Macbeth: Dead Butcher or Tragic Hero?

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the more complex character and motives behind Macbeth's actions which characterize him as a tragic hero. The paper shows that Shakespeare's Macbeth must have seemed like nothing more than a butcher to his victims but upon careful analysis of the text, one realizes that Macbeth was not fully evil, but a potentially great man who was led to evil through errors and forces beyond his control.

From the Paper:

"In the culmination of Shakespeare's Macbeth, Malcolm refers to Macbeth as "this dead butcher". Superficially, Macbeth is nothing more than a butcher - he murdered his king, his kinsmen, even innocent women and children. From Malcolm's perspective, Macbeth is no more than a heartless killer gone mad, Key lines in this play show that Macbeth is not heartless or a butcher. Macbeth had a potential for greatness, but tragic errors led to his downfall - both in his death and his "fall from grace". Macbeth also experiences intense remorse for what he has done. The character of Macbeth is a tragic hero."

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