“All That May Become a Man”: Macbeth and the Breakdown of the Heroic Model

While initially appearing to conform to the traditional epic representation of war as a duel between Good and Evil, or Right and Wrong, Macbeth — a couple of centuries before a similar debunking takes place in the novel — ends up deconstructing this neat, unrealistic model and suggesting that all war is chaos and that ancient, inherited values such as heroism and honour are not sufficient to preserve communities from falling into confusion and destruction.