Macbeth: Villain, Tragic Hero, or Simply Ambitious? The play MacBeth conforms to the definition of tragedy: “A work in verse or prose dealing themes tragic events, which usually end with the fall of the protagonist”1. However, many sections of MacBeth do not depict a tragic hero, but simply a villain or overlord who is overly ambitious and pays the consequences of his actions. MacBeth is a tragedy that calls into question the very foundations of that genre, established by Aristotle and Plato in the third century BC. These foundations were part of the text Poetics, in which Aristotle listed the six requirements of dramatic tragedy, one of which is the inclusion of a tragic hero, a principle that has been followed by many tragedians including Sophocles, Aeschylus, O'Neill and Shakespeare himself in his other tragedies. MacBeth however is different from these tragedies in that the protagonist is not clearly defined as a tragic hero, the reader can see glimpses of a hero in MacBeth but not in substantial amounts, so this is neither fully validated nor revoked by Shakespeare. To reach a conclusion the reader must take into consideration not only MacBeth's intentions but also those of the people around him, such as Lady MacBeth and the three Strange Sisters, both of whom can be believed to have influenced his actions in some way. way.MacBeth's downfall and final fate begins with his decision to kill King Duncan. Yet, from what the reader has seen of MacBeth so far, this action seems decidedly out of the ordinary. He is initially portrayed as a loyal warrior who has a wife and his own castle, yet he still chooses to kill Duncan. The apparent reason for this is ambition, we are told by Ma...... middle of paper ......d, not once was he forced to do anything that was not desired by him. On many occasions, the reader is tempted to see MacBeth as a mere villain, yet his determination to finish what he has already begun influences him to reconsider his opinion of his status as a villain. This extraordinary blend of a tragic hero, a villain, and a man filled with sheer determination allows MacBeth to stand out as arguably one of the best morality plays ever written. Concise Oxford DictionaryBibliographyEnglish 366: Studies in Shakespeare Introduction to Macbeth http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/eng366/index.htmBarnet, Sylvan. Shakespeare's MacBeth, Signet Classic 1987Shakespeare's Macbeth, a play for our time http://www.uky.edu/ArtsSciences/Classics/mac/intro.htmlAristotle, Poetics http://planetpapers.com/poetics/1209 .html