Macbeth A Tragic Hero Essay
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William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, written in the 1600’s is a perfect example of Shakespeare’s ability to manipulate his audience through creating a tragic hero. A tragic hero who, because of a flaw, tumbles from a well-respected hero to a cowardless murderer. It is through Shakespeare’s manipulation of figurative language, dramatic conventions and social expectations of the seventeenth century, do the audience witness the demise of this mixed up man. Macbeth’s persona of the tragic hero is enhanced even more when the characters around him influence his decisions, creating mayhem inside his mind and disorder throughout Scotland. Shakespeare positions his audience to respond to the central theme: the struggle between good and evil, by illustrating to the audience his weaknesses, which through the guidance of the supernatural, leads to murder and mayhem and eventually madness. It is this influence of the supernatural that leads to Macbeth’s tragic persona and in turn his physical and mental destruction. Shakespeare utilises these techniques to embody in Macbeth characteristics indicative of that of a seventeenth century tragic hero.
Aristotle described the Greek image of the tragic hero as one who takes:
part in a fictional account of a set of events that is
serious, complete and of a certain magnitude.” (The Poetics)
Macbeth conforms to the image of the tragic hero by possessing a flaw and dying because if it. His flaw of being led too easily is evident through the actions of characters who influence Macbeth. Macbeth is involved in a story intertwined with evil, disorder, conflict and failure; all resulting finally in his death. Part of being a tragic hero is possessing a flaw. A flaw which will inevitably lead to self-destruction; the fall of the tragic hero. In the play, the central protagonist Macbeth, is confronted with the supernatural and the prophesy of becoming king. He cannot help but want this position, as this flaw also includes his weakness through over ambition. It is generally said that those possessing a flaw will die. The first Thane of Cawdor was a traitor, Duncan was too trusting, Banquo did not act on the knowledge he had about Macbeth’s murders, Lady Macbeth helped plot the murder of Duncan, and Macbeth destroyed the natural order and harmony of the time. All of these deaths are a result of Macbeth’s over ambition to become king, fuelled by the prophecies of the evil witches. Like Macbeth, a tragic hero has choices, a conscience of right from wrong and in the end must die, because to live would create mayhem and a feeling that his actions were justified. Macbeth conforms to all of these traits and is aware from the beginning that his success is inspired by his own damnation. However, he does not care and it is this pride and over ambition caused by his interaction with evil, which creates his inevitable breakdown in the end. The real tragedy of the play is that the impending events never would have taken place if it were not for Macbeth’s tragic flaw and the supernatural foretelling and disorder which came about when the societal norms of the seventeenth century were broken.
Life in the seventeenth century influenced Shakespeare’s writings as well as the audience response, due to societal myths. Values and attitudes were naturalised through the Elizabethan view of society: a hierarchal structure that demanded order and loyalty. Superstitions were prevalent throughout Elizabethan society and Shakespeare draws on the evil associated with this aspect, to play the essentially evil part of Macbeth; pushing him towards destruction. The fact that Macbeth possessed tragic hero qualities meant he had to die. This is due to his flaw, which urged him into sending innocent people to their deaths, creating chaos and deception in a society which could not handle it and which were not accustomed to such mortality. By sending Macbeth to his death, moral order was re-instated within society, making fully aware Shakespeare’s stance on those who were not willing to conform. Part of creating a tragic hero is to generate a particular response in the audience. This response is known as catharsis – a feeling of emptiness followed directly by wholeness, as normality is placed back in society once more. This response is created when a tragic hero like Macbeth, sins due to his flaw, only realising too late of his wrongdoings. The audience feels for Macbeth because of this, already knowing his destined fate, although not being able to do anything about it. Those surrounding his decisions enhance the degree of reaction the audience has towards the tragic hero.
The play Macbeth is about a tragic hero who, through not only supernatural encounters but also those around him, is driven to commit murders. One such influential character is that of Lady Macbeth; his manipulating, deceiving wife. It is because of Macbeth’s flaw, does Lady Macbeth find controlling and manipulating Macbeth so easy. Her character has been created to oppose what is accepted in society. She wishes to lose her feminine qualities: “unsex me here” (I.V.40) to obtain more power and in turn use her acquired strength and intelligence for evil gains. This gives her the power to control a lot of Macbeth’s “deeds” (II.II.33) and force him to continue when he begins to doubt himself and his actions. Lady Macbeth is portrayed as manipulative, and this is evident to the audience when she tells him to look and act pure, but be evil on the inside:
Look like the innocent flower, but be
the serpent underneath (I.V.64-65).
Macbeth draws comments like that one from those around him who he respects and admires, which can be extremely persuading because of his flaw. Through Lady Macbeth’s death, the audience is encouraged to experience the psychological emptiness involved in committing murder and how she manipulated Macbeth to achieve his deadly desires. It was due to her, that Macbeth was driven to perform all those murders, however his realisation of his doings was encouraged by Banquo; his best friend whom he murdered for knowing too much.
Shakespeare allows Banquo’s death in Macbeth, because he is endorsing a value of truth and honesty. Banquo knew of Macbeth’s murder of Duncan, but kept it quiet, possibly because he was Macbeth’s best friend, or he was simply waiting for the right time to tell all. For his hesitation, he payed with his life. Banquo’s manifestation in front of...
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