English Macbeth The Tragic Hero Essay, Research Paper

English: Macbeth-the tragic hero

It typically presents the fall of a man who may be basically or originally good but is always corruptible through the temptations of the world and his own pride or ambitions.

In the beginning of the play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Macbeth is merely a nobleman and a general in King Duncan’s army. Macbeth later becomes the deserving Thane of Glamis and Cawdor and the undeserving King of Scotland. 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

Macbeth is a character who shows extreme bravery, his bravery

through his efforts and victories on the battlefield. 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. 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?”. Macbeth’s heart is telling him that this suggestion of killing Duncan cannot be good.

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”. 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”. 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.

In the end Macbeth’s excessive ambition 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 is his literal and u

nimaginative 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.

Overall, 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.