Macbeth-Aristotelian Tragedy?
The definition of tragedy in an excerpt from Aristotle's "Poetics" is the re-creation,
complete within itself, of an important moral action. The relevance of Aristotle's
Poetics to Shakespeare's play Macbeth defines the making of a dramatic tragedy and
presents the general principles of the construction of this genre.
Aristotle's attention throughout most of his Poetics is directed towards the
requirements and expectations of the plot. Plot, 'the soul of tragedy', Aristotle says,
must, be an imitation of a noble and complete action. In Macbeth, Shakespear provides
a complete action, that is it has what Aristotle identifies as a beginning, a middle, and
an end. These divisible sections must, and do in the case of Macbeth, meet the criterion
of their respective placement. In an excerpt from Aristotle's "Poetics" it states:
"The separate parts into which tragedy is divided are: Prologue, Episode,
Exodus, Choric songs, this last being divided into Parodos and Stasimon. The prologos is
that entire part of a tragedy which precedes the Parodos of the Chorus. The Episode is
that entire part of a tragedy which is between complete choric songs. The Exodos is that
entire part of a tragedy which has no choric song after it. Of the Choric part the
Parodos is the first undivided utterance of the Chorus."
Shakespeare follows this precise arrangement of parts to tell his story of Macbeth.
Macbeth is divided into five acts. It contains a Prologue, Episode, Exodus, Parodos and
Stasimon, but is the only one of Shakespeares plays that does not include Choric songs.
This does not dismiss Macbeth as a tragedy in the Aristotelian sense, because it still
follows Aristotle's fundamental component of a plot. That the arrangement of actions and
episodes arrange themselves into a 'causally connected', seamless whole. The ideal
arrangement of action into a plot is: Exposition, Inciting Action, Rising Action, Turning
Point(Climax), Falling Action, and Denouement. Macbeth follows each of these steps while
introducing a new question every moment that keeps our interest. That is called dramatic
tension, a very important part of a tragedy: to keep the audiences attention at all
times.
To make Macbeth's plot a complete action, according to Aristotle, the story must contain
an activating circumstance, a disclosure, and a reversal of action. The activating
circumstance in Macbeth is the three witches. Macbeth and Banqou meet three witches that
posses supernatural powers and predict the two men's futures. It is part of the wicked
sisters' role in the play to act as the forces of fate. These hags lead Macbeth on to
destroy himself. Their predictions are temptations of Macbeth's. They never tell
Macbeth he has to do anything, and nothing the witches did forced him to commit the
murderous acts he did. But their prophecies stimulated his desire for kingship and
intensified his ambition which is the characteristic that led to his downfall. The
disclosure is the point in the play in which the audience finds out something they did
not know before, that enables them to put the pieces of the tragedy together. It's the
point of realization. In Act V scene 1, Lady Macbeth is found sleep walking muttering
the lines of reassurance she gave her husband after they murder of Duncan and Banqou,
"What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to accompt?"(lines 40-42)
and "I tell you yet again, Banqou's buried" (lines 66-67). The plot of the tragedy
unfolded for the audience in that scene and it becomes apparent that it was Macbeth's and
Lady Macbeth's own evil actions that destroyed themselves. The last guideline of an
Aristotelian complete action is the reversal of action. This occurs when Macduff kills
Macbeth. Throughout the play Macbeth, driven by his corrupt ambition, went after what he
desired most. Even subjecting himself to evil sins, but it is at the very end where his
own ambition kills him. Macbeth's life ends in the same way he took the other lives,
through murder and deception. Stated above, Aristotle says, the plot of a Tragedy must
be an imitation of a noble and complete action. Macbeth follows Aristotle's expectations
of a complete action. Shakespeare's Macbeth also contains a noble and moral action that
creates the foundation of the plot. Whether Shakespeare provides a nobel action,
however, is an issue of the culture of his time. Macbeth was written during the
Elizabethan age where ambition was highly regarded. Ambition was and is a pious and
admirable quality, one of nobility. So essentially the imitation of action, the plot, of
Macbeth is one of a nobel and complete action.
In accordance with Aristotle's expectations of a Tragedy, containing a nobel and
complete action, irony is one of the most important elements when imitating an action.
In Shakespeare's Macbeth there are many ironic statements regarding the action of murder
due to Macbeth's hamartia (tragic flaw), which is his ambition. Macbeth's hamartia
(ambition) encouraged by Lady Macbeth resulted in her death and when Macbeth hears of her
death his words are inspired by grief and despair and full of irony. He calls life a
pathetic, strutting actor briefly on a stage, and then says: "It is a tale/ Told by an
idiot, full of sound and fury/ Signifying nothing" Act V,
scene v, lines 26-28. Macbeth's speech says that life is meaningless, but the play as a
whole says just the opposite. Macbeth's utter despair at that moment is a result of his
evil deeds. The very fact that he and Lady Macbeth are punished for their wickedness is
proof of a higher good which gives meaning to life. In Macbeth the action of murder and
ambition are often referred to in an ironic manner (shown above) but what draws this play
so close to Aristotle's definition of a tragedy is Shakespeare's use of dramatic irony.
Integral to Aristotle's notion of tragedy was its stylistic component: its diction.
Aristotle stated that tragedies are to be written in elevated, non- everyday language to
alert the audience to the seriousness of what they are about to see. Dramatic irony is a
very poignant example of this theory. Dramatic irony is present when the audience knows
something the characters, or some of the characters, do not, this involves the audience
and draws their attention. When Duncan and his party arrive at Macbeth's castle, they
are unaware of the wicked plans that are being made. Their lighthearted, joking mood is
ironic to us, because we know what they are really walking into. The scene-by-scene
analysis for Act I scene vi, details the use of dramatic irony when Duncan realizes that
Lord Macbeth isn't there to greet him, which is very discourteous but still treats
Macbeth with great admiration, "Conduct me to mine host: we lone him highly/And shall
conduct our graces toward him." Meanwhile Macbeth is plotting King Duncans murder.
Dramatic irony enriches the last act of the play. Macbeth has become a monster, but he's
also become a pathetic figure. His desperation is obvious. Ten thousand troops are on
their way to over throw him; his own troops are deserting. And he places his confidence
in the weird sisters- the hags whose suggestion that he would be king got him into this
disaster! We can see that he is doomed, but he cannot. He fights on, talking about his
"charmed life." His failure (or refusal) to see what is obvious to us makes the end of
the play much more powerful than it would be otherwise.
Aristotle further states that the noble and complete action must be an imitation of
fearful and pitiable incidents. It is important to define fearful and pitiable action in
Aristotle's own words before continuing to support a later point.
Aristotle states;
"A perfect tragedy should be arranged not on the simple but on the complex
plan. It should imitate actions which excite pity and fear, this being the distinctive
mark of tragic imitation. It follows that the change of fortune presented must not be
the spectacle of a virtuous man brought from prosperity to adversity, for this moves
neither pity no fear; it merely shocks us. Nor that of a bad man passing from adversity
to prosperity, for nothing can be more alien to me spirit of tragedy; it possesses no
tragic quality, it neither satisfies the moral sense, no calls forth pity or fear. Nor
should the downfall of the utter villain be exhibited. A plot of this kind would
doubtless, satisfy the moral sense, but it would inspire neither pity no fear, for pity
is aroused by unmerited misfortune, and fear by the misfortune of a person like
ourselves. Such an event, therefore, will be neither pitiful nor terrible. There
remains, then, the character between these two extremes-that of a man who is not
eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice or depravity,
but by some error or frailty. He must be one who is highly renowned and prosperous..."
According to Aristotle, the expectation of a tragedy consists of the arousal of the
emotions of pity and terror in the audience. He also states that "pity and fear are
related to action and character." We have already detailed the correlations between the
plot(action) in Macbeth and Aristotle's "Poetics", now, we must determine if the
character Macbeth is a tragic hero according to Aristotle's "The Essential Nature of
Tragedy".
In Aristotle's "Poetics" he describes the attributes of a tragic hero. In the excerpt
above it mentions "...the character between these two extremes...". Basically a good man
of elevated stature: if he's evil, his fall won't be pitiable or tragic. If he's a
commoner, his fall won't be grand enough. The figure of Macbeth seems to resemble this
position. In the beginning of the play there is strong evidence that Macbeth is a good
man. In Act I, Scene ii his courage is highly praised. The bloody soldier obviously
admires his captain, and Duncan is moved when he is told of Macbeth's exploits. Shown in
such diction as "brave Macbeth" and "noble Macbeth". One of the essential natures of a
tragic hero according to Aristotle's definition of tragedy is the Reversal of Fortune.
The hero must undergo a change of fortune from prosperity (emotional and/or material) to
adversity. This reversal is also known as a tragic fall. Aristotle continues, this
reversal must come about not by chance or as deserved retribution for evil deeds, but
from some hamartia, variously translated as 'error in judgment' or 'tragic flaw': that
is, some aspect of the hero's character that in itself is praiseworthy--but in excess,
destructive. Macbeth gains sympathy from the audience due to his demeanor in the
beginning of the play. He relates to the listeners from his reaction to the witc
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