Macbeth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Macbeth - Essay Example "The tragic hero has tragic flaw, on hamartia that is the cause of his downfall† and â€Å"The tragic hero has a hubris surrounding him, a person or thing that sets the stage for his fall. It will include all of the conditions that will cause the tragic hero to fail.† (Is Utena a Tragic Hero?). Shakespeare created his tragic heroes after Aristotle’s concept of the tragic hero and each of his tragic heroes had their own tragic flaws: in Hamlet it was procrastination, in Othello it was over credulousness and in Macbeth it is his vaulting ambition which motivates him to commit a series of murders that ultimately leads to his downfall. Now the question is whether his tragedy was a result of fate by outside factors, namely fate in the form of the three witches or was it a result of his own actions. There is no doubt that the vaulting ambition was prevalent in his inner psyche; it is stirred by the prophesy of the three witches and it is this inner urge in him that make s Lady Macbeth to influence and manipulate him to murder Duncan, the king of Scotland which ultimately brought his downfall. Thus, it is evident that Macbeth is really a tragic hero who has heroic and noble qualities, which are relegated in to the backdrop because of his vaulting ambition and pursuit of power. From the very out set of the play, the attention of the audience is arrested with the emergence of the three witches. One feels sympathy, instead of hatred, for the plight of Macbeth, as it is sure from his nature that he wouldn’t have committed the series of murders including that of the king Duncan, had it not been for the prophesy of the witches and the constant temptation from his wife Lady Macbeth. The three greetings made by the three witches in Act 1, scene 111, confuses Macbeth and when he finds that the second prophesy, that of becoming the Thane of Cawdor, is also fulfilled, it is natural for him to dream of the fulfillment of the third prophesy- that of becoming the king of