The hero? In Macbeth, the tragedy Macbeth highlights an ambivalent character who wants to become king. This article will take a close look at his character. Samuel Johnson in The Plays of Shakespeare states that every reader rejoices in Macbeth's downfall (133). In Shakespeare and Tragedy, John Bayley speaks of Macbeth as an agent responsible for his actions: It is essential to the hypnotic tension of the play that Macbeth does not seem in any ordinary way "responsible" for his actions. Not only witches, but all other agents are like an omen or apparition - the pity riding the blast, the cherubim of heaven, the lamentations heard in the air, the voice that cried "Sleep no more" - personify not so much the haunted imagination of Macbeth. as act as separate and rival powers, distracting us from the difference between the usurper and the murderer and the spirit that has attracted us. . .] It is the feeling shared by both Macbeth and the audience, that something has "come" for him, that the secure world of thought and possibility, of the individual self with its desires and secrets, is gone beyond all memory. (191) In “Macbeth as an Imitation of an Action,” Francis Fergusson considers how Macbeth fully understands the irrationality of his act: I need not remind you of the great scenes preceding the murder, in which Macbeth and his Lady pull themselves together. for their desperate efforts. If you think about these scenes, you will notice that Macbeths understand the action that begins here as a competition and a stunt, against reason and against nature. Lady Macbeth fears her husband's human nature, as well as her own feminine nature, and therefore she fears the light of reality...... middle of paper ...... Samuel. Shakespeare's plays. Np: np. 1765. Rpt in Shakespearean tragedy. Bratchell, D. F. New York, NY: Routledge, 1990. Kemble, Fanny. “Lady Macbeth.” Macmillan's Magazine, 17 (February 1868), p. 354-61. Rep. in Women Reading Shakespeare 1660-1900. Ann Thompson and Sasha Roberts, eds. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1997. Lamb, Charles. On Shakespeare's tragedies. Np: np. 1811. Rpt in Shakespearean tragedy. Bratchell, D. F. New York, NY: Routledge, 1990. Mack, Maynard. Shakespeare for everyone: reflections mainly on tragedies. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 1993. Shakespeare, William. The tragedy of Macbeth. http://chemicool.com/Shakespeare/macbeth/full.html, no lin.Wilson, HS On the conception of Shakespearean tragedy. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 1957.