Why Macbeth is Considered a Tragedy

Nicholas Rowe once said that "Guilt is the source of sorrows, the avenging fiend that follows us behind with whips and stings." In William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, the protagonists, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, had to face similar sentiments of guilt and regret, which remained with them until their deaths. These emotions stemmed from the corruptive nature of a negatively-fuelled ambition, and ultimately led to their downfall. The protagonists succumbed to these evil influences, which caused many of their actions throughout the play to become increasingly immoral.

Macbeth and his wife were both considered protagonists despite their progressively wicked and sinful personalities. Although some might see Macbeth as a comedy in view of its happy ending for the inhabitants of Scotland, in reality, it is a tragedy, as the play tells a story that ends on a cheerless note. Although the play concluded with a positive outcome for the citizens of Scotland, Macbeth and his wife died terrible deaths as a consequence for their actions. This play is considered a tragedy because the protagonists could not overcome the forces which were arrayed before them.

Both protagonists were tainted by an overpowering ambition. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is quite skeptical of the three witches' prediction that he will become the Thane of Cawdor, then the King of Scotland. Much to his surprise and intrigue, the then-current King, Duncan, awarded Macbeth the title of Thane of Cawdor, after hearing of his various exploits and bravery in the battlefield. Thrilled that the witches' projections came true, Macbeth soon began to ponder the possibilities of fulfilling his prophecy as King. After hearing of the three witches' prophecy, the protagonists were convinced that their original plan to murder Duncan was justified. Macbeth decided that he could not wait to become king, and his desire consumed him with greed and temptation. After much prompting from his wife and the confirmation of the prophecy, Macbeth was able to summon the courage to kill Duncan in order to succeed the throne quickly. Lady Macbeth played a vital role in murdering of the king, as she coaxed and manipulated her husband into carrying out her will. She had shown her profound resolve to kill Duncan on the very night when she exclaimed:

O, never

Shall sun that morrow see! (I,v,67-68)

Lady Macbeth means to say that Duncan would not see the light of the next day, as he would have passed away by then. It is important to note that Banquo, Macbeth's close friend, was also told that his sons would become kings. This led him to have ambitious thoughts. However, unlike Macbeth, he never enforced these thoughts with actions, and never felt the urgency to murder Duncan for the success of his family. He explained to Macbeth that he was willing to do anything to become a father of kings, as long as he could have done it with a clear conscience:

So I lose none

In seeking to augment it, but still keep

My bosom franchised and allegiance clear,

I shall be counseled. (II,I,32-35)

Several actions that the protagonists took during throughout the play portrayed their immoral intentions and decisions; their mindsets changed, and bordered on the lines of madness and insanity. Macbeth, a once-honorable general to the King, corrupted his mind with murder of his monarch. After the first murder, he became heartless and unfeeling, and eventually mustered the ability to kill large numbers of people, even families, without burdening conscience. He shows his determination to eliminate the ruler to become king when he explains:

If it were done when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well

It were done quickly. If the assassination

Could trammel up the consequence, and catch

With his surcease success; that but this blow

Might be the be-all and the end-all here,

But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,

We'd jump the life to come. (I,vii,1-7)

He was so consumed by greed that he was willing to risk his life for the opportunity to become the king. He proved himself foolish by trusting the words of three strangers, recent acquaintances that he had never met before. Although the three witches' prophecies ended up being fulfilled, it would have been wise for Macbeth to see through the evil intent of such evil women. By pondering their predictions so deeply, he succeeded only in obtaining guilt, and his eventual downfall. Furthermore, he allowed his overreaching ambition to cloud his judgment; had he controlled himself, he would have realized the gravity of the implications of murder. When Macbeth realized the extreme seriousness of his crime, he lamented:

Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself

And falls on th' other. (I,vii,27-28)

In a moment of regret, he contemplated the ways that people who rush ahead of themselves often succeed only in advancing themselves towards their own demise. Lady Macbeth, too, lost control of her normal self, and allowed her ambitions to impair her clear thinking. She attempted to "desex" herself, in order to be capable of assisting in the King's assassination. A once loving wife who was tempted by power, Lady Macbeth became intoxicated with power, and began to control her husband into carrying out her will. After aiding in murdering Duncan, she felt sentiments of extreme guilt that carried her to the point of unbearable pain, the cause of her suicide. She stated that she would have been perfectly capable of completing the tasks herself, had there not been the fact that King Duncan looked like her father:

Had he not resembled

My father as he slept, I had done't. (II,ii,16-17)

While tormented by her memories of the murder, Lady Macbeth walked and talked in her sleep. She rubbed her hands together, as if she were washing them with water. While the doctor was examining her "illness", she stated:

Out, damned spot! Out, I say! One: two: why,

The, ‘si time to do't. Hell is murky! Fie, my

Lord, fie! A soldier, and afeard? What need we

Fear who knows it, when none can call our power to

Account? Yet who would have thought the old man

To have so much blood in him! (V,I,32-37)

Lady Macbeth, unable to cope with the heavy weight that her heart was carrying, had subconsciously let out her emotions while sleeping. After some time, however, she had become an insomniac, for fear of the visions of the murder that haunted her. As a direct effect, she soon became frail and unhealthy, causing her to take her own life.

The deaths of the protagonists caused the genre of Macbeth to be considered a tragedy, and a loss for the audience. The plot did not end happily for the protagonists, though some may, mistakenly, see the play as a comedy in sight of the positive resolution for the Scottish people. However, the overall setting, mood, and outcome of the play were extremely gloomy and bleak. Due to the corruptive nature of the evil intentions that stemmed from an overpowering ambition, the protagonists were cast into great disorder and confusion. The sorrowful and hapless circumstances in which they found themselves led Macbeth and his wife to feel very guilty, the indirect cause of their untimely deaths. When ambition is great enough to cloud one's judgment, the actions that are driven by it will often lead to ruin.