Introduction
When people know what they are losing but still act to destroy it, tragedy becomes painful. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the protagonist of the play is a courageous man who has earned the honor and trust of his king. The witches predict that he will be king and describe for him a future that makes his accomplishments seem trivial. Lady Macbeth pressures him to take it but he needs to be able to choose between power and loyalty. Macbeth is a tragic hero because he has destroyed his own good reputation, but he has some sense of right and wrong left and can feel the consequences of his own actions.
Primarily, Macbeth's early honor provides the tragedy of his downfall because he ruins a place in society that he had earned through service. The wounded soldier calls him “brave Macbeth”, and Duncan calls him a “worthy gentleman” (Shakespeare 1.2). The change from "brave" to "worthy" is important: victory in combat translates to trust in character. Macbeth is already Thane of Glamis when he is given the title of Cawdor for his good service to Scotland. Therefore, he is familiar with a way of improvement based on service, and in the end, he rejected it, as he had rejected an honorable path already ordained for him. However, this admiration is also complicated by the soldier's narrative. Macbeth “unseam'd” his enemy, like a cloth to be ripped apart (Shakespeare 1.2). The violence he will commit in his reign of terror already lives within his renowned bravery. Publicover argues that Macbeth’s tragic nature cannot be attributed solely to noble independence; he points to forces outside him that he has to contend with (121). Nevertheless, his early reputation secures a legacy for those forces that they can never negate: he has loyalties worth keeping. In Shakespeare's tragedy, he depicts courage losing its moral purpose. After the man's king is saved, he begins to see his king as a roadblock to his progress.
Also, ambition is Macbeth's undoing because he puts his future desires above the moral truths he knows. His phrase “Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself” imagines desire as a movement that causes its own collapse (Shakespeare 1.7). He can see the fall before he leaps. This awareness makes the murder more disturbing, since he is not only well aware of it, but he is also setting out for it. Macbeth's role as “double trust” makes him aware that kinship, loyalty, and hospitality demand that he protects the man he intends to kill (Shakespeare 1.7). The witches arouse his ambition for the crown, but they do not say how he is able to attain it. Lady Macbeth tells him how to take up the crown by making murder look like a sign of courage. Her pressure comes when he lets the fear of appearing weak override his understanding of right action. Publicover believes that Macbeth's responsibility is complicated by the use of supernatural influence, though not to the level of becoming a puppet (127). Shakespeare maintains that balance by making temptation speech and giving Macbeth the opportunity to debate and make decisions. His weakness is not just the desire to want more. It is opting to make that desire an excuse for not fulfilling obligations he still considers binding. His moral conscience makes his destruction tragic and deserved.
Finally, Macbeth’s misery becomes tragedy, as he discovers the price of his lust for power. However, at this stage he does not accept blame for the loss. The crown brings an inner life of poison and attack, his mind becoming “full of scorpions” (Shakespeare 3.2). He attempts to quell fear by ordering Banquo's death, but he is met with Banquo's ghost. He cannot get the security he seeks by violence, so he responds with more violence to Macduff's family. His victims reveal the human price of his inability to stop. Later, he admits that “honour, love, obedience, troops of friends” will not accompany his old age (Shakespeare 5.3). The list measures his failure through ordinary human needs: he possesses authority but lacks affection and respect. Following Lady Macbeth's death, his “walking shadow” makes life as empty as motion (Shakespeare 5.5). Publicover interprets the end statement as tired retreat, not full understanding (126). That distinction prevents despair from becoming easy redemption. Macbeth realizes the emptiness of his life, but he does not take responsibility for it. In his last battle with Macduff his courage is maintained but his cause is shown to be a failure. We can grieve for the man he has destroyed without forgiving the destroyer.
Conclusion
Even though Macbeth is guilty of murder, he is still a tragic hero because he realizes the horror of his actions. This path from trusted defender to lonely tyrant demonstrates not only the risk of seeking power, but also the harm of choosing Power over recognized obligations again and again. Shakespeare combines sympathy and condemnation as Macbeth comes to appreciate the worth of what he has lost, but cannot use that understanding to make any difference. His tragedy is that he has attained the position he wants, but has lost the relationships and purpose that might make it satisfying.
