Macbeth - The Tragic Hero
Every true Elizabethan Tragedy comes complete with a tragic hero. The tragedy Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, has a perfect example of a tragic hero, otherwise known as Macbeth. A tragic hero must be a man who is great and admirable in various ways. He should be placed in society in such a way that everything he does affects all of the members of his society. A tragic hero should at some point reach the top of Fortune’s Wheel, but land up at the bottom by the end of the tragedy due to the continual change of fate. Macbeth fits the description of being a tragic hero, displaying his strengths, his weaknesses, his tragic flaw, and how influential outside influences are on him.
Macbeth definitely has a number of strengths that are prevalent throughout the entire play. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth seems quite noble. He fights in the battle against Norway, proving his honor (Lowe). Ambition is another one of these strengths. Macbeth is so determined that it enables him to become King of Scotland (Lowe...
In terms of dramatic context, Macbeth consists of all the general dramatic features. Such as dramatic Irony, Soliloquy, Aside, Colloquy, Monologue. Within the play most of these are very apparent, yet the things that usually capture our attention are visual aids, such ad facial expressions and body gestures. When viewing the versions of Macbeth you could easily tell that the actors are attempting vigorously to fulfill entirely the personalities of their characters. They are doing this by, exaggerating and stressing on the facial expressions during speech, and silent gestures without speech. As for the general dramatic context you can automatically recognize most of these solely by reading the script of the play.
In order to understand the significance of the undertakings of Macbeth’s storyline, you need to have the general background knowledge on the historical perspective at the time being. There was a specific superiority level position placing at that time called the Elizabethan worldview. This basically meant that certain people were at different levels in terms of social value, like for example the king would always be at the top etc. The divine right of kings was also something very cherished and obeyed at all times. They basically believed that whoever was appointed kings was chosen by god to play this role. They had also believed that it was deadly sin to harm, and needless to say, kill the kind. They believed that if you killed the king you would go to hell. They were also very superstitious and apprehensive in their belief in witchcraft. They had so much faith in witches that they would accuse anyone that they had slightly suspected of being a witch or anyone which they had felt the slightest bit of mistrust upon.
This Divine Right of Kings thing, though, is a bit sticky. The Elizabethans would have some moral trouble accepting the murder of Duncan, sure, but they'd also be a little against the murder of Macbeth at the end of the play. Sure, he killed Duncan -- but he was also the King at the time of his murder and that's treason. The trouble for the Elizabethans, or at least the logical trap that they fall in to with this play, is that if God chose Duncan to be king, he must have stopped choosing Duncan at some point to let him be killed: Macbeth can't be king unless God/(Nature) allows it. And once Macbeth is king, it's as if he's chosen by God.
Shakespearean language usually gives us more insight on the lives of the main characters, and what they are like. However, the use of this language along with the spoken dialogue seen in front of you on the screen definitely tells you more about the character. In this case the way Macbeth’s reactions to the speech were always aid, especially his tone of voice, volume, and pitch.
Act II, Scene 1 depicts the contradictory feelings of Macbeth when he is contriving to kill Duncan. He is ambivalent because he believed Weird Witches’ prophecy is substantiated. He thinked he should take back the power that the God mandates to him. On the other hand, he thinked it is a betrayal to kill the king. These two incompatible cerebrations became inveterate in Macbeth’s mind. Because of Lady Macbeth’s insinuation, the ambition of usurping the power triumphs. In scene one, Macbeth’s soliloquy exhibits the ambition of Macbeth as will as his fret of killing Duncan. For example: "A dagger of the mind,/ a false creation,/ proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?/ I see thee yet,/ in form as palpable,/ as this which now I draw." "Thou sure and firm-set earth, hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear thy very stones prate of my whereabout, and take the present horror from the time, which now suits with it."
POLANSKI-He showed Duncan's murder, too. He had Macbeth come in and almost stab him, but decide not to at the last second, but Duncan wakes up and starts to yell for help. Then Macbeth had to kill him. That makes Macbeth more...not really innocent, but less evil kind of. Less willing to kill. It also explains how he could go through with it after hallucinating and going to Duncan's room almost in a trance.
