Macbeth as a Tragic Hero in Willian Shakespeares Macbeth

Macbeth as a Tragic Hero in Willian Shakespeares Macbeth Two and a half thousand years ago, Aristotle defined a tragedy as an imitation of an action that is serious, complete and of a certain magnitude. Two thousand years later, Shakespeare reincarnated this and other classical principles in the form of his four great tragedies; Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth. Aristotle laid down some elements which he and other classical theorists seemed to think necessary in a tragedy. In Macbeth some of these elements have been used, some have been reworked and some have been totally disregarded. These rules which Shakespeare didnt always think appropriate or indeed practical to use in his more†¦show more content†¦This revelation is very powerful because it turns Macbeth, who was arrogantly oblivious, into a frightened, overwhelmed man. It makes him human again because he had become a cold-blooded, ruthless monster. A classical tragedy is usually a straight-down, unrelenting spiral leading to the death of the tragic hero. Ancient tragedies usually begin with the hero at the pinnacle of his success, and then things just get progressively worse, until the hero dies. In Macbeth, there is a build up to Macbeth reaching the high social status of King. He goes up before he starts to tumble down, at least with regards to his social standing. If, however, you look at it from the point of view of his morality and his mental and emotional welfare, he definitely starts at the top and then begins his fall from grace. I think Shakespeare uses this very cleverly because in this respect, the more important aspect of Macbeth, there is a vertical drop to destruction, so he is keeping to the classical principle, but he is still able to build Macbeth up in terms of his social rank. This amplifies the effect of the downfall when it comes. Before we can analyse Macbeth as a tragic hero we must define what a tragic hero is. Traditionally, a tragic hero is defined by five fundamental points. He is of high social status; a king, or of royal blood, or highly respected