Macbeth Tragedy Essay, Research Paper

In order for a story to be considered a tragedy, it has to fit a certain

description. The Greek playwright Aristotle was the first to define a tragedy.

He said it was a story in which the protagonist (tragic hero) goes from

fortunate to unfortunate circumstances because if his tragic flaw and fate

working together. Macbeth fits these characteristics, and is a tragedy. In this

play, the tragic hero is Macbeth. His tragic flaw is his weak morals, and his

ability to be easily persuaded. These two things help to bring him down in many

respects. First of all, he killed Duncan. Now, he would not have killed Duncan

if his wife had not persuaded him. But, because of his tragic flaw, he was

easily persuaded into killing the king. ?When you durst do it, then you were a

man; and to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man.?

Lady Macbeth questions Macbeth?s manhood, and because his morals are not

strong, he succumbs to it. This is an instance of Macbeth?s tragic flaw

working to bring him down, because immediately after he kills the king, he feels

awful. Also, when Macbeth?s morals begin to degenerate more, he kills Banquo,

and Lady Mcduff. These are definite signs of Macbeth?s tragic flaw operating

to bring him down. Another aspect of Macbeth that resembles a tragedy is fate

operating to bring the tragic hero down. In this play, Macbeth is given his fate

by the witches (that he is to become king), and immediately afterwards he is

appointed the Thane of Cawdor, and is next in line to become king. ?And for an

earnest of a greater honor, he bade me, from him, call the Thane of Cawdor, in

which addition, hail most worthy thane, for it is thane? When Ross tells

Macbeth that he is the thane, Macbeth is amazed. It seems too good to be true.

After that, Duncan tells him that he will be staying at Macbeth?s house,

giving him a perfect opportunity to kill him. Everything works out for Macbeth

to kill Duncan, and this is how fate works to bring Macbeth down. Sure, even if

all this happened, Macbeth would still have to be willing to kill the king, but

if Macbeth were willing, and he wasn?t given ample opportunity, it still

probably wouldn?t happen. So you see that it is necessary for the tragic flaw

and fate to work together to bring down the tragic hero. The third

characteristic of a tragedy that Macbeth shows is the tragic downfall. It is

where the tragic hero goes from fortunate to unfortunate circumstances. It is

what fate and the flaw is accomplishing by bringing the hero down. In this play,

Macbeth starts out a war hero, the people love him, he has friends, and he gets

along with the king and the other nobles. After his flaw and fate bring him

down, after he kills Duncan, and becomes king, he ends up very miserably. His

people hate him, he is considered a tyrant, and countries want to go to war with

him. He eventually gets what he had coming, and Mcduff cuts his head off. With

Macbeth?s head on his sword, Mcduff exclaims, ?Hail, King! For so thou art.

Behold where stands TH? usurper?s curs?d head. The time is free.?

Clearly, going from being a well-respected war hero to a headless tyrant is a

downfall, so this characteristic is one that Macbeth certainly has. The story of

Macbeth is one that is regarded as one of the most famous pieces of literature

of all time, but some feel that it is not a tragedy. After reading this, one can

clearly see how Macbeth fits the characteristics of a tragedy. The tragic

hero?s flaw is evident, fate clearly works to bring him down as well, and

there is no doubt that he does not experience a downfall. These characteristics

are what make Macbeth, and other stories, a tragedy.