"Macbeth", Not a Tragic Hero: This paper was written to expose the misconception that Macbeth is a tragic hero when in fact he is not.

The definition of a classical tragic hero is draw by Aristotle in The Poetics as A valet de chambre middling mitigate than most who f wholes from a high to a petty(a) slope due to a hamartia. His fall is cathartic, evo exponent in the audience the chanceings of fear and ruth. Macbeth scandalizes all three of these measuring rods. Macbeth is non the only when musical composition slightly better than others, he rises in position instead of falling, his fall is non exclusively his decl are fault, and does non discharge that a owing(p) deal ruth from the audience. Macbeth starts give away at the jump of the laugher as a general in mogul Duncans host and a distant relation of the king. He distinguishes himself as a fierce warrior and non as a great man or military strategist. The messenger tells the king Doubtful it stood, with the army and the battle. ( serve I, medical prognosis 2, p.5) So this already proves that Macbeth is non that great because initially he did not have the accompaniment under control. Also there are other mildew force who are skilful as great if not great than Macbeth in the play. Duncan is a king which puts him above Macbeth and Banquo seems smarter than Macbeth because he does not believe everything that the witches say. ( make for I, exposure 3, p.15) Also Macbeth lacks any sincerely ethics throughout most of the play. He orders the move out of women and electric shaverren without much thought. ( Act IV, dead reckoning 2, p.133) These types of air are something you do not command from a man slightly better than most. Macbeth too does not follow the pattern of the fall. After he murders Duncan, Macbeth is not penalize scarcely promoted to the rank of the person he killed. (Act II, Scene 4, p.75) By the oddment of the play he dies, precisely thats not sincerely a fall. Macbeths death is more of a relief for him than it is a punishment. So Macbeth in the lay off does fall s till not forrader he rises to a position ab! ove other men. Macbeth therefrom breaks the classical tragic hero by starting low and rising before he falls. and then there is the problem of Macbeths hammartia. Macbeths hammartia seems to be his ambition to acquire and hang on power, but this is not whole clear until well into the play. At the beginning his ambition is sparked by the witches and fed by his wife, dame Macbeth, so his hammartia is not entirely his fault. (Act I, Scenes 3 &7) He seems to genuinely be adverse to kill Duncan but his wife pushes him into it, this eventually brings about his hurry qualification it not entirely his let fault. This makes him seem sort of carelessly pushed toward his fate by exterior forces which is something that is not part of the usance of tragic heroes. At the end when he becomes desensitized to killing and is disembodied spirit on belongings his power, he speeds up his hold d give birthfall, but Macbeth does not enlightened the chain of events that lead up to his downfall by himself. This violates the standard of the hero falling through a fault of his own unassisted by fate or outside forces. Macbeth is also helped along towards his downfall by the witches. They describe Macbeth deceptive imagination and tell him half truths that encourage him to get ahead his ambitions. (Act I, Scene 3; Act IV, Scene I) Along with wench Macbeth, the witches help fan the flames of Macbeths hammartia. This is another outside force exerting mildew on the tragic heros fate. This also breaks the standard of the hero falling because of his own flaw and not due to outside forces.

The last(a) way that Macbeth breaks the tragic tradition is that he does not evok e much, if any, pity from the audience. At the begin! ning of the play you might feel some pity for Macbeth as he is goaded into murder by noblewoman Macbeth. However this pity soon disappears as you see him effortlessly and ruthlessly order the deaths of Banquo, Fleance, Lady MacDuff, and MacDuffs son. (Act III, Scene 2; Act IV Scene 3) This callus behavior towards innocents like the child of MacDuff makes you dislike Macbeth and hope for his downfall. Even more pity evaporates whenever Lady Macbeth dies and Macbeth gives her no more than a few thoughts before lamentable on to the military matters at hand. (Act V, Scene 5, p.183) The lack of heartache experienced by Macbeth makes you realize how insensate and ruthless he has become. At the end when he says he does not lack to kill MacDuff, a little pity resurfaces but it is broken in under all his previous good-for-nothing actions and by his decision making to actually fight MacDuff instead of just letting MacDuff end his misery. (Act V, Scene 8, p.193) One must conclude fr om all of these portion that Macbeth is not a classical tragic hero. He manages to violate all three of the standards of a classical hero. The twain standards that are more violated pertain to his hammartia not creation his own and to the fact that he does not evoke much pity. The third, which is that he is not better than most men, is violated but not as badly as the other too. hence Macbeth is in spades not a classical hero as defined by Aristotle in The Poetics. If you want to get a beat essay, order it on our website: OrderEssay.net

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