How Far do You Think it is True to Say that Macbeth is a Tragic Hero?
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How Far do You Think it is True to Say that Macbeth is a Tragic Hero? Two and a half thousand years ago, Aristotle defined a tragedy as 'an imitation of an action that is serious, complete and of a certain magnitude.' Two thousand years later, Shakespeare reincarnated this and other classical principles in the form of his four great tragedies; Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth. Aristotle laid down some elements which he and other classical theorists seemed to think necessary in a tragedy. In 'Macbeth' some of these elements have been used, some have been reworked and some have been totally disregarded. These 'rules' which Shakespeare didn't always think appropriate or indeed practical to use in his more contemporary tragedies, also seem to have been lost from the common definition of a tragedy when it is applied to anything other than ancient dramatic works. For example, tragedies today no longer...


