Beginning of Essay
"(Sometimes a tragic hero is created, not through his own villainy), but rather through some flaw in him, he being one of those who are in high station and good fortune, like Oedipus and Thyestes and the famous men of such families as those." (Poetics, Aristotle) ....

Middle of Essay
.... the armies of England. Often people read the play and automatically conclude that Macbeth's tragic flaw is his ambition; that he is compelled to commit so many acts of violence by his lust for power. However, by carefully examining the first act, one can determine the defect in Macbeth's character that creates his ambition; his true tragic flaw. Macbeth's tragic flaw is not his ambition as most people believe, but rather his trust in the words of the witches and in his wife's decisions. At the beginning of the play Macbeth has no designs on the throne, and he does not start plotting until his wife comes up with a plan. When first faced with the ....