Shakespeare was a great legend. He wrote the tragic
drama Macbeth in 1606. Macbeth is a tragic drama because the protagonist dies.
As plays revolve mainly around the protagonists, it is obvious here that a
tragic play ends up in the death of the protagonist. The tragic hero is the
protagonist of the drama. He dies at the end of the play.
This tragic hero is very important in
the play. The hero has some quality due to which he is popular. He earns his
nobility but later falls due to his own actions. Macbeth had earned a good
status in Scotland because of his bravery during the starting war. He was thus
chosen as the thane of Cawdor after already being the thane of Glamis. He is
shown as very noble and honest until the witches pour the greed over Macbeth to
become the king of Scotland. It cannot be said that Macbeth wasn’t a good
person. He became a bad person after his greed overpowered him. He was
respected even by his latter enemy Macduff. He had shown several good aspects
of himself through the beginning of the play but as seen in the drama, his
greed overpowered him and he disproves himself in all aspects.
He disproves himself in the end in many
aspects. This disproving could be explained by the concept tragic flaw.
Aristotle's definition of tragic flaw is some error committed which leads to
the downfall of the hero. This is why the drama is said to be tragic and the
hero is said to be the tragic hero. There were several
tragic flaws that Macbeth had committed during his lifetime. These led to his
downfall. Macbeth could be called innocent before the murders he committed. But
after Macbeth lost control over himself, nobody could stop him until end. Believing
in his ambitions even after knowing his limits was the first tragic flaw to be
committed. The others followed as he chose the first wrong turn of his life.
The main characters that led to Macbeth’s downfall
were the witches and Lady Macbeth. These characters inculcated greed into
Macbeth’s mind and caused Macbeth’s doom. Lady Macbeth – the wife of Macbeth
and also the latter queen forced the witches’ thoughts into Macbeth’s mind
(which Macbeth took lightly at first but sincerely later) to make him greedy
enough to murder the king and later on innocent subjects.
Macbeth’s ambitions were shaped by the witches hence
making them one of the main reasons for2 the downfall of Macbeth. Macbeth can’t
be directly blamed as he was loyal to the King while the witches prepared him
for his doom. The reason why the witches were making predictions on Macbeth is
not clear in the drama. Hence we just know that they are a reason for the
downfall of Macbeth. We can see their intentions from the following extract of
a scene:
Hecate to witches:[1]
…
He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear his hopes ’bove wisdom, grace, and
fear. And you all know, security is mortals’ chiefest enemy. (Shakespeare 124)
Exactly opposite of the witches intentions, Lady
Macbeth did not have bad feelings for Macbeth. She only had greed for becoming
the queen of Scotland. Without knowing, Lady Macbeth was ruining not only
Macbeth’s personality but his career and even his whole life! She drove the
predictions of the witches over and over again into Macbeth’s head although he
wanted to ignore them. But, there is a limit for every human. Macbeth lost his
patience and he was overcome by his greed. This made him commit the first
murder and then he got more aggressive to commit more murders. This ultimately
led to his downfall:
Lady Macbeth to Macbeth: …
Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valor as thou art in desire?
Wouldst thou have that which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, and live
coward in thine own esteem, letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would,” like the
poor cat i’ th’ adage. (Shakespeare 42)
Along with Lady Macbeth and the witches playing a
role in the downfall of Macbeth, even Malcolm had a
small hand in the downfall of Macbeth. Malcolm fears his own death when King
Duncan is killed and he flees. This brings up a wrong impression that Malcolm
has murdered the king to take up the throne and helps Macbeth indirectly in
taking the throne. This boosts Macbeth’s downfall before he realizes his
mistake in life.
Malcolm to Donalbain:
What will you do? Let’s not consort with them. To show an
unfelt sorrow is an office. Which the false man does easy. I’ll to England. (Shakespeare
76)
This support for Macbeth’s downfall has come from
the dialogues said by the characters during the play. Macbeth’s doom was in his
own hands and as most people are influenced, even Macbeth chooses the wrong
path. This pathway that led to his downfall started being created during the
Acts 3, 4 and 5 when Macbeth was committing murders after murders. He got
desperate to wipe off anything that was in his way to become the king.
Macbeth made the mistake of believing immensely in
the witches and Lady Macbeth. Both of them misled him. Lady Macbeth misled
Macbeth indirectly while the witches misled him on purpose. His first tragic
flaw which led him to get involved in other disasters was to believe immensely
in Lady Macbeth and the three witches:
Macbeth to himself: …
Sweet bodements! Good! Rebellious dead, rise never till the wood of Birnam
rise, and our high-placed Macbeth shall live the lease of nature, pay his
breath to time and mortal custom … (Shakespeare
138)
He realizes his mistake only at the end of the drama
when he realizes that the witches had cheated him as the Birnam forest looks as
if it comes to life due to the opposing army and also Macduff not born from a
woman but removed from his mother’s womb is about to kill Macbeth (The witches
predict that until the Birnam forest comes to life and a man not born from a
woman doesn’t attack Macbeth, Macbeth would rule).
Macbeth to Macduff: …
And be these juggling fiends no more believed, that palter with us in a double
sense, that keep the word of promise to our ear, and break it to our hope … (Shakespeare
214)
-Suhas
27/3/14
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