Macbeth As A Tragedy Essay, Research Paper

p>In the beginning of the play, The Tragedy

of Macbeth, Macbeth is merely a nobleman and a Scottish general in King

Duncan’s army. Macbeth later becomes the deserving Thane of Glamis and Cawdor

and the undeserving King of Scotland (Dominic 255). In the beginning Macbeth is

a man with good intentions and a good heart; sometimes he just has a hard time

following his good instincts and heart. Macbeth’s ambition and the persuasion

of his wife lead him to commit several horrible deeds. Macbeth is brave,

good-hearted, disobeying, easily persuaded, overly-ambitious, and

literal-minded and unimaginative (Scott 281). Throughout the play, Macbeth is a character

who shows extreme bravery. The reader can see his bravery through his efforts

and victories on the battle field. The Captain speaks of Macbeth’s bravery when

he is describing Macbeth’s triumph over Macdonald and his strong forces,

"But all’s too weak,/For brave Macbeth – well he deserves that

name-/Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel/Which smoked with bloody

execution,/Like Valour’s minion carved out his passage" . . .(I.i.5). The

captain then goes on to tell how Macbeth and Banquo fought successfully through

an assault of fresh Norwegian troops. Macbeth is obviously a loyal general who

fights hard and with courage for his country. Macbeth displays his bravery when

he kills Duncan and Duncan’s two guards. Killing someone is in itself a brave

act. In order to actually go through with the act of murdering somebody takes

much courage. Murdering a person is an act which requires bravery to commit,

but it also requires bravery to face the consequences if one is caught. Another

instance of Macbeth’s bravery is when Macbeth fights Macduff at the end of the

play. All of Macbeth’s soldiers and friends flee in terror of the approaching

army. Macbeth is the only one to stand his ground and fight to the death. Macbeth shows signs of having a good heart

and good intentions, but he also shows that he has a weak mind that ignores and

disobeys what his good heart tells him is right. The reader can see Macbeth’s

good heart when Lady Macbeth tries to persuade him to kill Duncan. At first

Macbeth refuses to do such a horrible deed. He knows in his heart that killing

Duncan is wrong and deceitful. Just after Macbeth has received the news from

the witches that he will be King, he thinks to himself," This supernatural

soliciting/Cannot be ill, cannot be good. . . . If good, why do I yield to that

suggestion,/Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair/And make me seated heart

knock at my ribs/Against the use of nature?" (I.iii.17). Macbeth’s heart

is telling him that this suggestion of killing Duncan cannot be good. The

reader can see that Macbeth tries to listen to his good heart when he tells

Lady Macbeth that he will not kill Duncan,"We will proceed no further in

this business./He hath honoured me of late, and I have bought/Golden Opinions

from all sorts of people,/Which would be worn now in their newest gloss,/Not

cast aside so soon" (I.vii.33). Although Macbeth has a good heart with

good intentions, he does not obey and listen to his heart. He allows Lady

Macbeth to persuade him into doing what he knows is wrong. Macbeth knows he has

chosen the wrong path when he says," I’ll go no more./I am afraid to think

what I have done;/Look on’t again, I dare not" (II.ii.45). Therefore

Macbeth is disobeying of what he knows is right. In fact, Macbeth speaks of the

distrust he has for his heart when he says," False face must hide what the

false heart doth know"(I.vii.35). All Lady Macbeth has to do to convince

Macbeth to kill Duncan is call him a coward and unmanly a few times. The fact

that Macbeth is so easily persuaded to kill a man just from being called a

coward and unmanly is certainly a sign of a weak mind which does not trust the

heart. In the end Macbeth’s excessive

ambition–his tragic flaw–gets him killed. Macbeth becomes so obsessed with

the idea of becoming King that he isolates himself from his good heart. After

Macbeth kills Duncan, he becomes so set on becoming king that he tries to have

Banquo’s son, Fleance, killed, so that there is no one in his way of becoming

king. Macbeth’s ambition forces him to murder two other innocent people. After

the three witches tell Macbeth to beware of Macduff, Macbeth sends his people

to murder Macduff. Macbeth’s people end up killing Macduff’s wife and son.

Macbeth’s excessive ambition leads him to the point of no return. Macbeth’s final trait, according to Mark W.

Scott, is his literal and unimaginative mind. For instance, when the witches

tell Macbeth that he is to be Thane of Cawdor and King, he is confused about

how he can be Thane of Cawdor if the Thane is alive. Macbeth’s confusion is

ended only after Ross tells Macbeth that Duncan has given the death sentence to

the present Thane of Cawdor, and has declared Macbeth the future Thane of

Cawdor. Once his head is clear again, Macbeth begins to wonder how he can be

King when Duncan is alive. Instead of wondering how fate will allow him to be

King, he decides that the only way to become King is to kill Duncan. Macbeth

does not trust fate; he only trusts himself to make the prophecy come true.

Therefore Macbeth does not have faith, which demands imagination. The reader

sees Macbeth’s literal mind when he so easily accepts what the witches tell

him. Just because three witches tell Macbeth of his future, does not mean it is

a true prophesy (Scott 281). All in all, Macbeth is a good man who is

too easily persuaded by his wife to commit several awful deeds. Macbeth’s

ambition and disobedience gets him killed. It is true that Macbeth is given a

prophesy to be King, and it is true that pressure is applied by his wife, but

his ambition is what kills him in the end. Macbeth is a brave, good hearted

man, who possesses a weak mind which allows his ambition and the persuasion of

his wife to lead him down the wrong paths, ultimately leading to his

destruction.