Macbeth as Tragedy - Assignment Example

Macbeth As Tragedy Macbeth As Tragedy It is quite commonly d that Macbeth one of the most powerful works of Shakespeare is a tragedy and this is because it contains all the elements of being a tragedy. Firstly, Macbeth is a piece of dramatic play which alone is a major requirement for the work to be recognized as tragedy. Secondly it portrays various issues that human beings face and various reasons due to which human beings are persuaded to commit evil such as murder which again makes it a tragic piece of work (Rush, 2005). A tragedy needs to have a hero who has a conflict with a force that is much superior to him and has certain flaws in their own personality and character. In the story Macbeth, the hero’s character is completely flawed as Macbeth is portrayed as an ambitious person who would go to the extent of killing in order to gain power (Stewart et al., 1991). A major component of a tragedy is that the hero ultimately ends up failing due to his own wrongdoings (dbu.edu, 2014). In this piece of literature Macbeth is seen to be so hungry for power that he kills all those individuals who he is told may become the future kings and this ultimately leads to his own end. A tragedy even needs a courageous hero which in Macbeth is Macbeth himself who fights for the king in the battlefield and wins battles for him. All these characteristics of tragedy in the play meet together in portraying the message that selfishness ultimately leads to one’s own end.
References
Rush, D. (2005). A student guide to play analysis (1st ed.). Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
Stewart, D., Shaw, C., & Shakespeare, W. (1991). Macbeth (1st ed.). Austin, TX: Steck-Vaughn.
Www3.dbu.edu,. (2014). ComedyTragedyCharacteristics. Retrieved 22 June 2014, from http://www3.dbu.edu/mitchell/comedytr.htm Read More