According to Aristotle, a tragedy has many distinct qualities, including serious action, appropriate diction and rhythm, dramatic language, incidents arousing pity and fear, and catharsis. Additionally, the play must generally have six elements: plot, character, thought, melody, spectacle, and diction (Chicago). Finally, most tragedies contain a tragic hero, defined as a "great man" who makes a "mistake or harm" that has a great impact on the other characters (Ohio). Therefore, overall, William Shakespeare's Macbeth meets Aristotle's definition of tragedy to a large extent, as it includes all elements except melody. One of the major elements of a tragedy is the plot, which is the most important according to Aristotle. He said that “All human happiness or unhappiness takes the form of actions...Character gives us qualities, but it is in our actions – what we do – that we are happy or unhappy” (Chicago). Macbeth clearly illustrates all the qualities of a strong tragic plot, containing unity of action, peripeteia and a very serious error. First, the play had a clearly defined unit of action, meaning that it has one main action and one storyline with little or no other subplots. In Macbeth, the main character's aspirations to become king resulted in the murder of various characters, such as Duncan and Banquo, throughout the story. The plot never strayed from this storyline and each action was a result of the previous one, making it easier for the reader to follow. Additionally, peripety was used heavily in Macbeth and is defined as "the passage from one state of affairs at the beginning of the play to the precisely opposite state at the end of the play" (Chicago). In the room, the turning point...... middle of paper ......nvincible. However, this was not the case because Macduff was born by caesarean section, as shown in the quote "Say, Macduff was from his mother's womb/Torn prematurely" (Shakespeare 5.8.15-16) . So, Macbeth was truly a good man at first, but his flaws overcame him and he was killed for that reason. A good tragedy must contain at least four of the elements defined by Aristotle: plot, spectacle, thought, melody, character, and diction. Macbeth features five, as well as a tragic hero, and meets the definition of tragedy to a very large extent. Shakespeare used these elements to his advantage and really allowed the reader to feel sorry for the main character and be able to imagine the story as they read. Therefore, Macbeth is truly a tragic story that fits Aristotle's definition almost perfectly and brings much to the dramatic genre..