Macbeth Essay - Heroes

“Macbeth is a play without a hero.” Discuss.                                                                              

A hero is a person who is admired for courage or noble qualities. Shakespeare’s Macbeth does not essentially have a “hero”, but instead a “tragic hero”, which is a person of noble birth with heroic or potentially heroic qualities. Many factors contribute to Macbeth’s description as a tragic hero. He is a victim of inevitable fate; his judgment is influenced and manipulated by Lady Macbeth, and his ambition drives his desire to be king. Macbeth's growing character degenerates from a noble man to violent individual.

Macbeth himself is a tragic hero because he is a victim of preordained fate. This is shown in Act 1, Scene 3, when three “weird sisters” appear. They call Macbeth “thane of Glamis”, “thane of Cawdor” and “king hereafter”. This incremental chant builds tension in the scene for the possibilities of Macbeth’s future.

In Act 4, Scene 1, Macbeth goes to the three “weird sisters”, demanding a prophesy. The sisters answer Macbeth’s demands by showing him the future, but in a cryptic way. There is a certain doom implied in the witches’ prophecies. The first apparition is that of an armed head, which warns him to "beware Macduff", the second is a bloody child who eerily says that "none of woman born shall harm Macbeth"; the third is a crowned child, who says “Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him.” Macbeth accepts the prophesies with confidence, not expecting any harm from these cryptic apparitions. In Act V, Macbeth is told that Birnam Wood is moving against him, his Queen has taken her own life, and lastly, Macduff informs him that he is not of "woman born" but was "from my mother's womb untimely ripp'd." This results in Macbeth’s downfall, tragically beheaded by Macduff, becoming a victim of preordained fate.

The prophecies which were told by the sisters are one of the factors which contributed to the deterioration of his character. If it had not been for the sisters telling him that he was to be Thane of Cawdor, Thane of Glamis, and King of Scotland, Macbeth would still be his ordinary self with driving ambition. As a result of the prophecies, this provoked Macbeth's curiosity regarding how he could be King of Scotland. As the play progresses, Macbeth slowly relies on the witches prophecies to influence, manipulate and corrupt his character.

The influence and manipulation of Lady Macbeth also contributes to the degeneration of Macbeth’s character. In Act 1, Scene 5, Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that King Duncan will be staying with them that night. Lady Macbeth sees this as a perfect opportunity to influence and manipulate Macbeth into becoming King, and, in her view, a true man.

Lady Macbeth plays an important role in this production as she provides the scheme that is used to assassinate King Duncan.  She is very provoking to Macbeth, saying that he is as easy to read as a book and that he must “look like th’ innocent flower, but be the serpent under ‘t.” This is a biblical reference as “the serpent” represents cunning, deceiving and sly character, which is exactly what Lady Macbeth wants Macbeth to be like. She says to “leave all the rest to me” showing her control upon the scheme. After Macbeth had killed King Duncan as planned, he later regrets his wrong doing. Macbeth's first unlawful murder was a trying experience for him, however after the first murder; killing seems to be the only solution to maintain his reign over the people of Scotland. Therefore, it is Lady Macbeth who introduced the concept of unlawful murder to Macbeth.

It is Macbeth’s “vaulting ambition” that drives him to commit the deed of killing King Duncan, but it is Lady Macbeth’s influence and manipulation that provokes his ambition to be King.

Macbeth's ambition influences the development of his character, which contained greed, violence, and a hunger for power. Macbeth shows this when he kills King Duncan.

Macbeth's ambition also influences his character as a tragic hero. Ambition is a trait that is mentioned throughout the play in relation to Macbeth, and is the trait that directly leads him to try to become king, being the driving force of both his success and his downfall. Macbeth's tragic flaw is his greed for power, blinding ambition and naiveté. He does not think about the consequences of killing King Duncan. This lust for power leads him to kill innocent people as a way to protect his power.

Once Macbeth starts his reign in an unlawful manner, all things that follow only become worse, and make him full of guilt and insanity, which he is responsible for.  This then leads Lady Macbeth to kill herself because of her isolation whilst he was trying to fulfil his ambitions and power. Macbeth’s false sense of security and conviction that nothing will harm him blinds him from the witches’ prophecies' and so he dies.

Generally, tragedy shows it is impossible to reverse problems. Macbeth realises his flaw is ambition, he cannot work to reverse the problems he has caused and this eventually leads to his death as a tragic hero.

Being a victim of preordained fate, Lady Macbeth's influence and manipulation, and his intensified ambition, all contribute greatly to Macbeth’s degeneration of character, which results in his downfall and death. Therefore, Macbeth’s character displays strong signs of a tragic hero, making him the ideal tragic hero shown in most Shakespearean plays.