Causes of Macbeths Downfall

In Macbeth, a brutal tragedy by William Shakespeare, the author explores how when gone unchecked, power can corrupt all those surrounded by it. Lady Macbeth’s lust for power and Macbeth’s impressionable arrogance ultimately cost them their lives, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. Notably, after hearing from Macbeth the witches prophecy, Lady Macbeth becomes obsessed with the idea of her husband becoming king. Willing to risk anything she formulates a plan and aggressively pushes Macbeth to murder King Duncan, insulting and manipulating him until he agrees. She chastises Macbeth, insulting his manhood and insisting that “when durst do it, then you were a man”. Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband into thinking

In the play, Macbeth is responsible for the decisions that lead to his downfall. However, we understand that Macbeth is not entirely to blame because his destruction was in some ways caused by his weakness to be easily influenced by others. The misleading prophecies of the Witches and the persuasiveness of Lady Macbeth blocked Macbeth's own judgment. Duncan's murder is also a factor to consider as it became a point where Macbeth believed that there was no turning back because he had already destroyed the natural order in Scotland.

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the antagonist Macbeth is influenced and motivated by his wife Lady Macbeth to plan and execute vicious acts. Lady Macbeth is presented as a villainous character as she instigates her husband into committing horrendous acts starting with the murder of Duncan. She implant’s the idea of violence into Macbeth’s mind. And constantly manages to feed Macbeth’s thoughts with heartless and unfavorable comments. “When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would..be so much more than the man” (1.7.47-51). Lady Macbeth cleverly uses these quotes to mock Macbeth’s ability to behave like a man. She questions Macbeth’s identity and uses him as a pawn to complete her plan. Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth that he would be more than a man if he committed the murder and that this would benefit him.

In Act 1, Scene 7, Lines 56-57, "When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man", Lady Macbeth orchestrates Macbeth’s self-esteem by taunting his manliness when Macbeth doesn’t plan on following through with her plan. Moments later, she tells him how he should act and what he needs to do, in Act 1, Scene 5, Lines 71-75, “When Duncan is asleep...look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.” She successfully augments Macbeth’s ambition and exhorts him to commit atrocities. After Duncan’s murder, Macbeth no longer values Lady Macbeth’s opinions- his actions are rash and selfish because they are made promptly. Interaction between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth falters since Macbeth is now swept up with erasing his tracks. The two perish as individuals- Macbeth is miserable with guilt caused by cold- blooded Lady Macbeth’s attribution of influence and plan. But instead of comforting her husband and talking him out of murdering more people, Lady Macbeth only gives one feeble attempt.

In Shakespeare play, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth’s character progresses in an interesting manner. Lady Macbeth is made to act as an incentive to Macbeth's immoral actions. Even though Macbeth is generally the person to have a final say before killing someone, Lady Macbeth plays the role of his “sidekick”. She mocks her husband if he worries over a sinful deed (which usually she instructs him to do), saying he would be less of a man if he does not follow through with their plan (I. vii. 56-57). She gives Macbeth a short lecture in deceptiveness when they are planning to kill King Duncan (I. vi. 73-78). She also prepared the daggers for Macbeth to kill Duncan in advance (II. ii. 15-16). Although her husband was still having doubts, she was always ready to go in for the kill. She did not think twice about it or feel any remorse. This shows that Lady Macbeth evolved into looking like a humble and quieter person on the exterior, but being an insane woman and criminal due to the events that have affected her.

Lady Macbeth understands Macbeth’s lust for the throne, and lusts for it herself. She also understands his ambition, but feels that her husband might regret and decide against killing Duncan to steal his throne, as she regards to Macbeth as “full o’ the milk of human kindness” (1.5.4). Since Lady Macbeth fears that Macbeth would turn against her and not go through with the plan, she decides that it must be up to her to get it done correctly. She asks that only the “direst cruelty” (1.5.33) fill her, as she gathers everything that is evil to her in order to murder Duncan. Even though Macbeth was hesitant over the idea of murdering Duncan, his wife convinces him that acting on his impulse of killing Duncan is the right thing to do. This shown when Macbeth starts to second guess the thought of murdering his king, and that it should not be done. However, his wife verbally harasses him into agreeing. Lady Macbeth questions his love for her, questions his masculinity, and criticizes his desire to be king by saying, “When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man” (1.5.49-51). As his successfully offends him, he decides that he needs to prove his manhood, his love of his wife, and his ambition to be king, he agrees to murder Duncan.

The struggle for power is encountered through the interactions between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. When initially introduced to the character of Lady Macbeth, she reads a letter addressed to her from Macbeth in which he states his plans to kill King Duncan and assume the throne. Lady Macbeth responds with a speech signifying her agreeance and calls for the strength to carry on with the plan: “Come, you spirits/ That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,/ And fill me from the crown to the top-full/ of direst cruelty” (1.5.47-50). Here, she is denouncing her femininity to take on a more masculine role and to be filled with nothing but motivation for the cruel crime. Shakespeare uses this scene to foreshadow the event in which the crime will be committed. While Macbeth begins to have second thoughts and uneasiness towards the situation, Lady Macbeth tells him: “What beast was ’t,/ then, / That made you break this enterprise to me?/ When you durst do it, then you were a man;/ And to be more than what you were, you would/ Be so much more the man” (1.7.53-58). Lady Macbeth is emasculating her husband her by questioning his ability to be a man and how he hesitates to make the move towards power while she is confident in her decision. Shakespeare makes a choice to have a woman be the one to urge the death of Duncan to show the reversal of gender roles and to expose Lady Macbeth’s character. The playwright

Macbeth’s ambition for power interests his wife, Lady Macbeth, who also desires power and corrupts Macbeth’s ambition. When Macbeth is having second thoughts as to whether or not he should murder Duncan, Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth, coaxing him into killing King Duncan despite his loyal service to him;”When you durst do it, then you were a man; / And to be more than what you were, you would / Be so much more the man”(I.7.56-58). Lady Macbeth questions Macbeth’s manliness as a way to get Macbeth to go through with the murder. Macbeth, offended and hesitant, struggles with moral conflict. He fears being caught and does not wish to murder Duncan because he has been fair to him. Lady Macbeth however knows that Macbeth strives for power, and finds a way to use this as a way of manipulating him. Earlier on in the play, Lady Macbeth is reading her husband’s letter and learns of the prophecies. Her first instinct is to kill Duncan. She reads the letter and reflects on Macbeth’s nature,“Glamis thou art, and cawdor,and shalt be / What thou art promised. Yet I do fear thy nature; / It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness”(I.5.15-17). Lady Macbeth knows that her husband does not have enough ambition to kill Duncan, and realizes she must push him into murdering King Duncan. [This is the moment in the play where Lady starts planning to murder King Duncan and gets the play moving in the direction it ends]. Macbeth’s thirst for power never leaves him satisfied.

Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth about his confrontation with the paranormal trio and after finding his hesitance to kill King Duncan to gain the royal title, she ferociously attacks him with her words. Lady Macbeth manipulates her words by making Macbeth question his sense of manhood if he does not follow through. She does this by saying, “When you durst do it, then you were a man; and to me more than what you were you would be so much more than a man” (Act 1 Scene 7 Lines 56-58). Macbeth takes this to heart and places his sense of manhood above his morality to gain the respect of his wife. She also is in a position of power over him, proven by her condescending words of saying that if he did not follow through with the assassination, she would “dashed the brains out” of him (Line 65).

In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth is fated by supernatural forces, the three witches, to fulfill a prophecy. Macbeth struggles with his desire for power and belief in the witches’ prophecy, which leads him to ignore the choice of free will and follow his fate, despite immense guilt and self doubt. Macbeth also lives with a fatal flaw, which leads to his eventual destruction. These qualities lead the reader to believe that Macbeth is a tragic hero, who gained vast amounts of power only to continuously lust for greater control, which in the end gets him killed. Macbeth stumbles upon the witches, who speak in riddles in order to tell him his fate.

Macbeth is one of the most famous stories ever told in shakespeare. With lies piling up and people getting murdered. The three witches and apparitions making the play a little freaky. However, do you ever wonder how Macbeth came to his downfall? Or why he did not last long as king?

Was it Macbeth that did all these evil deeds or was it someone else. Was his story really cursed or was it his wife’s bidding. Macbeth has killed the king and took the crown then has killed others to protect himself. He gets three prophecies in the beginning that become true and three in the near end that lead to his fall. I think it is Macbeth’s fault for all his actions and the cause of his downfall.

In the tragic play of Macbeth, a series of unpremeditated events unfold from the murder of King Duncan. Macbeth kills King Duncan in order to become the king of Scotland, but was, in turn, overthrown by those who resisted his rule. The one who is to blame for these events can be argued as almost any character in the book as they all had a role in this disarray. From my view, Macbeth is the one who had ultimately caused the peripeteia experienced by him and his wife, with his ambition and Lady Macbeth being factors of what influences Macbeth’s decision making.

The Causes of Macbeth’s Downfall How far would you go to fulfill your desire? Macbeth, a play written by the great William Shakespeare in the seventeenth century, was a tale that answered that very question. It reached the top ten list of plays written by Shakespeare for that very reason. This play truly demonstrated just how far one’s lust for power would change a man. This man’s own ambition lead to his premature downfall.

Many of people have heard the tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare. The story revolves on a sequence of misfortunate events that take place when Macbeth makes immoral decisions to be king. In the play, Shakespeare shows how power can cause corruption in a human’s brain. Macbeth himself was not a very confident person, though he had a kind soul to begin with, he was easily influenced and gullible. Through the prophecies of the evil beings, an insignificant seed was planted in Macbeth. That spark of wealth and fortune caused the tyrant within him to awake. Which eventually lead to his fatal death. His ambition lead him to murder, go insane and become very superstitious.