Aristotle and MacBeth
The misfortune of man was a topic of great interest for the great men of Antiquity. One man who was interested in tragedy was Aristotle. This great philosopher considered tragedy a great deal, and took it rather seriously. He took it so seriously, in fact, that he created criteria to determine whether a work of literature fit the mold of a tragedy. One of Shakespeare's masterful plays, The Tragedy of Macbeth, fully exemplifies these criteria, and thus is classified as a tragedy. One characteristic of an Aristotelian tragedy is that the play is complete in itself. Macbeth has a complete plot, from the exposition to the falling action. The story is not dependant on other installments or stories. There are also many different characters, both static and dynamic. Macbeth himself is an excellent example of this. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is heralded as a war hero- "For brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name-/ Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel,/ Which smok'd with bloody execution,/ Like valour's minion carv'd out his passage" (Act I, Scene ii). By the end of the play, not only has Macbeth changed, but also the opinions of other characters about him. There is also enough material in the five acts t
The tragic flaw is a vital characteristic of a tragic hero. The audience also must be afraid that they could end up making the same decisions as Macbeth, and face a similar fate. He is not too good however, and at the end of the play, we find out about many bad things he has done. Each criterion, from completeness to catharsis is obviously fulfilled in this well known and well loved play. Macbeth was in a unique position as a Scottish nobleman, but his tragic flaw was common enough to be universally identifiable. They must have pitied and feared for the characters, especially the tragic hero, throughout the play. The bad things he does happen not because he is an evil person, but because he has a tragic flaw. Audiences everywhere can relate to ambition and its consequences. Hopefully, an audience could glean from Macbeth that over-ambition is a bad thing, allowing others to convince you to do bad things is bad, and concentrating too much on a foretold fate is bad as well. o convince even the wary that there is enough plot and character development to classify this play as complete. "Firm-set earth, /Hear not my steps" and "Thy very stones prate of my whereabout" are examples of personification, since the earth cannot hear and stones cannot talk (Act II, Scene i). The final requirement for an Aristotelian tragedy is that the audience must undergo catharsis, the purgation of emotions. Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth "Your face, my Thane, is a book," telling him his emotions were easily read (Act I, scene v). Macbeth no longer is enjoying the benefits of what he has worked and sacrificed to achieve, he is not looking to improve his life, he is merely looking to grasp at what he has for a little bit longer. His ambition is first seen when Macbeth meets the witches and is over-curious about their prophecies, and upset when they leave before giving him all the information he desires.
Common topics in this essay:
Lady Macbeth,
II Scene,
Scene Aristotelian,
Macbeth Banquo,
Act Scene,
Tragedy Macbeth,
Act III,
,
Act II,
Macbeth Thane,
act scene,
tragic hero,
aristotelian tragedy,
play macbeth,
lady macbeth,
act ii,
ii scene,
throughout play,
act ii scene,
tragic flaw,
act scene vii,
war hero,
tragic hero play,
|
Acceptance Essays
