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Is Macbeth Responsible For His Own Downfall

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The quote, “No man is an island,” by John Donne portrays the fact that human behaviors are often influenced by others. In the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth shows the harsh consequences of crossing the line between ambition and greed, which proves that he led himself to his own grave. He also shows how the people around him, led him to his own downfall. Macbeth, the leading character in the story suffers the consequences after he lets greed take him over. In the play, Macbeth is a brave honoured Scottish soldier who is presented a prophecy by three witches. He is told that he will become the Thane of Cawdor. The information he receives startles his mind but with the pursuit of his wife, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth becomes “ambitious” to become a King. Lady Macbeth pulls the trigger when she calls Macbeth a “coward”, and questions his manhood, which only drives him to be more “ambitious” to kill the King. Macbeth lets his …show more content…

The witches play a key role in the play by setting the theme. They tell Macbeth the procholey and gain his trust. Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to act upon their saying and perform the evil deeds, that he later on does. He is responsible for his own downfall, because in the end, it was his decision to question himself, “Am I doing the right thing?”. If he had questioned his thoughts after his encounter with the witches, he would have had a much different outcome because he would have asked himself “Am I doing the right thing by trusting these strangers. He allows himself to be manipulated by his wife, but in that moment if he had asked himself “Am I doing the right thing by allowing my wife to persuade me to my own grave”, he definitely would have had a different outcome. In conclusion, Macbeth is responsible for his own downfall with the influence of the witches and Lady

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