Tragedy In Macbeth Essay, Research Paper

Tragedy in MacBeth

Everyone who is mortal has at least one flaw. Some

are more serious than others. For example, some people have

addictions to gambling, while other people can’t remember

to put the milk away after they use it. After a while

though, a person’s flaws come back to haunt them. The

tragedy MacBeth is no exception to this. In it, many of the

character’s die. And the reason is that they have a flaw,

that would eventually lead to their downfall. Not every

character is deserving of his fate though. Some characters

have a minor flaw, which shouldn’t lead to their death. But

other’s have a major flaw, which is would eventually lead

them to their death anyway.

The first Thane of Cawdor, is killed by MacBeth for

trying to lead a revolution against England. His fatal flaw

was that he was according to Ross, “a disloyal traitor”.

The thane of Cawdor was greedy, and wanted the throne of

England for himself, and as a result was murdered. But his

murder wasn’t really disheartening, because the Thane of

Cawdor, deserved his fate. He was leading a battle, in

which many lost their lives, for the

sake of greed, and deserved to die because of his flaw.

Duncan was the King of England, and was murdered by

MacBeth. He was murdered, because in order for MacBeth to

fulfill his plan and become king, Duncan would have to die.

Duncan’s fatal flaw was that he was too trusting. For

example, he thought that none of his friends could really be

enemies. If Duncan was more careful about his safety at

MacBeth’s castle, he may have had a chance to survive. But

Duncan’s flaw, wasn’t something so horrible that he should

die. Most people need to trust each other more, and

just because one person did, he shouldn’t have to die.

MacBeth’s former best friend, Banquo was also killed

by MacBeth. Banquo was killed, because he knew too much

about the murder of Duncan. But that was not his fatal

flaw. Banquo’s fatal flaw was that although he knew that

MacBeth killed Duncan, he really didn’t do anything about

it. There were many opportunities where Banquo could tell

someone such as MacDuff what he thought about the murders.

But Banquo didn’t deserve death, just because he didn’t act

quickly in telling someone that MacBeth killed Duncan.

Banquo knew that if he said anything, no one would believe

him, and he would be executed.

Lady MacBeth is MacBeth’s wife. She is his

coconspirator in killing Duncan. Although she helps MacBeth

get the courage to commit the murder, she isn’t willing to

do it herself. She uses the excuse that Duncan looked too

much like her father. Unlike MacBeth though, it is harder

for Lady MacBeth to live with the fact that she helped cause

the murder of the king. And in the end, it makes her so

crazy that she commits suicide. Whether or not Lady MacBeth

deserved her fate is a tricky question. Although she did

encourage MacBeth to murder Duncan, she feels regret for her

action. Also, she realized what she did was wrong. But in

my opinion, she realized it a little too late, and Duncan

was still dead so she did deserve her fate.

MacBeth was the focus of the entire play, and that’s

why it was named after him. All of the problems start when

he murder’s Duncan. He commits the murder because of his

fatal flaw, he is too ambitious. If he wasn’t so ambitious

and determined to be king, then he would never have killed

Duncan. And if MacBeth didn’t kill Duncan none of the other

characters would die. MacBeth deserved his fate more than

any other characters in the play. He did many things wrong.

First he killed Duncan, then he killed Banquo. After that,

MacBeth killed MacDuff’s family. And worst of all, MacBeth

disturbed the balance of nature. Also, MacBeth didn’t feel

any remorse until he was faced with death. If MacBeth

just waited for his time, he would have been king, and have

had a chance to enjoy it.

Every character that died in MacBeth had one fatal

flaw. The first Thane of Cawdor was a traitor. Duncan was

too trusting. Banquo didn’t do anything about the

knowledge he had. Lady MacBeth helped plot the murder of

Duncan. And MacBeth, destroyed the natural order and

harmony of nature. But not all of the characters who died

deserved to die because of their flaws. Duncan shouldn’t

have been punished for trusting someone, and Banquo would

have said something, but was waiting for the right time or

some physical evidence. But if MacBeth hadn’t been so

ambitious, none of the problems that occurred would have.