Macbeth The Tragedy Essay, Research Paper
Tragedy in MacBeth
Everyone who is mortal has at least one flaw. Some
are more serious than others. For example, some people have
addictions to gambling, while other people can’t remember
to put the milk away after they use it. After a while
though, a person’s flaws come back to haunt them. The
tragedy. MacBeth is no exception to this. In it, many of the character’s die. And the reason is that they have a flaw, that would eventually lead to their downfall. Not every character is deserving of his fate though. Some characters have a minor flaw, which shouldn’t lead to their death. But other’s have a major flaw, which is would eventually lead them to their death anyway.
The first Thane of Cawdor, is killed by MacBeth for
trying to lead a revolution against England. His fatal flaw was that he was according to Ross, “a disloyal traitor”. The thane of Cawdor was greedy, and wanted the throne of England for himself, and as a result was murdered. But his murder wasn’t really disheartening, because the Thane of Cawdor, deserved his fate. He was leading a battle, in which many lost their lives, for the
sake of greed, and deserved to die because of his flaw.
Duncan was the King of England, and was murdered by
MacBeth. He was murdered, because in order for MacBeth to
fulfill his plan and become king, Duncan would have to die.
Duncan’s fatal flaw was that he was too trusting. For
example, he thought that none of his friends could really be enemies. If Duncan was more careful about his safety at
MacBeth’s castle, he may have had a chance to survive. But
Duncan’s flaw, wasn’t something so horrible that he should
die. Most people need to trust each other more, and
just because one person did, he shouldn’t have to die.
MacBeth’s former best friend, Banquo was also killed
by MacBeth. Banquo was killed, because he knew too much
about the murder of Duncan. But that was not his fatal
flaw. Banquo’s fatal flaw was that although he knew that
MacBeth killed Duncan, he really didn’t do anything about
it. There were many opportunities where Banquo could tell
someone such as MacDuff what he thought about the murders.
But Banquo didn’t deserve death, just because he didn’t act
quickly in telling someone that MacBeth killed Duncan.
Banquo knew that if he said anything, no one would believe
him, and he would be executed.
Lady MacBeth is MacBeth’s wife. She is his
coconspirator in killing Duncan. Although she helps MacBeth get the courage to commit the murder, she isn’t willing to do it herself. She uses the excuse that Duncan looked too much like her father. Unlike MacBeth though, it is harder for Lady MacBeth to live with the fact that she helped cause the murder of the king. And in the end, it makes her so crazy that she commits suicide. Whether or not Lady MacBeth deserved her fate is a tricky question. Although she did encourage MacBeth to murder Duncan, she feels regret for her action. Also, she realized what she did was wrong. But in my opinion, she realized it a little too late, and Duncan was still dead so she did deserve her fate.
MacBeth was the focus of the entire play, and that’s
why it was named after him. All of the problems start when
he murder’s Duncan. He commits the murder because of his
fatal flaw, he is too ambitious. If he wasn’t so ambitious
and determined to be king, then he would never have killed
Duncan. And if MacBeth didn’t kill Duncan none of the other characters would die. MacBeth deserved his fate more than any other characters in the play. He did many things wrong. First he killed Duncan, then he killed Banquo. After that, MacBeth killed MacDuff’s family. And worst of all, MacBeth disturbed the balance of nature. Also, MacBeth didn’t feel any remorse until he was faced with death. If MacBeth just waited for his time, he would have been king, and have had a chance to enjoy it.
Every character that died in MacBeth had one fatal
flaw. The first Thane of Cawdor was a traitor. Duncan was
too trusting. Banquo didn’t do anything about the
knowledge he had. Lady MacBeth helped plot the murder of
Duncan. And MacBeth, destroyed the natural order and
harmony of nature. But not all of the characters who died
deserved to die because of their flaws. Duncan shouldn’t
have been punished for trusting someone, and Banquo would
have said something, but was waiting for the right time or
some physical evidence. But if MacBeth hadn’t been so
ambitious, none of the problems that occurred would have.