Term Papers on Macbeths Tragic Flaw

Term Paper Title	Macbeths Tragic Flaw
# of Words	1028
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	4.11

Macbeth's Tragic Flaw

     "(Sometimes a tragic hero is created, not through his own villainy),
but rather through some flaw in him, he being one of those who are in high
station and good fortune, like Oedipus and Thyestes and the famous men of
such families as those." (Poetics, Aristotle).  Every great tragedy is
dominated by a protagonist who has within himself a tragic flaw, too much or
too little of one of Aristotle's twelve virtues.  In Macbeth, by William
Shakespeare, Macbeth, a great Scottish general and thane of Glamis, has just
won an important battle, when he is told by three witches that he will become
thane of Cawdor and then king of Scotland.  After Macbeth is given Cawdor by
King Duncan, he takes the witches words for truth and conspires against
Duncan with his wife.  When Duncan comes to Macbeth's castle that night,
Macbeth kills him and takes the crown for himself after Duncan's sons flee
from Scotland.  Then Macbeth reigns for a while, has several people killed,
and is eventually slain by Macduff when he and Malcolm return leading the
armies of England.  Often people read the play and automatically conclude
that Macbeth's tragic flaw is his ambition; that he is compelled to commit
so many acts of violence by his lust for power.  However, by carefully
examining the first act, one can determine the defect in Macbeth's character
that creates his ambition; his true tragic flaw.  Macbeth's tragic flaw is
not his ambition as most people believe, but rather his trust in the words of
the witches and in his wife's decisions.
     At the beginning of the play Macbeth has no designs on the throne,
and he does not start plotting until his wife comes up with a plan.  When
first faced with the witches' words, Macbeth expresses astonishment and
disbelief rather than welcoming them when he says, "...to be King stands not
within the prospect of belief, no more than to be Cawdor...."(1.3.73-75).
When confronted with the witches' proclamation that he is to be king, Macbeth
responds as a loyal subject would; not as a man with secret aspirations in
his heart.  He has no reason to hide his true feelings at this point so
therefore it can be assumed that Macbeth has not yet truly considered killing
the king.  Even after the first of the witches' predictions comes true,
Macbeth does not plot against the king but instead decides to leave it to
chance.  "(Aside) If chance will have me King, why, chance may crown me,
Without my stir."(1.3.143-144).  Macbeth has already been granted the title
of thane of Cawdor, but still he acts as though a loyal subject would.  His
lack of ambition is stressed here by the fact that the actor is speaking the
thoughts of the character rather than words that the character says aloud.
It is Macbeth's wife that decides to convince her husband to kill Duncan
after she has learned what has happened, "Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and...

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