Macbeth: Honor and CourageA struggle is present in every tragedy, as a person tries to overcome their flaws and fit into the mold of their ideal. William Shakespeare clearly defined a good man in the play, Macbeth. Prudence and logic, temperance and patience, as well as the reclamation of honor are Shakespeare's defining characteristics of a good man. Honor and courage are Shakespeare's defining characteristics of a good man, while illogical passion and impatience are characteristics that do not characterize a good man. As in any tragedy, the title character and hero of Macbeth had to fall from his place of greatness to see his flaws and begin. his agonizing return to his previous position. His position, that of a good man, was one that commanded respect at the beginning of Macbeth. The sergeant described Macbeth's honor and courage to King Duncan in Act I, scene 2. For brave Macbeth well deserves that name/ Scorning fortune, with his steel brandished/ That smoked with bloody execution/ Like the servant of valor he carved his passage/ Till he faced the slave; Macbeth defended his king's honor as well as his own, for Shakespeare proved that a good man never backed down from an enemy. In the later acts of the play, Shakespeare furthered the definition of a good man by describing what a bad one was not. In Macbeth's darkest moments, he showed no sign of prudence and logic as he killed King Duncan and hired assassins to kill his friend Banquo. Macbeth showed his temerity in Act IV, scene 1 by saying: henceforth “the firstborn of my heart shall be / The firstborn of my hand. / And even now, / To crown my thoughts with deeds, both thought and done” (Act #, Scene #, Line #). Macbeth was no longer the logical, thinking man that many admired. He had become reckless, acting only with passion and not with his mind. The tragedy of the murders he caused in fair Scotland was the direct result of this violation of the criterion of a good man. The most obvious, and perhaps the most tragic, flaws in Macbeth's character are his lack of patience and temperance. These shortcomings haunted Macbeth, forcing him to let his "exaggerated ambition" hasten fate and hasten his destiny. Macbeth was eager to be appointed to a position of greater power. Instead, he killed the king to take his place.