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Who Is Responsible For Macbeth's Downfall

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How is it possible that someone so great could be destined for downfall? Shakespeare’s masterpiece Macbeth tells the tale of a courageous solider and how fate and his flaws and actions make him into a ruthless ruler and later lead to his downfall. Macbeth is one of literatures greatest examples of a tragic hero-a great and rightous character in a dramatic tragedy that is fated for suffering and downfall-though his tragic flaw, suffering and potential for greatness.

One of a tragic hero’s greatest characteristics is that they have a hubris which leads to their demise. Macbeth’s ambition causes him to ignore his values and leads to his loss of conscience. Macbeth commits his first great crime in scene two of the second act. Despite the fact …show more content…

For example, in the second scene of the second act after Macbeth murders King Duncan, Macbeth hallucinates a voice saying “Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep—the innocent sleep” As Macbeth has now realized what he has done, he will not be able to rest anymore since he is no longer innocent. Since Macbeth has committed such a horrible crime, he will not be able to sleep well as sleep is only for the innocent. Throughout the rest of the play, Macbeth will constantly remark on his exhaustion and will be unable to rest due to the guilt he feels. Also, in the fourth scene of the third act, Macbeth hallucinates the ghost of Banquo (his best friend) at his banquet after he hires assassins to murder Banquo and his son. His hallucination can help us understand what Macbeth is feeling at that time. Although Banquo’s ghost only sits in Macbeth’s chair, Macbeth’s extreme reaction displays his guilt and fear. Banquo’s ghost sitting in Macbeth (the king)’s chair is a reminder to Macbeth that Banquo’s sons and not Macbeth’s will be heir to the throne-one of the witch’s first prophecies. Also, from line 53, Macbeth states “Thou canst not say I did it” referring to the fact that he hired assassins to murder Banquo instead of doing the deed himself as he did with King Duncan. This was to dislocate himself from the murder however his hallucination is an indicator that he can never totally escape from the guilt. From Macbeth’s

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