A Comparison Of Macbeth And Julius Caesar

The notion that William Shakespeare would follow a pattern of any kind, given the fact that he is one of the most renowned writers of history, is odd. One would expect such a person to distinguish themselves not only with outstanding writing but also by not following standards. However, by analyzing the tragedies Macbeth and Julius Caesar, one encounters characters that could be considered typical Aristotelean tragic heroes. Looking closely into the tragedies Macbeth and Julius Caesar, one notices that Shakespeare used numerous devices in order to make the characters Macbeth and Brutus follow the Aristotelean model of a tragic hero.
An Aristotelean tragic hero should be a well-known, prosperous character. (Aristotle). Noble qualities can be spotted very easily by the audience of Macbeth. In the exposition of the play, Macbeth Is referred to as “valiant” and “worthy” (1.2:
Another admirable quality of Macbeth is the fact that he tries to fight against his ambition. The audience can easily notice Macbeth’s struggle against his flaw at many instances of the play. Macbeth reveals during a soliloquy that the mere thought of the actions that he has begun to consider doing “…doth unfix my hair/ And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,” (1.3: 48). This personification makes clear both the fact that Macbeth is aware of his dangerous thoughts, and that he does not want to succumb to the temptations he has due to his ambition, which gives Macbeth a certain extent of dignity. Moreover, Shakespeare makes certain characters “speak by the means of metaphors and poetical images that generally belong to the ‘high’ human nature of poets and philosophers” (Talvet, 2004). One example is when Macbeth speaks in a poetical manner after murdering King Duncan about the voices he heard accusing him of “murdering sleep”. According to Talvet, the fact that Shakespeare “humanizes even the most wicked characters” shows the influence the Renaissance –