Literary Criticism
Discuss William Shakespeare’s Macbeth
as a tragedy under the lens of Aristotle
concept of tragedy
Our English word “criticism” derives from the ancient Greek
term “krites”, meaning “judge.” The first recorded instances of
criticism go back to dramatic festivals in ancient Athens, which
were organized as contests, requiring an official judgment as to
which author had produced the best drama. The “Republic” by
Plato was the first critical book; he attacked poetry because he
considers that the poet imitates a false world which is a copy of
another ideal world which contains the ideal forms of things.
Plato’s words were about aesthetics; the notion of justice and truth,
he rejects falsity, including the poetry. Aristotle, on the other hand,
focused on the impact factors of poetry. For Aristotle, poetry and
rhetoric had the status of productive sciences; these disciplines
had their place in a hierarchy of knowledge; and Aristotle viewed
them as rational pursuits, as seeking knowledge of universals. The
goal of literature, for Aristotle, is to attain the supreme good which
is pleasure and learning. Aristotle’s Poetics is a theoretical treatise
on the nature and functions of poetry; he defended epic poetry and
was against Plato, he opposed Plato’s powerful critique of poetry
which condemned it on both moral and epistemological grounds. In
“Poetics”, Aristotle puts the elements of tragedy, comedy and
tragicomedy, and talks about tragedy, tragic figures, tragic action
and unity.
The fourth century to the eighth century, for its brilliance in
literature, philosophy and the visual arts, is normally known as the
classical age. Classical is the inner core, unique and pioneer force
with blending of ideas and inspiration which we have inherited
through our ancestors. The product of the Roman and Greek
civilizations is placed under the title “classics.” Classics are the
work of fiction, like Shakespeare and Marlowe, which are relevant
to all ages through all times for their universal appeal, regularity of
form and a sense of beauty and balance. Nowadays, we consider
old songs as the classics, songs by Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles
and Elvis Presley.
The term “classicism” means those qualities which are
characteristics of the best literature of Greece and Rome; it aims to
express the inner truth or central principles of things without
anxiety for minor details, and it’s by nature largely intellectual in
quality. Therefore, it insists on correct structure, restraints, careful
finish and avoidance of all excess.
Long before the term “literary criticism” came into practice,
literary theory existed as far back as the fourth century B.C. Plato
and Aristotle formed the core of classical criticism in ancient time.
They were the great masters of the classical criticism. Aristotle
regarded imitation “mimesis” as a natural healthy impulse; he did
not consider it to be a mere copying. Whereas, Plato believed that
everything in the world is a mere copying from the ideal world.
Therefore, the easiest thing is to imagine Plato as an enemy of art
because he viewed art products of all kinds, whether poetry,
theatre, or painting, as inferior copies of the ultimate reality. Plato’s
concerns were not artistic but rather philosophical. His view on
poetry and imitation reflect his urge to know the truth beyond
words.
Therefore, there was a quarrel between poetry and philosophy.
The philosophers used language to investigate into the nature of
things, while the poets were aiming at creating an effect on the
audience for establishing emotional truth. Plato rejected both the
poet and poetry as he realized their presence and their capability
in arousing such powerful emotions. Aristotle, on the other hand,
believed the evocation of pity and fear to be therapeutic to the
audience to serve as purgation or cleansing, and therefore,
healthy.
Aristotle (384 – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and
polymath in ancient Greece during the Classical period. He was
taught by Plato, he was the father of the Lyceum, of the Peripatetic
School of Philosophy and of the Aristotelian tradition. His works
cover a broad variety of subjects including physics, biology,
zoology, metaphysics, philosophy, ethics, esthetics, poetry,
theater, music, rhetoric, psychology, linguistics, economics,
politics, and government. Aristotle presented a deep synthesis of
the different ideologies that existed before him. It was above all
from his teachings that the West inherited his intellectual lexicon,
as well as problems and methods of investigation. As a
consequence, his philosophy has exerted a profound influence on
almost every field of understanding in the West and continues to
be the topic of contemporary philosophical debate.
This time in Athens, between 335 and 323 BC, is when Aristotle
is believed to have composed many of his works. He has written
several dialogs, only parts of which have survived. Those works
that have survived are in the form of a treaty and have not, for the
most part, been intended for widespread publication; they are
generally thought to be teaching aids for his students. His most
important treatises include Physics, Metaphysics, Nicomachean
Ethics, Politics, Soul and Poetics. Aristotle studied and contributed
extensively to "logic, metaphysics, mathematics, astronomy,
biology, botany, ethics, politics, agriculture , medicine, dance and
theatre."
Aristotle was Plato’s student, and he took many of Plato’s basic
methods for defining literature for granted. However, Aristotle’s
main emphasis was on the poet’s craft, and he tended to treat
poetry, especially the drama, as having the potential for a very
positive, even crucial role in the city’s survival. Aristotle’s state was
not an utopian one; it provided a liberal education, and as a result,
the people became civilized and got their freedom. Aristotle’s own
state was directed toward “the highest good” as its ultimate
purpose, and enabling men to live “the good life.” The poet’s power
to sway the citizens’ minds was something Aristotle accepted
because he believed poets could control, by arts, how audiences
received their word.
At the core of Aristotle’s Poetics are two complex notions,
imitation and action, which are imbued with both Aristotle’s
metaphysical principles and his ethical/political dispositions. Plato
holds that poetry is a mode of imitation, so do Aristotle, but he
suggests a different view of imitation, one which leads him to
regard poetry as having a positive function. However, for Plato,
poetry is a step away from the truth. The other crucial notion in the
Poetics is that of action. He states that “virtue in itself is not
enough; there must also be the power to translate it into action.”
According to Aristotle, all arts and other imitations, such as
sculpture, painting and poetry leads to knowledge. The pleasure
that imitation provides is on account of this knowledge. Imitation is
defined as a pleasurable likeness. Human beings are the most
living creatures who learn his earliest lessons through imitating.
Aristotle says “imitation is one instinct of our nature. Artist is not
liar, but he leads us to truth.” Arts help nature to attain the
perfection of forms. Arts imitate nature, and the artists may imitate
things as they ought to be. It has been argued that the inner
principle of nature is what art imitates.
Aristotle was clear that the purpose of imitation in drama was to
provide proper pleasure by imitating action. The imitation is
produced by rhythm, language, and harmony. According to
Aristotle, imitation (mimesis) is based on upon a study of life as we
see it, and it’s pleasant and educative and has a moral function.
Thus, Aristotle imparted a metaphysical, moral, aesthetic worth to
imitation.
Furthermore, Aristotle defines the “essence” of tragedy “as an
imitation of action that is serious, complete and of a certain
magnitude – by means of language enriched with all kinds of
ornament, each used separately in the different parts of the play; it
represents men in action and does not use narrative and through
pity and fear, it effects relief to these and similar emotions.”
Therefore, since a tragedy is essentially dramatic rather than
narrative, it represents men in action and properly constructed
tragedy will provide relief or “catharsis” for various emotions,
primarily pity and fear. Hence, the effect of tragedy on the
audience is part of its very definition.
The element of tragedy which imitates human actions is not
primarily the depiction of character, but the plot, which Aristotle
calls “the first principle” and “the soul of tragedy.” This overall
dramatic structure, the plot, is “the end at which tragedy aims.”
Action is a central idea which governs the play through a
central character. According to Aristotle, dramatic event is an
internal movement for the action, and it’s connected by probability
or necessity. Moreover, the plot is an aspect which cements the
action, and the unity of the plot is based on a notion of causality.
The plot implies intricate turn of events, full of surprises and
suspense. Aristotle holds that tragedy represents an action that is
whole and complete. He postulated that plot must be in an organic
unity.
The plot must have a definite shape or magnitude. As it has
been mentioned, Aristotle defined tragedy as “an imitation of an
action that is complete, whole and of a certain magnitude. A whole
is that which has a beginning, a middle and an end. It must be in a
certain magnitude, for beauty depends on magnitude and order.
As in the case of animate bodies and organism a certain
magnitude is necessary. So it must be in a certain length as to
embrace easily by memory.”
Wholeness means that the play has a beginning in which the
tension reveals, and the action keeps on rising ’til the middle of the
play in which the climax is shown, afterwards, the action begins to
fall until the play reaches its end in which denouement is
represented. Furthermore, completeness means that a complete
action must have a complete idea which indicates its nature,
reasons and effects.
There are two types of plot; the simple plot is one in which the
change of fortune takes place without Reversal of the situation and
without Recognition, and the complex plot is one in which the
change is accompanied by such Reversal, or by Recognition, or by
both, then the suffering of the character. Reversal of the situation
is a change by which the action veers round to its opposite, and
Recognition, as the name indicates, is a change from ignorance to
knowledge. At this moment, the tragic hero’s blindness is thrown
into instant oblivion, then, the tragic hero comes to the conclusion
that life is futile.
Aristotle defines tragic hero as a person who must evoke a
sense of pity and fear in the audience; he is considered a man of
misfortune that comes to him through an error of judgment. The
basic characteristics of the tragic hero are six elements. Hamartia;
a tragic flaw which causes the downfall of the tragic hero, Hubris;
an excessive pride and disrespect for the natural order of things,
Peripeteia; the reversal of fate, Anagnorisis; a moment in time
when the hero makes an important discovery, Nemesis; a
punishment that a protagonist cannot avoid, and finally, Catharsis;
an arousal of the feeling of pity and fear in the audience.
Aristotle and Shakespeare lived ages apart, but Aristotle had a
great effect on Shakespeare’s plays. In Shakespeare’s tragic play,
Macbeth, the character of Macbeth is consistent with Aristotle’s
definition of the tragic hero. Aristotle’s tragic hero is a man who is
characterized by good and evil. He is a mixture of good
characteristics and bad characteristics. For example, Macbeth was
an honorable Thane of Glamis. He was a valiant fighter who had
protected his country of Scotland well, but he wanted to be a king.
His “vaulting ambition” caused him to kill King Duncun which
ended up in his fall. Aristotle’s tragic hero has a tragic flaw, or
hamartia, that is the cause of the downfall.
Hamartia is presented briefly through the Witches’ opening
speech, “Fair is foul and foul is fair.” It refers to the human nature.
Sometimes people appear to be loyal and kind, but from within
they are cunning and remorseless. The tragic flaw which causes
the downfall of Macbeth is his own over-ambitiousness. It was this
that led Macbeth to listen to the witches and to allow to himself to
be persuaded by them. This excessive desire led him to commit
various atrocities. Macbeth becomes an authoritarian leader, a
tyrant for the people of Scotland. Macbeth’s flourishing creativity
makes him very lonely.
Macbeth had a fantastic hamartia. Macbeth has been too
trusting. It was his first mistake to believe the Witches, which
contributed to the killing of Duncan and his soldiers. After the first
two predictions, Macbeth lay in a paradoxical state, in which he
planned to violently kill Macduff's family. In this situation,
Macbeth's paranoia was justified as it turned out that Macduff had
fled to England to convince the English to join the army to gather
their strength and interfere in Macbeth's persecution of Scotland.
The next stage is Hubris which is an excessive pride and
disrespect for the natural order of things. Macbeth, the narrator,
overflowing with pride and greed, makes his haughtiness to
believe that you should be able to destroy the valiant Duncan
without penalty, so that he can claim the throne of Scotland for
himself. He wants to kill the king to seize the throne. He confesses
that his over ambition instigates him to exceed all obstacles on his
way. Obviously, murder is extremely frowned upon, and this
inevitably leads to the death of Macbeth as well. Lady Macbeth
also plays a very important role in pushing him towards his goal
because she wants to be a queen. Therefore, she gives him a
strong motivation to kill the king, and uses all of her feminine wiles.
There are two key points in Macbeth where Perepetia is
experienced. The first is only after Duncan was killed and Macbeth
arranged for the assassins to kill Fleance and Banquo. Macbeth
says "I'm in the blood, stepp'd in so deep that, if I don't wade any
more, returning was as dull as going o'er." (3.4). Macbeth was at
first hesitant to kill Duncan, and it was his wife who compelled him
to do the deed. The second instance of Perepetia is Macbeth's
infamous “to-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, screeps in
this small pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded
time; and all of our pasts have lit fools, the way to dusty death.
Down, down, a small candle! Life is but a walking shadow, a poor
player who struts and scares his hour on the stage, and then he
doesn't hear any more. It's a tale told by a fool, full of sound and
anger. It doesn't mean anything.” (5.5.17-28). Here Macbeth is at
his very lowest point, knowing that his play is over and that his
deeds have led to nothing more than the ranting and strutting of
himself, the bad guy.
The next stage is the moment in time when the hero makes an
important discovery. Macbeth’s Anagnorisis is when Macduff
confronts him after they storm the castle and Macbeth learns that
he was “from his mother’s womb untimely ripped” (Act 5, scene 8).
After Macbeth hears this, it all becomes clear to him that he is
about to die. Birnam wood came to Dunsinane in the form of the
army’s camouflage, and the only person he was warned to watch
out for was not of a natural birth. This automatically rids him of his
feeling of invincibility to his fighting a battle that he is destined to
lose.
The play sets Macduff as Macbeth's eventual Nemesis which is
the punishment that a protagonist cannot avoid. After the crime
Macbeth commits, the first punishment he is going to receive is the
loss of peace of mind and feeling of insecurity, and the second
punishment is his feeling of guilt that will torment him. The evil
consequences of the crime appear directly after the crime, and the
effect of his evil deed goes on haunting him and making him suffer,
however, confessing their mistake is regarded as an act of bravely
and nobility. Although Lady Macbeth reached to her goal, she
doesn’t feel satisfied , she wishes to be dead rather than to believe
indulging into regret, feeling unhappiness. She starts to hallucinate
and gradually loses her power. She also starts to walk in her
sleeping. Her sleepwalking is a strike of nemesis as consequences
are unpitying. In the end, she commits a suicide. Furthermore,
Malcolm, of course, is the legitimate King, but Macduff's ambition
and sense of intent is lacking, as evidenced by his decision to
leave rather than claim his royal rights. In order to reclaim the
throne, he would need the support of the more assertive Macduff
— and it is Macduff, not Malcolm, who assumes responsibility for
Macbeth’s death.
The audience felt throughout the play that Macbeth's murder of
the innocent Duncan was unjustified, and though Macbeth feels
bad and has doubts and scruples, he nevertheless goes through
the act, which makes us instinctively believe like he should be
punished and not rewarded with kingship. The audience wants to
shut down and remove all these Macbeth emotions. This desire
eventually leads to the death of Macbeth because it is the easiest
and perhaps most rewarding way to clear Macbeth's emotional
burdens, and because he finally gets his justice. Therefore, by
arousing both pity and fear from the audience, it becomes clear
that Macbeth has the traits of a tragic hero as outlined by Aristotle
in the Poetics.
In conclusion, Macbeth is a tragedy because it fits the
description of a tragic hero under the lens of Aristotle. By analyzing
the character of Macbeth, one is able to realize that no forces of
evil cause the downfall of this hero, but rather than his pride and
over-ambition, which are obvious character flaws in his nature.
Throughout the play, the audience is spellbound by the acts of this
hero, but at the end, everyone is moved to pity by what has
happened to him.
REFERENCE LIST
1. El Bagoury, Mahmoud. Literary Criticism. 2020.
2. Dave, Patrick. Classical Criticism in English Literature.2011.
https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/pddave77/classical-
criticism-in-eng-lit-presentation/
3. Anonymous. Aristotle’s Tragic Hero in Shakespeare’s
Macbeth. https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Aristotles-Tragic-
Hero-in-Shakespeares-Macbeth-F3QE95YTC
4. Pope, Laney. Macbeth’s Hamartia. 2014
https://laneypopeblog.wordpress.com/2014/09/26/macbeths-
hamartia/
5. Anonymous. What is Macbeth’s Nemesis? 2016.
https://www.coursehero.com/file/p2dvdmcj/What-is-
macbeths-nemesis-or-fatal-flaw-Name-and-explain-two-
examples-of-his/
