Interview
AQA English Literature Essay How far is Macbeth presented as a tragic hero?
- Course
- Institution
- Book
How far is Macbeth presented as a tragic hero? AQA English Literature Essay Written in 2021 GCSE Essay Grade 9
[Show more]
Connected book
Book Title:
Author(s):
- Edition:
- ISBN:
- Edition:
More summaries for
-
Macbeth Character Revision and Analysis with Quotes
-
GCSE Grade 9 ‘Macbeth’(thesis,quotes,analysis)
-
Macbeth notes
Seller
Follow
ramiriam
Reviews received
Content preview
How far is Macbeth presented as a tragic hero?Macbeth is a character driven by his “vaulting ambition” and greed as well as
having three other firm character traits such as his obvious self-doubt which is
ultimately what allows his wife's and witches words to affect him so easily, his
bravery which can be seen through the continuous references to him as having
“valour” and being known as “brave Macbeth”, and lastly his strong moral
conscience which contradicts his ambition and over-confidence and leads to his
demise as he becomes tortured by his regrets and is driven to madness.
A tragic hero is a character who originally has a high social status which ends up
deteriorating due to the ‘hero’s’ hamartia and secret weaknesses – which in
Macbeth’s case is his ambitious goals which lead him to be the architect of his
own undoing, leading to him being beheaded. This can be seen at the beginning
of the play as Macbeth has clearly been born into a wealthy family and has good
connections which we see through the other characters praise for him and King
Duncan’s donation of the previous ‘Thane of Cawdor's’ title putting Macbeth in a
place of loyalty, as well as the praise he continually receives in the play for his
violence and fighting during war such as him being called “valour's minion”,
which shows how favoured he is alongside how his bravery is on supernatural
levels, like a sort of mythical creature of war and brutality which suggests that
Macbeth is a slave of bravery and a savage during war which him and his King
win. However, this glorified image of Macbeth is completely contradicted later on
as he becomes an unrecognisable “tyrant whose sole name blisters our tongues”
- and the portrait of a horrible King, unlike the wise, fair and generous Duncan he
sacrilegiously murdered in the evil act of genocide, which forces him onto his evil
path for the rest of the play, framing him as the tragic hero of the play. Although
it can be argued that Banquo is also the tragic hero of the play alongside
Macbeth as he too has ambitions though not to the point of moral turpitude and
also was born into a noble family and represents many titles. We learn w that he
too had had “cursed thoughts” suggesting the idea that he too thought about
killing Duncan – yet he does not due to immense loyalty and maintains enough
personal integrity to resist the temptation of kingship, but ultimately does meet
a tragic heroes end as he is neither good or evil (enigmatic) but dies due to his
hamartia of intense loyalty as he does not reveal his suspicions of Macbeth who
he believes is involved in Duncan’s murder yet does not expose him for the
belief that Macbeth is his friend, so is instead murdered due to Macbeth’s
paranoia – marking him out to be the second tragic hero of the play due to both
characters potential, and place as each other's foils but tragic deaths due to
their own personalities that held some sort of flaw.
In Act III another of Macbeth's flaws is revealed as he has an inability to ignore
his guilty conscience which leads to him to madness and the brink of insanity.
We see this firstly in the dagger scene before Macbeth murders Duncan when
Macbeth asks if “this is a dagger which I see before me”, and sees a
hallucinatory dagger with “gouts of blood” which is a phycological representation
of his guilty and imaginative mind which wants to believe the illusion as it casts
responsibility away from Macbeth and to the imaginary dagger which promises
the consequence of Duncans death. Shakespeare represents this flaw through
the motif of sleep also, which shows the relationship between consequence and
actions as the punishment for cruel deeds is a lack of sleep which brings about
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through EFT, credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying this summary from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller ramiriam. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy this summary for R106,02. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
75632 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy summaries for 14 years now