The Tragic Hero Macbeth

It has always been a controversial debate that Macbeth has been a dead butcher not a tragic hero, since some literature experts have not recognized him as a hero but just a murderer. Based on thorough research, many critics have suggested that Macbeth, from the tragedy of Macbeth, has evidently been a tragic hero. The protagonist, Macbeth, possessed the flawed qualities of a tragic hero, by the fact that he was ambitious, immoral, and obedient.

There is no doubt that the tragic hero, Macbeth, possessed the flawed personality of ambition. This inconsistent aspect of Macbeth has been evident through his soliloquies and his supernatural beliefs. Shakespeare has cleverly revealed Macbeth's ambition by the means of soliloquies. Macbeth has expressed his ambition through the first innermost thought that he shared with the audience by the fact that he had a "vaulting ambition, which o'er-leaps itself." (I.vii.27) As a result, the audience was able to recognize that Macbeth has an ambition since he personally admitted that he craved for the king's position.

Lady Macbeth by George Cattermole.

Macbeth Consulting the Vision of the Armed Head. B...

English: Poster of Thos. W. Keene in William Shake...

(http://shakespeare.about.com/library/weekly/aa093000a.htm) In addition, Macbeth has revealed his strong desire to become a legend after he has died, by the fact that "No son of mine succeeding. If't be so, / Banquo's issues (sons) have...fil'd my (Macbeth's) mind" (III.i.64-65) and his best friend's sons were going to rule the throne but "rather than so, come fate into the list" (III.i.71). The audience was able recognize that Macbeth strongly desired the respect from people after his death by the means of his innermost thoughts that were shared. (http://www.courseworkbank.co.uk/coursework/macbeth_soliloquies_1591) Furthermore, Macbeth's soliloquy caused the audience to realize that this flawed characteristic has been the source of his downfall, since it raised many internal and external conflicts for Macbeth. Thus, Macbeth was a tragic hero by the fact that he had the...