Why is Macbeth classed as a tragedy?

Question

Doing English coursework, and the question is "Above all else Macbeth is a tragedy. Describe what makes it a tragedy" i know what it means, but i dont know why or how Macbeth (play) is classed as a tragedy. Any help would be appriciated.

Answer 1

Hi there.
A tragedy is the story of a great person who is laid low by a fatal flaw. Macbeth has the great flaw of ambition, which he shares with his wife.
The witches initially start the process with their prophecy, when they finish it "Hail Macbeth, who will be King hereafter". Macbeth discusses this with his wife and her ambition flares up straight away. He doesn't want to murder Duncan, but he eggs him on, the "To let 'I would' wait upon 'I dare not'" dialogue.
Once he has done the deed his innate honesty and decency return and the guilt begins.
In classic tragedy the god afflict the sinner until they go mad before destroying them and this happens to macbeth. The path he has set out on leads to more murder as his madness grows and he loses the ability to sleep "Macbeth has murdered sleep, macbeth shall sleep no more"., seeing visions of the dead, of blood, of the dagger.
Eventually he dies fighting against his own fate against Macduff, who is "not of woman born".

Interestingly, Lady Macbeth could be considered a tragic heroine. She pushes her husband on, from her own ambition, but is then afflicted in her nightmares and driven to suicide.
Shakespeare clearly saw her as the true villain, though.

So Macbeth at the start of the play is a successful general, richly rewarded, but grabs the throne from ambition and loses everything for his crimes. A tragedy!

Hope this helps, Steve.

Answer 2

When the difference between tragedy and comedy, in the relm of Shakespeare, was explained to me this was the simplest way to differentiate. A Tragedy starts off with everything being okay, and ends in a good amount of death. A Comedy starts off with things being bad, but then has a nice happy ending.

Macbeth is a tragedy because in the beginning of the show the army of King Duncan has stopped an invasion, and by the end of the show it's basically a blood bath for power.

Answer 3

In order for a story to be considered a tragedy, it has to fit a certain
description. The Greek playwright Aristotle was the first to define a tragedy.
He said it was a story in which the protagonist (tragic hero) goes from
fortunate to unfortunate circumstances because if his tragic flaw and fate
working together. Macbeth fits these characteristics, and is a tragedy. In this
play, the tragic hero is Macbeth. His tragic flaw is his weak morals, and his
ability to be easily persuaded.

Every character that died in MacBeth had one fatal
flaw. The first Thane of Cawdor was a traitor. Duncan was
too trusting. Banquo didn't do anything about the
knowledge he had. Lady MacBeth helped plot the murder of
Duncan. And MacBeth, destroyed the natural order and
harmony of nature. But not all of the characters who died
deserved to die because of their flaws. Duncan shouldn't
have been punished for trusting someone, and Banquo would
have said something, but was waiting for the right time or
some physical evidence. But if MacBeth hadn't been so
ambitious, none of the problems that occurred would have.

Answer 4

It is a dark and gloomy tale, trading in laughs and smiles for suspense, political comments, views on the human mind and such.

The only other genre that MacBeth could be classified as is a history, yet the inaccuracies and the fact that it is more based on a historic LEGEND than actually historic fact quickly makes nothing of the possibility of being a History.

Like many of Shakespeare's tragedies, it is speaking a particular message that should be taken at heart, yet is still written to primarily entertain the audience, in this exampel with witches/magic, violence, women portrayed negatively, revenge, corruption, insanity, suicide and mass death.

Answer 5

A tragedy is sad sorta play with loads of deaths etc There are 3 types of plays history, comedy and tragedy (i think lol) i wouldn't call Macbeth funny or based on facts so its not comedy or history but it does have loads of bad stuff and deaths and gOrE so it would be classed as la tragedy! or a tragedy whatever same thing lol hope it helps lol

Answer 6

because macbeth and practically everyone in the book die in the end. or as my teacher told me "a tragedy is when it starts bad gets a little better then gets bad again"

Answer 7

McBeth was tricked into thinking that the wife he adored was unfaithful. He murdered her, then found out that she was not unfaithful. He did not believe that she loved him. But she did.

He had so much potential, a truely clever and tallented man, but he was totally insecure in his relationship with Desdemona. He killed the thing he loved most.

Hope that helps. It is a difficult play. But see it again when you are in your late twenties. It will mean a lot more then. Thus spake an old woman!

Answer 8

because the major characters died. traditionally, plays are only either comedies or tragedies. anything that involves the downfall or death(s) of the major character(s) is classified as a 'tragedy'.
hope it helps! =)

Answer 9

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