldier and a powerful man, but he is not a virtuous one. Due to the prophecies of the three witches, he is easily temped into murder to fulfill his ambitions to the throne. In the play, Macbeth is considered a tragic hero. He was of high standing, came from a noble background, and possessed a flaw in his character that brought him to his own downfall.
Is Oedipus a Tragic Hero? In the play of “Oedipus the King”, Oedipus is in fact a tragic hero according to Aristotle’s definition. Aristotle defined a tragic hero according to these standards: A tragic hero has to be a king or a man of noble stature, a tragic hero must be an honorable man and his downfall occurs from an act injustice cause by ignorance, the downfall of a tragic hero is his own fault and nobody is to blame for, the hero’s downfall is not always earned but his punishment goes beyond from his or her crime, and after his or her downfall the hero learns a valuable lesson. They play is written like it was purposely wrote to meet the qualities of a tragic hero according to Aristotle by using Oedipus as an example. Oedipus meets all the qualities of a tragic hero by him being a man of noble and honorable stature, but his downfall is caused by his own fault but by an act of unfairness, his downfall is not earned by his acts, but at the end he learns a lesson.
One can look at Macbeth’s actions as the play unravels and see that he is clearly headed down a path towards disaster resulting from one source: his ambition. It is his desire to become king that overpowers his good nature and pushes him to break all moral boundaries. Prior to his encounter with the three witches, Macbeth was a trustworthy man; one loyal to his King, wife and friends. But with the news of his future, a secret desire for power emerges and controls him as the play continues. For instance, in act 1, scene 7, Macbeth’s ambition has become to great for him to handle: “To prick the sides