Macbeth

Type 3: Comparison "The Unforgiven" to MacBeth

Many societies have a tragic hero, a hero with a tragic flaw and a fatal weakness. In the poem Macbeth and in Metallica's song "The Unforgiven," the theme is portrayed through similar means of tone, imagery, and characterization of a "tragic hero." First, both pieces of writing depict characters who have felt a tragic guilt in their lives. For example, in the beginning of the poem, Macbeth contemplates on weather or not to kill King Duncan. He decides to kill Duncan in an attempt to fulfill the prophecy and soon after feels the burden of guilt that his crime has put upon himself. "I'll go no more / I am afraid to think what I have done / Look on 't again I dare not" (2.2.50-51), "To know my deed, 'twere best not know myself" (2.2.73). Metallica also shows those same characterization of tragic guilt in his song when he uses phrases like "Never free / Never me / So I dub the unforgiven" and "Deprived of all this thoughts / The young man struggles on and on..." Thus, both the poem's and song's characterization are constructed through the character in the poem and the song having a guilty mind. Secondly, the tone of both the poem and the song are constructed through the weaknesses of regretfulness. For example, towards the end of the play MacBeth realizes that his end is very near. He looks back upon his life and realizes what could have been and regrets not being able to have the opportunity now to go back and get to enjoy the things he never got to experience. "And that which should accompany old age / As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends / I must not look to have" (5.3.24-26). Similarly, Metallica sees images such as regretfulness in its song with phrases such as "Never be / Never free / won't see what might have been" and "The old man then prepares / To die regretfully..." The tone of both the poem and the song depict regretfulness in life. Both demonstrate what it is like to be regretful and not able to accomplish the things in life you had originally set out to do. Finally, the tragic hero in the song and the poem