Aristotle's Tragic Hero in MacbethAristotle and Shakespeare lived centuries apart, but Aristotle had a great influence on Shakespeare's plays. In Shakespeare's tragic play Macbeth, the character of Macbeth conforms to Aristotle's definition of the tragic hero. Aristotle's tragic hero is a man characterized by good and evil. He is a mixture of good and bad characteristics. For example, Macbeth was an honorable Thane of Glamis. He was a valiant fighter who had protected his country Scotland well, but he wanted to be king. His "leaping ambition" led him to kill King Duncan, leading to his downfall. Aristotle's tragic hero has a tragic flaw, or harmatia, which is the cause of his downfall. Macbeth's ambitious ambition, although it is what brings him to his peak, it is also what leads to his downfall. Vaulting Ambition is Macbeth's only flaw; this prevents him from achieving his highest goals and forces him to face his destiny. However, without this ambition, Macbeth would never have been able to rise to the power of King of Scotland or carry out his evil deeds. In these cases, ambition helped Macbeth do what he wanted to do. But as a result, Macbeth's ambition has another face and this is what leads to his tragic downfall. If he hadn't been so determined to become king and stay powerful, he wouldn't have continued to kill innocent people to maintain his position. It was because of these murders and his authoritarian attitude that he was overthrown and committed suicide. Macbeth, at the beginning of the play, seems to be a very noble person. He is characterized as being very loyal and honorable. He fights in the battle against ...... middle of paper ......o his tragic death. Without Macbeth's obsession with power, he could have remained powerful, but it is through his ambition that causes him to become less powerful and leads to his downfall. Works cited and consulted: Brooke, Nicholas, ed. . Macbeth. Oxford: The Oxford University Press. 1990.Coursen, HR Macbeth-A Guide to the Play. London: Greenwood Press. 1997. Elloway, David. Tragic ambition at Macbeth Macmillan Education Limited. 1985. Nostbakken, Faith. Understanding Macbeth. United States: Greenwood Press. 1997.Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth. Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992. Slethaug, Gordon. "Lecture notes" for ENGL1007. Online. November 2000. .