Who is responsible for the downfall of Macbeth and how far does he fit the role of a Tragic hero?

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Kibria Ali

Who is responsible for the downfall of Macbeth and how far does he fit the role of a ‘Tragic hero’?

In my essay I am going to be writing about who is responsible for the downfall of Macbeth and how far does he fit the role of a tragic hero. During the play we see how Macbeth’s attitude changes. For example, at the beginning of the play, when he meets the witches, it is the witches want to meet him, “There to meet with Macbeth,” When he first meets them he talks in mannered voice.  However after he becomes a king, he goes back to meet the witches and he is more demanding. In my opinion, there are many people responsible for Macbeth’s downfall, Lady Macbeth, the witches and Macbeth himself. I am going to be discussing how they individually responsible and how they contribute to his downfall. For the second part of my essay I have been asked to discuss how far he fits the role of a tragic hero.

A tragic hero is the main character who at the beginning is good, brave and noble but who changes because of a fatal flaw. A fatal flaw is a kind of mistake that is very dangerous. It could lead to lots of people suffering. I think Macbeth does fit the role of a tragic hero. He was born of Noble blood. At the begging he is a brave man, known as a noble man, and would do anything for his country and his king. “For brave Macbeth, well he deserves that name,” This tells us that people at the beginning people thought that he was brave. However, at the end becomes bad and kills the king, his friend Banquo and Macduff’s family. The fatal flow of Macbeth is his ambition and desire. His ambition and desire made his country and himself suffer. “My way of life is fallen into the sere.” This shows that he has realized his mistake, which is another thing related to the title ‘tragic hero’. At the end the tragic hero realizes their mistake. In my essay I will be discussing who is responsible for his downfall which leads him to become a tragic hero.  

Macbeth was based in the 16th century. Supernatural belief during the 16th Century was a huge part of the resulting deaths of thousands of innocent people. Many years ago, people couldn’t find any evidence to what caused the natural things like lightning in the sky, rain, birth and death. Because of this, they believed that natural things were controlled by the witches. They believed that witches can do various things, for example, they can control the weather, they can predict the future, they could fly, they could swim and also mostly they were women. Some women were put in the witch test. They would drop somebody in the water and if they can swim, they were witch and they would be punished to death. If they can’t swim, they would drown and die.    

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In my opinion, the first people who could be held responsible for Macbeth’s downfall are the witches. At first Macbeth was a noble and a loyal man who would never even think about killing his king. However, the witches gave him the idea of becoming king. They prophesied his future. The prophecies were:

1 WITCH: “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!”  

2 WITCH: “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!”

3 WITCH: “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!”

These prophecies were saying that he is the Thane of Glamis; he will become the Thane ...

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