The Recalcitrance of the Tragic Hero in Shakespeare’s Macbeth

Abstract

Stated by Aristotle in his Poetics, tragic flaw is one of the main characteristics of the tragic hero, a weak point within his personality that leads him to commit fatal mistake during the events and that is what causes his decline. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the tragic hero, Macbeth, is motivated to embrace evil and to be criminal for he is not immune in the opposite of his diseased will to extort the throne. Under the influence of this flaw, Macbeth degenerates from a respected man of great honour to an isolated murderer and then to the expected conclusion, death. The aim of this research is to examine the recalcitrance, one’s illegitimate ambition, as Macbeth’s tragic flaw in depth throwing much light on its significant role in bringing about the idea of treason, killing king Duncan, in Macbeth’s mind and, then, committing the crime.