Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, is the tragic tale of Macbeth,
a virtuous man, corrupted by power and greed. This tragedy can be classified by
one of two theories. One theory suggests that the tragic hero, Macbeth, is led
down an unescapable road of doom by an outside force; namely the three witches.
The second suggests that there is no supernatural force working against Macbeth,
which therefore makes him responsible for his own actions and inevitable
downfall. Macbeth is indeed responsible for his own actions which are provoked
by Lady Macbeth, the witches, his ambition, and an unwillingness to listen to
his own conscience. These forces had no direct control over his actions but
simply pointed
…show more content…
Macbeth then had to
make a decision. He willingly chose to follow the path of death and destruction.
Lady Macbeth simply showed him that path.
It is easy to believe that the witches controlled Macbeth and made him
follow a path of doom. The predictions they give, coupled with their unholy ways
suggest that they are in control of him. They are not. It is admittedly strange
that the weird sisters first address Macbeth with,"All hail, Macbeth! Hail to
thee Thane of Cawdor!"(I, iii, 49), a title which not even Macbeth is aware he
has been awarded. Even stranger is the third witch calling to Macbeth,"All hail,
Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!"(I, iii, 50). Here it may seem as if the
witches are using their supernatural powers to control Macbeth's future. All
they have done is foretold his future. A prophecy is hardly an invitation to
murder. Banquo hears the witches' words and tells Macbeth:
The instruments of darkness tell us truths,
Win us with honest trifles, to betray's
In deepest consequence (I, iii, 124-126)
He is telling Macbeth not to be swayed by the witches even though one of the
prophecies has come true. It is a warning that Macbeth ignores. He is so
enraptured by the prophecies of the witches that he consciously follows a path
of darkness in an effort to fulfil the
Macbeth’s downward spiral of events was created through his own free will. The witches did foretell his future but they never directly controlled his actions. The sisters did not cast a spell to make Macbeth go crazy. He was engulfed in his lust for power and his battle with his conscience. This led to his insomnia
"Macbeth" is a tragic play that was written by William Shakespeare in the early 1600’s. It revolved around the character Macbeth and his urge to become king of Scotland. Macbeth had to do anything possible to become the king including murder, lying, and deception. However, Macbeth committed these evil deeds due to some influential people in his life. Between Macbeth’s wife persuading him to do anything to become king and the witches prophesying over him causes Macbeth to try and bury the past and control the future.
At the beginning of the passage, Macbeth contains confidence because of the words of the witches. Macbeth states, "Till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane,
The character Macbeth in the story of Shakespeare’s Macbeth faces decisions that affect his morals. He begins as an innocent soul, dedicated to serve his kingdom and its king, Duncan. As time passes and opportunities present themselves combined with the deception of the evil witches, Macbeth begins his descent into madness. Macbeth’s innocence and loyalty are completely corrupted due to his over confidence, guilty conscience, and the inevitability of human nature. Macbeth looses sight of what is morally right to do in life because his logical choices are changed by these factors.
In Shakespeare’s classic tragedy of Macbeth the main character Macbeth is driven from his status as a well respected warrior and lord of not one, but two Scottish regions to a dishonest, unloyal murderer. Macbeth gets caught in a web of lies and vile acts of murder in which he brings about his own demise. His criminal actions lead up to his tragic ending of life. ‘ They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly, But bearlike I must fight the course.’ His great ambition and gullibility of the witches predictions are two of the biggest factors of his downfall;however, Lady Macbeth was probably the biggest influence in the whole tragedy.
Initially, Macbeth is viewed as a brave and loyal soldier, with Duncan praising him by expressing that “More is thy due than more than all can pay” (1.4.21). At this point, he has not been influenced by the three witches. Yet, by Duncan implying his importance, Macbeth gains a sense of self-worth and this arouses power within. His clear desire to be titled Thane of Cawdor while then having a growing temptation to commit regicide clearly demonstrate the early stages of his corruption and forms a basis for utilizing illegitimate power.
William Shakespeare’s play entitled Macbeth is a bloody tragedy about ambition, evil, guilt and moral corruption. The story emphasizes a lot on the consequences or aftermath of the bad deeds that Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth do and the growing impact it has on them in turn. Lady Macbeth a woman driven by her assertiveness, boldness, strength and ambition for her husband could not escape the guilt that eventually caught up to her and destroyed her. In Act 5 scene 1, Lady Macbeth is sleep walking and goes insane due to the guilt and remorse that finally catches up to her. This scene is the most important because it changes the reader’s view on Lady Macbeth and Macbeth as characters and it also
We see in the play Macbeth that when the motivation to succeed in life becomes overpowering, other people may easily influence one and elements and one may decide on wrongful actions to achieve a goal. Some of the influences on Macbeth include the witches and the apparitions, Lady Macbeth, and lastly Macbeth's own insecurities and misguided attempts to control his future.
In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the main character, Macbeth, is a brave and loyal subject to the King of Scotland, but as the play progresses, his character begins to change drastically. Evil and unnatural powers, as well as his own passion to become king, take over his better half and eventually lead to his downfall. The three main factors that intertwine with one another that contribute to Macbeth’s tragic end are the prophecies told by the three witches, Lady Macbeth’s influence, and finally, Macbeth’s excessive passion and ambition which drove his desire to become king to the utmost extreme. The prophecy told by the three witches was what triggers the other factors that contribute to Macbeth s downfall. In the first act, the witches
Lady Macbeth? The driving force behind Macbeth’s downfall? Certainly not. Macbeth was completely and solely responsible for all the acts of great evil which were to lead to his downfall, and to even suggest the blame can be shifted on his wife is ludicrous.
At the first encountering of the three weird sisters by Macbeth, they present to Macbeth a foreshadow of his destiny by saying, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis!;/ All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane
A Shakespearean tragic hero starts out as a noble person; a great exceptional being who stands out. A tragic hero has a tragic flaw of an exaggerated trait that leads to their downfall and eventually to death. William Shakespeare often made his main characters tragic heroes in his plays. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the role of the tragic hero is given to the main character: Macbeth. This is because he starts off as a loyal and well liked man in the beginning, but has a tragic flaw of ambition which ultimately leads to his downfall.
The chaos begins when three witches appear to Macbeth and his buddy Banquo, and they proclaim, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor! ...that shalt be king hereafter!” (I, iii, 50-51), which confuses Macbeth because the thane of Cawdor is still alive, and he thinks it impossible for him to become king. The witches also say
"All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis! All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor! All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!" (I.iii.49-51)
It was predestined that Macbeth would find the witches' words to be unavoidable. MacBeth was bound to believe the witches’ prophecy after which Macbeth becomes Thane of Cawdor. After seeing that this part of the prophecy came true, he truly believed that to be king was his rightful destiny. Macbeth may be fated to be king, but he decides how he will achieve it. Therefore, MacBeth is the one who chose for himself that this was his to be his future. He creates his own fate and misery when he is driven by the guilt of his actions. Therefore, though the witches’ manipulation of his future choices is valid, it was MacBeth who determined for himself that he would accomplish the prophecy by taking matters into his own hands. If he truly believed in the witches’ prophecy, deciding with complete faith that fate would act, then he would not have felt so rushed to go as far as killing the king.