Macbeth displays great courage at the end of the play. He is the tragic hero, and unless he goes down fighting he has nothing left to make him heroic. He has lost everything, including his honor. He has been a failure as a king. His country is going to ruins. Now he is being invaded by an army of ten thousand men, which was a very large force in those times. His own men are deserting by the hundreds every day. If he meets the invaders on the field of battle, he will soon be fighting ten thousand armed men by himself. This seems to be what Shakespeare is suggesting in the last act. Macbeth is shown all alone on the battlefield. Yet he is still ready to fight anyone who dares confront him. Shakespeare makes it plain that Macbeth is facing the invading army alone in the opening lines of Act V, Scene 7.
They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly,
But bear-like I must fight the course. What's he
That was not born of woman? Such a one
Am I to fear, or none.
He has lost the war, but he is still counting on supernatural aid as promised by an apparition raised by one of the three witches. Then he is fully disillusioned when Macduff tells him in Act V, Scene 7:
Despair thy charm,
And let the angel whom thou still hast served
Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb
Untimely ripp'd.
Macbeth now realizes that all is lost. Nevertheless, he continues fighting until he is killed by Macduff and his head is severed. This shows admirable courage, and it is the only reason the audience still has some small degree of sympathy and respect for him. This sympathy and respect are all that can support the play's claim to be a tragedy,
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