Name: _______________________
Macbeth Essay – Victim or Villain?
Assignment Type: 3rd person expository (No use of “I” or “we”)
Parameters:
Thesis, body, conclusion
A variety of supporting quotes
Objective: Is Macbeth a victim of fate, the weird sisters, and his wife (pan-determinism) or does
he exercise free will making him responsible for his actions? Which kind of tragic hero is
Macbeth and why? Make a thesis and support that thesis actively with textual examples from
the play.
*Note: Macbeth is traditionally considered a ‘Tragic Hero’. There are two varieties:
Aristotelian Tragic Hero – A tragic hero is a man who rises to a high ranking position and then
falls from that position often to death and desolation. Two forces are involved: the tragic flaw
(hamartia) and fate.
Elizabethan Tragic Hero – This is a variant whereby the tragic hero is responsible for his own
downfall, emphasizing a waste of human potential.
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Content: ______________________________________________________________
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Organization: __________________________________________________________
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Style: _________________________________________________________________
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Conventions: ___________________________________________________________
Overall Score: ______/100
Act 1, Scene 1 - witch scene
Act 1, Scene 2 - Mac’s initial reputation
Act 1, Scene 3 - witch scene, prophecy scene
Act 1, Scene 5 – Lady Mac introduced, her soliloquy (unholy prayer)
Act 1, Scene 7 – Mac soliloquy
Act 2, Scene 1 – Mac soliloquy (dagger hallucination)
Act 2, Scene 2 – murder scene
Act 2, Scene 3 – Mac aside, “the life of wine is drawn…”
Act 3, Scene 1 – Mac soliloquy (Banquo problem)
Act 3, Scene 2 – Lady Mac/Mac dialogue (he takes control)
Act 3, Scene 4 – Banquet Scene
Act 3, Scene 5 – witch scene (Hecate)
Act 4, Scene 1 – witch scene (final prophecies)
Act 5, Scene 5 – Lady Mac suicide, final Mac soliloquy
Act 5, Scene 7 – Mac and Macduff fight