Roberto+D.

Tragic Flaw: Ambition

When asked to find a historical figure that resembled [|Macbeth], I immediately thought to use [|Hitler]. There exist various similarities between Adolf Hitler and the character in William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth. Both of these characters are people who succumbed to their ambitious “little devils” and led what is considered to be errant and atrocious lives, which was the cause for their lives to be eventually cut short.

Ambition is one of the key qualities that these two characters share and it is what takes these characters to position(s) of powers(delete the S here). Their lust for power seems unquenchable even when Hitler was voted “Fuhrer” or when Macbeth was given the title of thane. Their overzealous attitude is their tragic flaw and ultimately leads them to their demise. Macbeth demonstrates his ambitious mentality by listening to the witches’ prophecies and decides (make parallel- deciding) to act on them by murdering King Duncan after just being elevated to the title of thane of Cawdor. Adolf Hitler allows his ambition to rule over him when he was constantly seeking to gain a higher status or position while working in the German government until finally becoming president.

A few more minor similarities are that Adolf Hitler and Macbeth both possess a military background though each is a very different kind of soldier. In the play, Macbeth is a brave and honorable soldier who was rewarded the title of “Thane of Cawdor” (1.2.63-67) for accomplishing the king’s will and killing the old thane. Hitler on the other hand, was **a just another soldier**. He served well in the Bavarian army, but according to his superiors he lacked the intellect to move up the echelon of military rankings past the rank of “Gafreiter.” Another relatively minor similarity is that they both are superstitious. Macbeth listens to the prophecies of the witches’(This apostrophe should not be here.) and even put his life at risk because he feels so reassured by the witches’ words. Hitler’s belief in the superiority of a single race over all others showed that he did paranormal (Huh? He did paranormal. - This does not make sense).

Adolf Hitler and Macbeth were willing to do whatever they had to in order to accomplish what they wanted to. They were blinded by their ambitions and lust for power which led to some more commonalities including paying the ultimate price for choosing to do what they wanted.

[|Images.doc] [|hitlermacbeth.doc]