Tragedy is a serious play in which the main character is characterized by certain psychological weaknesses, thus going through a series of misfortunes that lead to his destructive end. Aristotle in his Poetics postulated that catharsis is the defining characteristic and definitive end of every tragedy; to quote him he wrote Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay "Tragedy is the imitation of a serious, complete and significant action... through pity [eleos] and fear [phobos] effecting the correct purification [catharsis] of these emotions” Book 6.2). Furthermore, according to him, tragedy is the complete remake of a significant moral act. William Shakespeare's Macbeth rightly fits Aristotle's criteria for creating a successful dramatic tragedy and adequately exemplifies the fundamental principles of the creation of this genre. The plot for Aristotle is "the soul of tragedy" and therefore his Poetics is mainly dedicated to the discussion of the requirements, expectations and development of a good one. For him the plot must be the replica of a noble and complete action. The complete action required by Aristotle, that is, an initial, central and final action, is satisfied by the respective locations of the tragedy of Macbeth. In his Poetics, Aristotle further defines the different parts of a tragedy: Prologue, Episode, Exodus, Choral Songs. and the last part which is divided into two: Parodos and Stasimon. All these are found in Macbeth except the songs of the Chorus; despite this shortcoming, the work can still be considered Aristotelian for the most part because it still adheres to Aristotle's plot fundamentals: that the actions and episodes are organized into a "coincidentally connected" whole, seamlessly. The elements of action are exposition, incitement to action, rising action, turning point or climax, falling action, and denouement. Macbeth adheres to all of these elements by presenting a new question every now and then to keep the audience interested. This important part that keeps the audience's attention is known as dramatic tension. The three witches provide the activating circumstance necessary to satisfy Aristotle's requirement for complete action: a revelation and a reversal of action. Macbeth, along with Banquo, meets the three witches who possess mystical powers to predict the fate or future of the two men. The role of the evil sisters is to act as forces of destiny, leading Macbeth to his own destruction. However, the prophecy stimulates Macbeth to desire kingship; it is this ambition that leads him to destruction or downfall. When the audience discovers something that has been hidden from them before they can help put the pieces together, the point of revelation has been reached. This is also known as the point of realization. In Act V, scene 1, Lady Macbeth is found sleepwalking, speaking the words of reassurance she gave to her husband after killing Duncan and Banquo: "What need have we to fear who knows, when none can call our power to consent?" (lines 40-2) and “I tell you once more, Banquo is buried” (lines 66-7). The audience now realizes that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are accomplices to the crime which later sought justice and ultimately caused the downfall of the culprits. With Macduff killing Macbeth the audience witnesses the final principle of Aristotelian complete action which is the reversal of action. Macbeth is characterized by corrupt ambition, a nobleman who will beat all odds to satisfy his deepest desire and realize his ambition to become king, even if thisit means employing evil plots along the way. Ultimately his ambition led to his downfall, to his death. Likewise with the other lives he has taken he is murdered and deceived. So far in the work there is a complete action, a noble and moral action that creates the basis of the plot. But what is noble about this act? This noble action may be suggested by a problem in the culture of Shakespeare's time. The play was written during the Elizabethan era, when ambition was considered a pious and admirable quality, a quality of nobility. Essentially, then, the plot of Macbeth, as an imitation of action, is that of a noble and complete action. On the other hand, irony is another important element in Aristotelian tragedy and many ironic statements can be found in the work. One of these is Macbeth's murderous act itself, which may be due to his tragic flaw (hamartia), which is his ambition. It should be remembered that Macbeth's ambition, encouraged by his wife, led to her death and when Macbeth learns of this terrible thing the words he speaks testify to the pain and desperation he feels, even ironically. He describes life as a pathetic, arrogant actor whose time on stage is brief. He also states: “It is a fable/ Told by an idiot full of sound and fury/ It means nothing” (Act V, Scene v, vv. 26-8). In his speech he says that life is meaningless and is contradicted by the show as a whole. At that moment Macbeth has just been rewarded for his evil acts, and the fact that he and his wife are punished for their crime manifests the presence of a greater good that also gives a higher meaning to life. Macbeth ironically embodies ambition and murder. Another related point of view that brings this closer to an Aristotelian tragedy is the playwright's use of dramatic irony with its integral stylistic component: diction. Aristotle emphasized that tragedies must be presented in elevated, non-everyday language to alert the audience that what they are about to witness is something serious. The Encarta World English Dictionary defines dramatic irony "as irony arising from a situation in which the audience has a more complete knowledge of what is happening in a play than a character has", so this involves the audience's attention and draws their attention closer to the context. play. This is exemplified in the play when King Duncan and his party arrive at Macbeth's castle, unaware of the evil plans plotted against them. Their mood, lighthearted and joking, is totally ironic to the audience since they know what Macbeth is really doing, as also evidenced by Macbeth's rudeness in greeting his guests honorably. However the dramatic irony is heightened by Duncan's constant admiration for Macbeth as he says: "Lead me to my host: we solemn him highly / And we will conduct our graces towards him." In the last part of the play, it is also enriched by dramatic irony: Macbeth has become monstrously desperate and pathetic. Troops were sent to overthrow him and his own troops abandoned him, yet he still puts his trust in the witches whose prophecy ultimately got the better of him. Even if he already sees his ruin, he cannot accept it; he continues to fight while also talking about his charmed life. His failure or refusal to see the plainly obvious makes the end of the play even more compelling than the beginning. Aristotle goes on to suggest that noble and complete action must be an imitation of fearful and pitiful conditions. In this regard, Aristotle states in his Poetics that “A perfect tragedy should be organized not on a simple but on a complex level. Should,. 1994