Macbeth as shakespearean tragedy

Macbeth as shakespearean tragedy

1. St Xavier’s College, Mahuadanr
Macbeth as a Shakespearean Tragedy.
Macbeth is undoubtedly Shakespeare’s most comprehensive and forceful portrayal of
Evil.It is a play where the account of Evil is made in the most profound and yet mature manner. It
is a tragedy of ambition.
The theme is simple and its treatment is as uncomplicated as its theme. Limited to this
perception the play can be termed as a tragedy of ambition. Ambition is the prime motive force
which prompts Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to bring about the central deed. And it is this
overpowering ambition which culminates in a series of dreadful results. Macbeth is the
personification of over ambition. It is a selfish ambition, for his passion to own what is rightfully
someone else’s. It is unqualified and inhuman. Lady Macbeth in comparison is a symbol of selfless
ambition. Her ambition is more dreadful and much more forceful. For it is creation of love and
misplaced sacrifices. Yet in each, though the origin of ambition is different the passion is the
same. Both of them are not devils. They would not be tragic if there were totally friendly and thus
the play would not have been a tragedy. It is their all-encompassing, underserved, misplaced
ambitions which ruined their basic human faculties. Despite the evil their deaths bring enormous
pity as does their long drawn torture.
Lady Macbeth and Macbeth arepersonifications of a profound battle in a Universal war.
Their souls are the stage from where Shakespeare gives his orientation of good and evil. The play
is also about damnation. Shakespeare in order to show us how his Hero comes to be damned first
creates the good in Macbeth. It is this good he betrays and puts himself irreconcilably on the path
of destruction. Macbeth may be a play where Evil is projected at its most forceful manner and it is
made possible by first projecting good in all its glory. The good is portrayed most effectively by
means of symbolism imagery and the repetition.
It is this contrast which horrifies us so much. To some extent the good is portrayed
through the characters like the king Duncan, Malcolm and Macduff and Banquo. Yet they are
hardly any match to the strength and force generated by Macbeth and the three witches. Another
recurrent image is the contrast between the picture and the things depicted. The contrast
between light and darkness is symbolic of good versus evil, hell versus heaven and Angels versus
devils.

2. Bradley pointed out that a Shakespearean tragedy may be called a story of exceptional
calamity. It is a tragedy essentially of one person- the hero in high state or at best two persons. In
Macbeth the heroine is the part of the tragic action initially, but she soon fades into the
background.
A Shakespearean tragedy has a distinct atmosphere. This is noticeable with marked
potency in Macbeth. The haunting desolate heath, the strange horrible witches, the guilt stricken
conscience of the hero, the darkness of the night, all add to the tragic atmosphere. Darkness, even
blackness broods over tragedy. All the tragic scenes which remain imprinted in our memories
occur in the darkness of the night. The murder of the King, the murder of the Banquo, the illusion
of the dagger, all occur in the night. The darkness of the night is enormously feared by brave
Macbeth.
Shakespearean tragedies have been also called as “Tragedies of Destiny” and “Tragedies of
Character”. All the tragedies get their title from the hero. The inherent tragic flaw of the hero
brings about his utter ruin. Macbeth defined a particular kind of evil, the evil that results from a
lust for power. This evil is depicted as in all the tragedies in poetics and dramatic terms. It is not
an abstract process of thought through which the tragedy erupts. The action is earthly and real. It
is the revealing of evil in terms of direct human experience. The logic in the play demands from us
the fullness of imaginative response and profundity of realization. We have to bring both our
sensation and feelings into action if we are to understand the play’s tragic depth.
Macbeth gives us the keenest of economy of Shakespearean tragedies. The action is rapid
and moves quickly to the crisis and from the final advancement to the full exposure of the plot.
The theme of the play is also equally swift. The main theme is the reversal of values. “Fair is foul
and foul is fair” in the play. With it are associated premonitions of Evil, disorder and ethical gloom
into which Macbeth will plunge himself. From the very beginning of the play we are made aware
of the good against which the Macbeth’s evil will be contrasted. We are also made aware of the
interconnected aspects of the evil which is experienced as an unnatural perverting of the mind,
clouding the logic and the pursuit of illusions.
Macbeth as a hero is an admirable character in some ways. He is not entirely evil though
we feel the least sympathy for him among Shakespearean tragic heroes. But the atmosphere that
surrounds him and the action that creeps from his character he would have easily remained

3. admirable throughout the play. Macbeth suffers from hallucinations. This is one factor which
hastens his fall. Macbeth’s complete dependence on the Prophecy of the witches is unthinkable to
any sensible man. Yet that would not have led to his downfall if he had remained on his path of
glory. If destiny had the Throne of Scotland in store for him he would have acquired it. He brings
his own downfall in first killing Duncan and later committing one murder after another,
something which the evil witches had not suggested.
The external and internal conflict results in suffering and downfall of Macbeth. The
external conflict is symbolized by the contrast between the evil ambition in Macbeth and the
Patriotism in Macduff and Malcolm. The inner conflict is symbolized by the collision of the same
forces within the soul of Macbeth. It is this inner conflict which makes Macbeth so touching.
Macbeth, as a tragedy, has some distinct features which makes it an entity in itself. It also
makes the tragedy different from other Shakespearean tragedies.
• Its first feature is that it is a tragedy of environment. The atmosphere is gloomy and dark
relieved partially by color and light.
• Secondly the tragedy is not complex like other Shakespearean tragedies. It leaves us in no
doubt about the evil in the play and creates no conflict in our mind regarding the nemesis
(fate) of its Hero.
• Thirdly the element of supernatural in the form of witches imparts to the play a distinct
feature bordering on fear and awe.
• Fourth, the poetic creativity of Macbeth intermingled with his murderous instincts and
gloom adds to the charm of the play.
• Fifth, the distinctive violence and incredibly rapid pace is definitely greater than any of the
other tragedies of Shakespeare.
• Sixth, Macbeth is perhaps the only hero who deserves his deathly end.
Shakespeare’s tragedies are invariably romantic excluding Macbeth which is a classical
tragedy. Fate plays a vital role in the play as in other Greek tragedies. Macbeth is as close to a
Greek tragedy as Shakespeare could easily get. His genius was too great to be completely
influenced by anyone aspect of playwriting of his predecessors.