In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth is a signature example of a Shakespearean tragic hero. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is described as a predominantly good man, but he degenerates from a nobleman to an extremely violent individual. Macbeth possesses tragic traits and over-exaggerated fatal flaws that lead to his demise.
He is willing to give up and kill anyone in order to have the crown and sit on the throne. Macbeth falls victim to temptation and the need for power over others. Ultimately his gullibility, over-ambition, and pride are what leads to his tragic downfall. In Macbeth, the “protagonist” Macbeth allows his gullibility to take over his conscience and he loses sense of his responsibility to make proper decisions.
The extent of his gullibility is easily influenced by his mind to believe in things that he desperately wants to happen, like being king. The initial encounter with the witches and their prophecies is the first time that his gullibility is exploited in the play.
