Macbeth fits well into the mould of a Shakespearean tragic hero. He had many noble qualities as well as several tragic flaws. Macbeth is viewed as a hero because in the beginning of the play he is depicted as a courageous, brave and good nobleman, although he is eventually brought down by two main factors, which are his persistence on listening to what the witches told him, and his overwhelming ambition. Eventually and progressively through the play, his flaws start out weighing the good aspects of his personality until all that can be seen of Macbeth is his poor qualities.
Macbeth was a courageous and strong nobleman, and because of this was very popular at the beginning of the book. He shows this in the first act of the play when he is victorious in the battle against the Norwegians. It is also evident at this point and time in the play that he is highly regarded by others that know him. This is evident when the Sergeant says, " For Brave Macbeth (well he does deserve that name)" (I, ii, 16) There is also evidence that King Duncan himself regards Macbeth very highly when he says, " O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman!" (I, ii, 24) These quotes show that Macbeth not only defeated his enemies in a heroic fashion, but he is also now very popular amongst other people of high stature because of this. The fact that Macbeth is popular is very important because it gives the impression that Macbeth is a hero, and as a reader, for the rest of the play, it is easier to feel sorry for him because of this fact. It is also important because Shakespeare depict!.
s Macbeth as a hero at the very beginning of the play, putting him high in the readers mind, and then afterwards the reader can see very clearly his descent from an obvious hero to a person with fewer or no worthy qualities at all, and of much lesser stature in the world. These points show that in the beginning Macbeth is highly regarded, and they set the tone for Macbeth's fall throughout the rest of the play.