Pride Comes Before the Fall

Before Macbeth meets with Macduff, he thinks of ways to handle Macduff so he would no longer be a problem. Macduff was considered to be a problem because he left the kingdom in order to assist an opposing force. Macbeth states “Then live, Macduff: what need I fear of thee? But yet I’ll make assurance double sure, and take a bond of fate.” (Act IV scn i, ln 82-84) He wants to make sure Macduff will not be a problem; he wants to keep Macduff out of his way. In this scene Macbeth is attempting to discover ways to inforce his superiority through the phrase “The castle of Macduff I will surprise; seize upon Fife; give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword his wife, his babies, and all unfortunate souls.” (Act IV scn i, ln 150-152) He hired men to kill Macduff’s family, so he will be depressed and will grieve; he wants to keep Macduff out of the way of him still being King. The main reason he did this, however, was to exert his leadership over Macduff and send a message. This paragraph explains how Macbeth was disloyal to Macduff and how he did anything to keep Macduff out of his way, but things did not turn out as he

Just as Lady Macbeth said in Act II.2, overthinking their deed causes Macbeth to lose his reason, while her cunning only increases after the crime. In Act II.3 when Macduff asks why Macbeth liked the guards,

Macbeth realizes that the prophecy that the three witches told him is coming true, which blew his mind. Macduff fights for honor and Macbeth fights to kill and to stay alive even though he knows that he is destined to perish.

Many people who have read William Shakespeare’s Macbeth know that Macbeth is the tragic hero in the play, but there another character stands out as a much greater protagonist. Macbeth is the type of character who turned from a loyal warrior to the king into a violent, tyrannical, and conflicted person as he progressively commits crimes inside the kingdom without anyone’s notice, except for one person, who is Macduff. Macduff doesn’t have any flaws and remains sinless and heroic throughout the play. As Macbeth progressively gains power and prestige in exchange for the lives of his king, his friends, and his countrymen, Macduff meanwhile goes through great personal loss in his attempts to stop Macbeth’s tyrannical ruling and to restore justice and freedom to Scotland. It is ironic how Macduff acts so much more nobly than his king. Throughout the tragic events that have occurred in the play, Macduff serves as a heroic figure through his demonstrations of intelligence, loyalty, and righteousness.

He has Macbeth stand his ground until the end and lose his fight after trying his best. We see glimpses of the Macbeth we saw in Act 1 – brave and valiant – in an altered scenario. In Scene 3, Macbeth says, “I’ll fight till from my bones my flesh be hack’d”. He wants to die as someone who, though hated, fought confidently and skilfully. Later, Macbeth states “At least we’ll die with harness on our back”. He thinks that if he dies like this, all is not lost and that, despite his reputation, he may still be admired for certain qualities. He refuses to be affected by his wife’s death either. He says, “She would have died hereafter”, pushing it to the back of his mind, focusing on the battle rather than Lady Macbeth’s demise. Lastly, before Macbeth is slain, he says, “Lay on Macduff, / And damn’d be him that first cries, ‘Hold, enough!”. He is eager to be strong to the end – attempting to keep the qualities that he was once respected

A decision you make can lead to the disastrous fate of others. When Macduff left for England he left his wife and child vulnerable. Lady Macduff's frustration at Macduff when he left both her and her child is conveyed through the criticising line of: "To leave his wife, to leave his babes, His mansion and his titles in a place From whence himself does fly?". It portrays how abruptly Macduff fled to England in  search of Malcom. Consequently Macbeth hires assassins to kill both Lady Macduff and her child. Macduff blames himself for this as if he hadn't have left his wife and child would still be alive. This is portrayed in the grim line " They were all struck for thee! Naught that I am, Not for their own demerits, but for mine, Fell slaughter on their souls". This conveys how Macduff feels guilt towards his wife and child's death. Therefore

In spite of this they decide to play create a false sense of security with Macbeth, “security is mortals’ chiefest enemy”. To do this they made the aspirations that Macbeth sees, sound like nothing can hurt, kill or dethrone him, “none of woman born can harm Macbeth”. The witches are responsible for Macbeth’s downfall because they make it seem that he cannot be killed by anything, thus enhancing his sense of security. This heightened sense of invincibility causes Macbeth to kill MacDuff’s family, and then fight with the thought that no one can hurt him. Macbeth is not totally responsible for his downfall, the witches twisting of words cause Macbeth to misinterpret the message, which causes his eventual death.

By the end of the play Macbeth had become to cocky about his skills and what the apparitions told him. When he meets Macduff at the end of the play, instead of running away like he should have he taunts Macduff about the fact that he can not kill him. That is until Macduff says this:

         Towards the end of the play, once Macbeth’s wife has died and the battle is drawing closer, Macbeth shows the desire for some good that may have been.  He wishes for a normal life in which he would have lived to an honorable age, but he recognizes that he has deprived himself of this.   Even when Macbeth hears that the prophecy of Birnam Wood coming to Dunsinane has been fulfilled, he rejects this idea and fights on until he realizes that Macduff wasn’t born in a natural birth but instead was "untimely ripped"(V.viii.19-20) from his mother’s womb.  When Macbeth hears of this, he realizes what dastardly deeds he has done and how he has underestimated the power of the witches. He fights on, knowing it is only a matter of time before he is slain.

Macbeth was king and had killed several people to get this far, even killing his friend to stay king. Macbeth was afraid that Banquo’s son was a threat to his throne. He went to the witches so that they could inform him on what was going to happen in the future. The Witches told him to be aware of Macduff, that no one born of a woman can harm him, and to not be weary until the forest comes to the palace. This makes Macbeth think he is invincible. This also makes him a bit arrogant since he does not comprehend how the forest can just come to the palace. Though he is still a bit weary of Macduff, this was his breaking point. This is when you see him fully loose his conscious. He decides without hesitation to kill everyone in Macduff’s castle without remorse. His thoughts were “from this moment the very firstlings of my heart shall be the firstlings of my hand. And even now, to crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done: The castle of Macduff I will surprise; seize upon Fife, give to the edge o’ the sword his wife, babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line” (Shakespeare, Act IV Scene II) This is when Macbeth’s descent is fulfilled, but there is still another influence to this

Another flaw of Macbeth’s readers can learn from was his internal conflict and jealousy of anyone who could possibly come in between him and crown. Macbeth was often threatened by other people who could possibly take the crown from him. The first time the reader can see this jealousy arise was when Macduff said, “Our eldest, Malcolm, whom we name hereafter, Prince of Cumberland;” (1.4.38-39). Macbeth’s first reaction was to fear the whole family line of Macduff. This intimidation lead to one of Macbeth’s most careless destructive decision when he

He falls pathetically in cowardice when faced with a real man, who he knows he is no match against, but also exclaims that he is feeling fired up and ready to take on MacDuff. Perhaps this is true for an individual like Macbeth who is so pathetic and confused. He has no consciousness of himself as he squanders his

In Act 4 Macbeth has taken another turn for the worse. He has become barbaric, ruthless and calloused. The witches have given Macbeth visions and caused him to become confident to a fault in his power. He believes that nobody can stop him. He heartlessly orders the killing of all of Macduff’s family because Macduff has fled to England. “Seize upon to Fife, give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line” (IV.i.158-160) Macbeth has passed the point of no return. His desire to have power has won. His good side is no more.

     The paradoxical theme affects Macbeth’s by turning his life upside down. Macbeth is not the person he is as he seems. He is introduced as a warrior hero, whose fame in the battlefield wins him the honor from King Duncan. However, his ambitions are made clear when he reveals his inner emotions and thoughts. One example is when Macbeth says, “I am settle and bend up Each corporal agent to this terrible feat. Away, and mock the time with fairest show. False face must hide what the false heart doth know.” Macbeth knows that the act of killing Duncan is morally wrong and even agonizes over the idea of killing someone who loves him as much as Duncan does, yet decides that he will do it anyway. Macbeth does not like the fact that Duncan intends to pass the crown to his son Malcolm. The blindness of the Duncan shows when he says, “To find the mind’s construction in the face. He was a gentleman on whom I built An absolute trust,” he greets Macbeth as his “worthiest cousin.” The effect the paradox has on Macbeth is ultimately his death. When the Witches prophesize that no man born from a woman’s womb can defeat him, he feels invincible. However, Macbeth does not realize that Macduff was born unnaturally. Paradoxically, the more power

More people start to become treats along with becoming suspicious to Macbeth. In order to make sure that he stays in power without letting anyone know about his previous scandals Macbeth hires people to do it for him. Macduff finds out that his family was murdered and wants to kill Macbeth before he destroys the kingdom. At the end of the story. Macduff battles Macbeth saying “I have no words,My voice is in my sword. Thou bloodier villain,Than terms can give thee out! (Act 5 Scene 8) meaning that Macduff is full of rage and wants Macbeth dead. As the battle continues, Macbeth is defeated knowing that he couldn't be killed from anyone born from a