Why was MacBeth a “Tragic Hero” ?
A tragic hero is the protagonist of a story whose decisions or character flaws lead to an undesirable outcome. Big fan of McBeth. Read it countless times, seen about a dozen live stage versions and every movie version in existence. The ending is standard Elizabethan tragedy and McBeth is a standard tragic anti-hero. MacBeth, for example, started out as a beloved war hero. He was brave and loyal (at first). His weakness was a deep-seated avarice and envy. Initially he suppressed these dark desires. Eventually greed and ambition, coupled with the Adam and Eve-like temptation of his wife, lead him astray. Compare the ending of McBeth to that of Richard III and you’ll see what I mean. The two plays follow almost the exact same plot: accepted member of upper society succumbs to greed and destroys a stable society by slaughtering all of his friends. In the end, he is alone, nearly insane, and the whole country turns against him. Not all tragic heroes are (eventually) evil. Hamlet, Achilles (
