Macbeth - Cruel Tyrant or tragic hero? In this essay I am going to examine about Macbeth characteristics. Is he a cruel tyrant or a tragic hero? He has the elements of Shakespeare’s tragic heroic qualities. He is born of noble birth because he is a relation to the king. He is responsible for his own fate because he chooses to kill the king Duncan. He also has the attributes of true tragic hero because he has fallen from great heights. His heroic qualities can also been seen in Act 1 Scene 1&2, when Macbeth is described by King Duncan as ‘valiant cousin and worthy gentleman’. At the beginning of the play he was respected by the people due to his braveness. He was called, ‘brave Macbeth’ and the captain says that he deserves that name. The captain was describing how bravely Macbeth killed their enemies in the battle. Even when the enemy had the advantage Macbeth did not give up and he is described by the captain as ‘the doubly redoubling his strokes upon the foe”. The darker side to Macbeth’s character is that he is not scared of violence and blood. As he is a warrior who is engaged in a violent battle, this makes him not to fear for anything. His sword was described as ‘smoking with bloody
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