In The Tragedy of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth is a tragic hero. A tragic hero is someone who is high ranked, has a tragic flaw, meets a tragic end, and is extraordinary. Through out the play Macbeth meets all of these different characteristics. .
In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a nobleman of Scotland and the Thane of Glamis. As the play progresses Macbeth's title gets more dignified. After Macbeth meets the witches Duncan announces that Macbeth will be the Thane of Cawdor. (Act 1 Scene 4). After the death of Duncan and after Malcolm and Donalbain flee, Macbeth becomes the King of Scotland. The title makes Macbeth high ranked and dignified. .
Through the play, Macbeth has many tragic flaws. Macbeth starts out as a man that is afraid of everything. Macbeth does not want to kill Duncan because he is thinking about his own conscience and morals. Lady Macbeth talks Macbeth into murdering Duncan. Macbeth dramatically changes through out the play. After the murder of Duncan, Macbeth gets greedy and power hungry about his title and starts murdering people for no reason. Macbeth has his friend, Banquo, murdered because he thought Banquo might be suspicious of Macbeth. Then Macbeth kills Lady Macduff and her son. There was absolutely no reason for these two characters to be murdered. .
Macbeth's character is also extraordinary. Macbeth is an excellent warrior. He helped Scotland win the battle against Norway (Act 1 Scene 2). Macbeth is also extremely brave. In the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth calls Macbeth a coward, but towards the end of the play, Macbeth's braveness increases. Instead of committing suicide, Macbeth is brave enough to go against Macduff at the end of the play.
Like all tragic heroes, Macbeth also meets a very tragic end. As in all tragedies, death occurs at the end of the play. In the last scene Macbeth's human actions finally meet the ultimate consequence.