Madison Charlton

Mrs. Wood

English 11A 1st Hour

4 February 2016

Macbeth Conquers his Flaws

The protagonist in the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare was undoubtedly a dynamic character. At dawn of the play, Macbeth aided the victory on the battlefield which helped establish his loyal and audacious title. Promptly, some strange words rattled Macbeth’s cage, stirring up a murderous drive. Although Macbeth can be seen as either a valiant warrior or as a nefarious murderer, Macbeth is no other than an intricate tragic hero who struggles to conquer his guilt and driving ambition.

A number of people believe that characteristics are simply black or white, like those who believe that Macbeth is a principal character, or even those holding the belief that he is a murderer with no conscious. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth was known as a hero due to his victory on the battlefield. Peers refer to him as “brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel… carved out his passage Till he faced the slave…” ( i.2. 18-19, 21-22). This showed that Macbeth is worthy of his name, which lead him to be named Thane of Cawdor. However, when three peculiar witches predict that he will earn this title, Macbeth transforms into a character worthy of the second trait: depraved and twisted. Power-hungry, some could not view Macbeth as a hero at all, and instead only as a sporadic murderer. Using this line as support, “... The castle of Macduff I will surprise; Seize upon Fife; give to the edge o’ the sword his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls That trace him in his line …” (4.1. 164-177), they argue that Macbeth does not show any mercy, ordering assassins to choose Macduff, his wife, and children as their next victims. However, when analyzing a complex character, there is a lot to take into consideration.

This saying, Macbeth is a perplexing character who struggles to balance guilt and ambition. His two internal conflicts are directly related and both steadily rise as the plot progresses. After Macbeth determines that the witches have reliable predictions, Macbeth struggles to determine if the royal position of King will come naturally or if he must get his hands red. With Lady Macbeth by his side, Macbeth considers what he must inevitably do. He admits to his ambition though his utterance of “Stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires” ( i. 4. #). This displaying that he knows that what he is contemplating goes against what is morally right, yet he acknowledges his dirty ambition. Getting under his skin, the perseverance of Lady Macbeth and the witches create an inner turmoil that eventually reaches Macbeth, causing him to carry out the crime of murdering King Duncan. Instantly afterward, guilt takes down Macbeth. “One cried , ‘God bless us!’ and ‘Amen,” the other, as they had seen me with these hangman’s hands. List’ning their fear, I could not say ‘Amen,’ when they did say ‘God bless us’. Methought, I heard a voice cry, ‘Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep’ ” (ii. 2. #). “Amen” and “God bless us”, a word and a phrase that Macbeth could easily say, seems to escape his mouth no longer. This showing how Macbeth has the belief that he will have no protection from God after he carried out this crime of murder. An additional point includes his guilt and how it is so agonizing that he has become an insomniac. Soon after, Macbeth loses his sanity. His hands had taken a turn from a jealous green to a bloody red.  “How is’t with me, when every noise appals me? / What hands are here! Ha, they pluck out mine eyes. / Will all great Neptune's ocean was this blood / Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather / The multitudinous seas incarnadine. / Making the green one red” (ii. 2. #). Guilt, reaching its zenith, has completely engulfed Macbeth. Yet even after these cries of culpability, Macbeth, now mad from guilt but still striving for the throne, continues the liquidation of anyone who must get in the way.

Yet even through his darkest days, Macbeth is still considered a tragic hero. According to Aristotle, there are many points that go into determining a tragic hero. First of all, the character has to be of noble stature. Macbeth shows this through being admired by his peers at the beginning of the play and also being named Thane of Cawdor. Destined to failure, Macbeth ultimately fails at becoming king. This resulted from his own personality flaws-his greed and ambition. According to reader discretion, it can be debated whether or not he evokes feelings of pity after his downfall and punishment. Regardless of whether one believes that his death is unsettling or whether it was deserved, Macbeth will still be a great model of Shakespeare's tragic hero.

Shakespeare is clear to display that Macbeth is a complicated and obscure character who must be analyzed carefully. Misunderstandings or fast judgments may result in Macbeth being thrown into a category consisting of either valiant heroes or heartless murderers. However, Macbeth is just another one of Shakespeare’s tragic heroes. His blemish happened to be guilt and ambition. As a cocktail, the two were too overwhelming to conquer.