Lady Macbeth Tragic Hero Essay

714 Words3 Pages
Lady Macbeth is a character in Shakespeare's "Macbeth" and is arguably the most well known of his female characters. Her role is a complex one, and her character is equally complicated and is therefore a major focus of study for Shakespearean scholars. After coercing Macbeth into committing regicide, Lady Macbeth becomes Queen of Scotland but later suffers from guilt and dies off-stage. Many debate her role as a tragic hero, but when considering certain factors, her identity as a tragic hero becomes clearer and more acceptable. Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most famous and scared female characters. When we first see her, she is already talking about Duncan’s murder, and more ambitious than her husband. She seems fully aware of this and knows that she will have to…show more content…
She is the cause in the beginning of the play, driving Macbeth and fueling his head to have the crown in their clutch. Lady Macbeth is persuasive and capable of humiliating someone into murder. Although other characters may have partially be involved to the murder of King Duncan, she was the main instigator of the execution. If she had not made Macbeth into committing the murder, it would never have happened. When Macbeth first heard what had happened, two of them came true, he does consider killing the king. But, towards the end of Act 1, Scene 3, he thinks that perhaps he doesn't need to do anything to become the king saying, "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me without my stir." But when Lady Macbeth received the letter telling her about the witches' prophecies, she immediately decides that she and Macbeth will have to kill king Duncan. She also concludes that Macbeth is too nice to kill the king, saying that he is "too full of the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way." And when she hears that Duncan will visit their castle that night, she immediately appeals to the evil spirits, to give her the strength to kill the

More about Lady Macbeth Tragic Hero Essay

Open Document