Macbeth as a Tragic Hero

The character of Macbeth is a classic example of a Renaissance tragic hero. There is a multitude of factors that
contribute to Macbeth being labelled as a tragic hero.  Before these factors can be discussed, it is important to understand what
make up the characteristics of a tragic hero. Typically, a tragic hero is a figure of high stature, often of noble background. This
person is predominantly good, but suffers a self-inflicted fall due to flaws in his own personality. This flaw(s), known in Greek as
‘hamartia’, brings about the final doom of the tragic hero. The hero, at a stage of the play, first begins feeling that all is not well,
that things have begun going against him, that his fortune is gradually inverting. This is what we call ‘Peripeteia’ or Reversal,
through which the hero reaches the ‘Anagnorisis’, a critical discovery that completely alters his predicament, often after he is
already trapped in the situation. This is a stage when the hero witnesses his own doom ... when his false ego or pride, his blatant
self-confidence, is smashed in the ground. Finally, a tragic hero’s calamity, often ending in banishment, disaster and death,
conveys the eternal message of Good prevailing over Evil, and order and harmony being reestablished.
But as Shakespeare’s plays are Romantic tragedies, the hero is often found to be conscious of his ‘hamartia’, or at least
he makes a conscious choice. Not that he doesn’t know his choice to be wrong, but that he cannot resist his temptation. He
chooses wrongly, because his appetitive desire confounds his rational judgement. And thus, ‘Free Will’, leading to free choice,
makes the tragic hero pass through an acid test, and unfortunately, the choice is wrong. Hence, the tragedy. It becomes,
therefore, the Tragedy of Character, for the error of judgement of the tragic hero pushes him down from his glory, inviting his
tragedy.
Macbeth has a great stature, and it is his height that makes his downfall look so horrible and pathetic. He has already
earned the title of Thane of Glamis, and as prophesied by the three witches, will soon take control as the Thane of Cawdor.
Macbeth is a hero of great political importance, and he is seen to be moving up in the ranks of the Scottish nobility. In Act 1,
Scene 2, Duncan addresses Macbeth as, “…valiant cousin, worthy gentleman!” and later as a “Worthy Thane”. The manner in
which the leaders of his country speak about Macbeth truly shows his respectable and honorable nature. Duncan speaks highly
of Macbeth; the King is ironically ignorant of the fire of ambition and propensity for evil in his “peerless kinsman”, and
consequently unaware of the destiny Macbeth will later impose on him. It is true that the temptation of the witches as well as
the provocative aggression of Lady Macbeth lead Macbeth to his own damnation, but the seeds of sin were there in him already.
They were only watered by these external agencies, later to grow as the tree of evil. Macbeth’s greed and ambition, along with
the provoking of his wife, leads him to take a violent and bloody path to the throne.
Following the format of a tragic hero, Macbeth suffers from a tragic flaw, his blind and ‘vaulting ambition’, apart from
other flaws in his character. After the witches told Macbeth about his bright future of nobility in Scotland, his honourable nature
seemed to fade, and it was soon replaced by an urgent desire to wear the crown. His lust for power, along with persuasive
words from Lady Macbeth, led to him murdering King Duncan in his sleep.   Macbeth was crowned King of Scotland, which led
him to an extreme fear psychosis, doubting anyone with a noble bloodline as a threat to his power. By the end of the play, four
deaths can be attributed to Macbeth’s name, all murdered in hopes of protecting his kingship. His ambition blinds him from
seeing the destructive path he has created, ruling as a tyrant rather than a noble king. He disrupts the harmony in nature,
creating discord and rancour. He kills Duncan in his sleep, and by doing so, kills his own sleep, and later as we see, Lady
Macbeth’s sleep as well. By killing Duncan’s tomorrows, he kills his own tomorrows. He sees visions of blood, which only later is
to be seen by Lady Macbeth. His world becomes a bloody one, full of horrible imaginings and blood-bathed universe.
Macbeth’s tragic flaws lead him to become a tyrant, who is quickly removed from power by the Scottish people. With
the bloody path he had made for himself, his fall from power was inevitable. Macbeth is a tremendously future-driven play, and
also, a highly political play. Duncan’s Scotland is a militarised state where a weak king is surrounded by strong generals. Macbeth
was aware that his evil deeds would lead to people wanting revenge. However, he did not fear these people, as he relied upon
the deceptive words of the supernatural agents.. They told him to be bold and fearless, that no man born of a woman could
defeat him, and that he will never be defeated until the trees of Great Birnam Wood come to Dunsinane. Macbeth saw both of
these things as impossible, so he did little to protect his castle. He was surprised when he was told that the forest was indeed
attacking his castle, which was actually Macduff’s army carrying branches as a means of camouflage. His true anagnorisis came
during his battle with Macduff, where Macduff revealed he was not born of woman; rather he was “ripped from his mother’s
womb”. Here only, Macbeth becomes enlightened, and with his death, he exemplifies himself as a Shakespearean tragic hero.
Macbeth becomes characteristic of a Renaissance as well as an Elizabethan tragic hero. His ambition leads him to his
degeneration which results in his ultimate downfall and death. Macbeth has been described in the play as a man wearing either
too tight or too loose garments (misfit clothes), for he has usurped the throne unlawfully and immorally, and has broken the
patrilineal chain of kingship (the custom that only the king’s son could become the next king after his death). He is a great
warrior, but loses the war of own of life.