Analysis of Characters of King Lear and Macbeth

Both characters are, indeed, sterling examples of the tragic hero as defined by Aristotle. Both are strong and brave men full of admirable qualities which reflect the best qualities of the gods, but both are marked blatantly by fatal and tragic flaws. Macbeth is driven by a lust for power which destroys all dear to him, while Lear is made tragic by his monstrous pride.

In fact, the tragic hero often exhibits god-like qualities and human flaws in the same speech or situation. In Lear's entrance speech, for example, we find the wisdom and acceptance of death which reflect the strength of a god, while in the next breath encountering the blatantly self-centered pride which will be the king's downfall: "'Tis our fast intent/ To shake all cares and business from our age,/ Conferring them on younger strengths, while we/ Unburthen'd crawl toward death" (King Lear I,1,37-40). After maki

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bility of his kingship, but senses that he will have to commit bloody sins to achieve the throne. Similarly, Lear has a determination and a drive to survive and rise above adversity which reflects god-like strength of character, but that trait is transformed into a self-blindness which brings tragedy. He sees himself as god-like---which is itself a tragic flaw---and does not reflect for a moment that he could be wrong in the demands he puts on his daughters nor in the assessments he makes of their proclamations of love for him. So driven by pride is Lear, and by the need for extravagant public display of his daughters' love for him, that, when he does not receive it in abundance enough from Cordelia, the most truly of his three daughters, he immediately disowns her. All he can feel is the self-centered pain of not getting what he wanted just in the way he wanted it immediately upon asking for it. Cordelia says to herself: "I am sure my love's/ more ponderous than my tongue" (King Lear I,1,76-77) and then declares to her father openly: "I cannot heave/ my heart into my mouth: I love your majesty/ According to my bond; nor more nor less" (King Lear I,1,90-92). Cordelia is simply saying in a number of ways that her love is not expres
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