How Is Macbeth Related To Aristotle's Definition Of Tragedy

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"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”- Lord Action The power that Macbeth desired corrupted him and caused him to hurt others. Power made Macbeth do tragic things. Roman Polanski brought great emotion,and the power of theme, into Macbeth by incorporating Aristotle's definition of tragedy. Polanski put into effect many characteristics of Aristotle's definition of tragedy. Three important characteristics that made the play have emotion, come to life, and show power as the theme, were the slaughtering of Macduff’s family, the killing of Banquo, and the killing of Macbeth. These three characteristics that Polanski incorporated into the play followed Aristotle's definition of the audience being affected by pity or fear, the hero making a tragic mistake because of his tragic flaw, and the hero facing and accepting death with honor.
Aristotle said that in order for a play to be tragic, the audience has to be affected by pity and fear, and the killing of Macduff's family accomplished just that. The killing of Macduff's family show not only pity and fear in the audience but also Macbeth’s …show more content…
Polanski did a wonderful job of incorporating this characteristic into the movie by showing the killing of Banquo. This killing of Banquo also proved to us that power is Macbeth’s tragic flaw. Macbeth worried that Banquo would realized that he killed Duncan. Macbeth could not take any chances so he decided to hire murders in order to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. He also killed them to ensure that none of Banquo's family takes his place on the throne. He wants no one to succeed but him. The killing of Banquo was a tragic mistake because it was wrong, it was not morally right. Macbeth already had power but was so afraid of losing it, so he used his power in order to keep his power. Macbeth’s desire for power has made him
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