preview

Who Is Responsible For Macbeth's Downfall

Decent Essays
Open Document

In drama, curiosity is often a trait that is undesirable in heroes, as now we know that curiosity is what can often lead to a downwards-spiral of ignorance. In Shakespeare's Macbeth the Weird Sisters were responsible for Macbeth's downfall, as they were the ones who sparked the ambition to be king all by teasing Macbeth by predicting his future. On the contrary, Sophocles’ "Oedipus Rex," is much different, as Tiresias tells Oedipus his fate in order to protect him, sending Oedipus on a journey to his own doom lead by his own ignorance. Minor characters in drama obviously have a great impact on the advancement of the plot; as in the case of Oedipus and Macbeth, their downfall was caused because they teased their tragic flaws such as ambition …show more content…

At the beginning of the play, the Three Witches comment on current events that can already alert the reader of their malicious and cruel behavior. An example of the witches exhibiting cruel behavior is when the Second witch is questioned on her whereabouts, she replies with a simple “Killing swine” (Shakespeare 1.iii.1.) The Three Witches can be assumed to be cruel because it is unusual to be killing swine for fun, and it can be assumed that slaughtering harmless animals to be cruel. (Perhaps killing swine even correlates to torturing humans, but the play never specified.) Another trait that the Three Witches possesses that affects Macbeth negatively would be their general uncaring nature. A distinctive instance of the Witches not caring is when the Second Witch is asked when they will meet again, to which she responds with, “When the hurlyburly's done, When the battle's lost and won.” (Shakespeare I.i.3-4.) This is an exceptional depiction of the Witches uncaring nature, as the Second Witch shows how unimportant the winner of the war is, which captures the essence of the Witches and their uncaring and cruel personality. The Three Witches differ from other minor characters as they provoke the main character as opposed to assisting

Get Access