In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, we discover that Macbeth
is a tragic hero. Macbeth is very ambitious, courageous, and a moral
coward: all these things lead to his tragic death at the end of the play.
At the beginning of the play, Shakespeare defines Macbeth as a hero
very clearly. From the courages in defense of Scotland is significant in
the opening scene. However, he is very ambitious to be king. At the
beginning of the play, he was loyal to the king. While he did imagine
of murder his mind rejects it and said, “Why, if fate will have me king,
why, chance may crown me,” – Act I, Sc 3, p.44-45.
Yet increasingly his ambition defeated his good nature. When Duncan
named Malcolm the Prince of Cumberland, Macbeth decided on the murder of
Duncan. When Duncan arrived at Inverness, Macbeth controled his ambition
for the time being and did not kill Duncan. The failing of his decision
was soon reflected by Lady Macbeth who called him a coward. From then on,
after the murder of Duncan, Macbeth entered into a life of evil.
Since he overcomed his good nature, he no longer needed to be with
his friend Banquo. He wanted to protect his ambition, by killing the
king, and now he killed Banquo, due to the prediction of what the witches
said about Banquo’s son becoming the king. Macbeth wanted to ensure that
he would reach his ambition without problems.
Macbeth, who now no longer needed any encouragement from Lady Macbeth,
started to leave her in ignorance of his plans. Near the end of the play,
Lady Macbeth sleepwalked and had a dream about the killing of Duncan and
Banquo. She died because of all this pressure and her guilt about the
murder. Soul of Macbeth have been destroyed since Macbeth love Lady
Macbeth very much, as shown in Act I, Sc. 5, p.58, “My Dearest Love.”
The power of nemesis is shown clearly at the end of the play
when Macduff came back to murder Macbeth. Macbeth would never have
guessed that Macduff would come back for revenge for the killing in
Macduff’s household. This nemesis shows an additional force beyond
Macbeth’s control. Because of Macbeth’s strong beliefs in ambition
and the witches, when he found out Macduff was not born of woman, and
also found out the Birnam Wood had been seen moving, he realized that
the third apparition had deceived him and he understood he was no longer
safe.
Through the development of this tragedy, Macbeth has turned
from a fine natured person to an evil person. His ambition, strong
belief in the witches, has brought him to a tragic end of his life,
and caused many people to lose their lives.