The plot is referred to as the “soul of a tragedy” by Aristotle. In the case of Macbeth the plot is complex. In order for a complex plot to be complete it must contain numerous aspects. There must be an instance of suffering, some form of active circumstance and a change in fortune brought about by a reversal, recognition, or both. A reversal is an occurrence when a character produces an opposite effect than originally intended, whereas, recognition is a change from ignorance to knowledge. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth both recognition and a reversal are present. Macbeth experiences a stat

In Aristotle’s definition of tragedy it states that a story must be serious. Macbeth is filled with acts of betrayal and murder creating a serious mood. In the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth urges Macbeth to kill King Duncan to achieve the crown. At first Macbeth is unwilling upsetting Lady Macbeth to the point that she states, “Come you spirits/ That tend on moral thoughts, unsex me here/…make thick my blood/ Stop up ht’ access and passage to remorse;/… Come to my woman’s breast,/And take my milk from gall…(I.v..40-47). However, after accusing her husband of not being a true man he gives into his wife. On his path to achieve the crown Macbeth successfully murders his king, the wife and children of Macduff, and hires murders to kill Banquo, the next in line for the crown.

It is Macbeth’s tragic error that leads to his downfall. By giving into his vaulting ambition to become king, he turns his back on his conscience. Once he makes the final decision to kill his king he seals his own fate. By killing the king he is forced to kill Banquo so that he will be next in line for the crown. However upon learning that Macduff has left for England to seek help from King Edward because he is suspects that Macbeth his responsible for the death of King Duncan, he has both Macduff’s wife and son murdered. Also it is Macbeth’s tragic flaw blinds him to the true meaning of the witches’ three apparitions. The witches tell Macbeth that no man born of woman shall harm him, beware of Macduff, and that he shall never be killed until Great Birnam Wood comes to high Dunsinane hill

e of recognition when he realiz

Some topics in this essay:
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