Shakespeares Macbeth - Villain, Tragic Hero, or Simply Ambitious ? Ess

Macbeth Villain, sad Hero, or Simply Ambitious ? The play MacBeth conforms to the definition of a calamity A play in verse or in prose traffic with tragic events, usually ending in the downfall of the helper1. However, numerous sections of MacBeth do non describe a tragic hero, but only if a baddie or a lord who is overly aspirant and pays the consequences for his actions. MacBeth is a tragedy that challenges the very foundations of that genre, set by Aristotle and Plato in the tertiary century B.C. These foundations had been part of the text Poetics, in which Aristotle listed the six requirements of dramatic tragedy, single of which is the inclusion of a tragic hero, a fundamental that has been followed by many tragedians including Sophocles, Aeschylus, ONeill and Shakespeare himself in his other tragedies. MacBeth however is different from these tragedies in that the protagonist is not clearly defined as a tragic hero, the contributor may view glimpses of a hero in M acBeth but not in substantial amounts, so this is neither completely validated nor revoked by Shakespeare. In order to come to a conclusion the ref essential take into consideration not only MacBeths intentions but those of the masses around him as well, such as Lady MacBeth and the three uncanny Sisters, both of whom can be deemed to have influenced his actions in some way. MacBeths downfall and ultimate fate begins with his decision to murder King Duncan. Yet, from what the reader has seen of MacBeth so far, this action seems highly out of character. He is initially pictured a loyal warrior who has a wife and his own castle, and yet he still chooses to murder Duncan. The apparent reason for this is ambition, we are told this by Ma... ...d, not once was he forced into doing anything that was not desired by him. On many occasions, the reader is tempted to see MacBeth as a simple villain and yet his resolve to carry out what he had already started influences them to think thei r opinion on his status as a villain. This remarkable hold up of a tragic hero, a villain and a man kindle with sheer determination is one that allows MacBeth to stand out arguably as one of the finest morality plays ever written. 1. Concise Oxford dictionary Bibliography English 366 Studies in Shakespeare Introduction to Macbeth http//www.mala.bc.ca/johnstoi/eng366/index.htm Barnet, Sylvan. Shakespeares MacBeth, Signet Classic 1987 Shakespeares Macbeth, a Play for our period http//www.uky.edu/ArtsSciences/Classics/mac/intro.html Aristotle, Poetics http//planetpapers.com/poetics/1209.html