In William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, Macbeth is responsible for his own downfall and death regardless of the influence of the Three Witches and Lady Macbeth. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a trustworthy and fearless fighter who is loyal to his king until he lets his ambition overrule him. He becomes selfish and desperately desires to be king. Acting on these desires, Macbeth ruthlessly kills King Duncan thus becoming king. Once king, Macbeth buries his darkness protecting his evilness from all. Influencing Macbeth, the Three Witches give Macbeth ‘half fake’ prophecies and Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth into killing King Duncan which commences his downfall. Although the Three Witches and Lady Macbeth are contributing factors to Macbeth’s downfall, Macbeth is ultimately responsible for his murderous actions. …show more content…
Macbeth has a choice, as stated in Macbeth’s soliloquy “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which overlaps itself and falls on th’other” (1.7.25). Macbeth tries to justify himself as to why he may kill King Duncan, unruly ambition is his only excuse and his determination begins to surface. Macbeth begins seeking his future as king and will overcome any obstacle “the prince our Cumberland, that is a step I must overleap, for in my way it lies” (1.5.50). This quote proves Macbeth has the ambition to become the new king, and that he alone is the instigator in the murder of King Duncan. “Stars hide your fires, let not light see my black desires” (1.5.50) clearly demonstrates that in order for Macbeth to achieve the throne and become king, he will have to commit deeds that are contrary to his fading sense of right and wrong. Macbeth wishes to keep his evil a secret, revealing it to nobody. He understands that his deeds are extremely wicked. This quote exemplifies the depth of Macbeth ambition even as it shows the inner
plan and tells him how they must act to get away with it. “…look like
Decisions, Tragedies, Downfalls, and Macbeth Downfall. A sudden loss of power, prosperity, or status. There have been many a great leader, both in fiction and in history, whose rule suddenly came to a crashing halt. In Shakespeare’s famed tragedy Macbeth, a high-ranking, Scottish General named Macbeth murders the gracious King Duncan in order to take the throne for himself. Only a few short weeks later, his castle is invaded in an all-out siege and he is beheaded.
When Lady Macbeth is first planning a way to make Macbeth king, she knows that he is still too kind to act upon his ambitions, so she decides to take matters into her own hands. Lady Macbeth throws aside morals and kindness, instead becoming a cruel and cold-hearted person as a result of her thirst for power. When the time for Duncan’s murder to take place arrives and Macbeth does not follow the plan, Lady Macbeth smears the guards’ with blood herself. An act such as this she could carry out, but not the murder itself, which is explained in the quote, “Had he not resembled/ My father as he slept, I had done ‘t. (2.1.12-13)” In Act 1, Lady Macbeth had seemingly stripped herself of any remorse or doubt that may interfere with the murder, but
Lady Macbeth, Macbeth's wife, is the driving force that encourages Macbeth to overcome his doubts. She taunts him, calling him a "coward" and questioning his masculinity, because she knows Macbeth wants the power but lacks the gusto to do what it takes to achieve it. This uses Macbeth's ambition against him, as it calls him cowardly, when as a warrior, he spends a lot of time proving his lack of cowardice, in a time period where gender roles had major influence over people. Macbeth lets his ambition control him, allowing Lady Macbeth to drive him over the edge of his morale boundaries, which was the beginning of his demise (Shakespeare). With the external sources around Macbeth, it could appear like the witches and Lady Macbeth are what led to his downfall, but it is important to remember Macbeth's ambition was the source of pressure from outside sources and led to him being influenced by them.
Has one ever witnessed a nation show such great hatred towards its leader? Well, in the play Macbeth; it is very prevalent. From a respected man due to his dignity to a tyrannical ruler that was greatly hated; this is the evolution of Macbeth throughout the play. Macbeth was truly a ruthless and terrorizing man that ran a despotic regime over Scotland. These acts caused great turmoil economically and politically. Three main subjects that attribute to Macbeth’s immoral behavior as king: Assassination of any doubters or people who he thought were suspicious, disrupted the chain of being, and he put all his trust and fate in the hands of the witches’ perplexing words. One may say King Duncan is at fault in this situation, but all these
Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare during the 17th century, demonstrated the idea that other characters were responsible for Macbeth’s downfall. Macbeth, once an honorable and courageous warrior was transformed into a vain and ruthless dictator, who encountered a transformation that brought him not only the crown, but his death as well. This transformation, started by three influencing factors which included: the Three Witches, Lady Macbeth, and Macduff, manipulated Macbeth into committing acts of treason and murder. Although it was Macbeth, who was to blame for his actions, it was because of these three characters who greatly promoted him to complete those crimes.
A character’s tragic downfall is often influenced by other characters, but this is not the case in Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth. Macbeth conforms to the conditions of a tragic hero because in the beginning of the play, Macbeth is an honourable and trustworthy nobleman to King Duncan and all of Scotland. However, throughout the play, Macbeth commits evil deeds such betrayal, treason, and murder solely because of his ambitions to remain in power. Macbeth murders others upon hearing the witches’ prophecies and even proceeds to return to them to remain in power. Macbeth is influenced and manipulated by his wife Lady Macbeth and The Witches, but he is ultimately responsible for his own tragic downfall. Macbeth’s tragic downfall is caused by his ‘vaulting ambition’ to become king. Thus, Macbeth has no one but his ruthless, cruel, and greedy self to blame for his own tragic downfall.
The downfall of a great man to a paranoid, murderous, monster is a sad sight to see in William Shakespeare's Macbeth. Macbeth is too ambitious to settle as just the Thane of Glamis and Cawdor; he needs to be king, and the only way to do that is by committing despicable deeds. The witches are a key component of Macbeth's demise. They crave mischief and evil and they plant the ideas into Macbeth's head which send him on his killing spree. Therefore the witches are the most important factor of Macbeth's downfall.
From the very beginning, he has the ability to choose his own path. His greed is already overpowering him when hearing the first prophecy from the witches as he believed what they were saying was of great importance to him. Their words were tempting, but his own greed and blind ambition drove him to commit Duncan’s murder. This streak of evil within him is at its most prominent when he orders the murder of Macduff’s wife and children; it’s clear that he is no longer troubled by killing the innocent. Macbeth’s determined nature is shown when he ponders his “black and deep desires” – “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself, and falls on th'other”. He admits that there is no motivation to kill Duncan other than to fulfil his own ambition and become king himself. Macbeth’s greed and ambition get the best of him and lead his descent into insanity and eventual
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tragedy about a war hero named Macbeth, who follows his ambition with evil and who is repaid with evil. He is responsible for his own demise although only to a certain extent. There were many other factors that contributed to the tragic that could have been avoided - for example how the witches’ predictions are responsible for influencing Macbeth’s thoughts although ultimately no one told Macbeth to kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth was also a very influential character which manipulated Macbeth into doing bad deeds however he is responsible for putting power into the hands of Lady Macbeth and letting her influence him. Finally, Macbeth acknowledges his guilt of wrongdoing and is thereby responsible for his
In the play, Macbeth is responsible for the decisions that lead to his downfall. However, we understand that Macbeth is not entirely to blame because his destruction was in some ways caused by his weakness to be easily influenced by others. The misleading prophecies of the Witches and the persuasiveness of Lady Macbeth blocked Macbeth's own judgment. Duncan's murder is also a factor to consider as it became a point where Macbeth believed that there was no turning back because he had already destroyed the natural order in Scotland.
It is easier to assuage your own guilt by blaming your downfalls on another individual, unlike Macbeth. Macbeth rarely ever placed the reason for his downfall on his wife, when it was her who was the main cause of his subsequent demise. Although Macbeth’s power-hungry and tenebrous nature becomes the key factor in his downfall, Lady Macbeth initiates these ambitions by causing him to act on his own reluctant, lurid thoughts, killing off every individual who tries to obstruct his pathway in gaining the thrown. This overbearing behavior was not present in the very beginning of the play though; Macbeth was a very chivalrous man with hero-like characteristics that were respected by all of his countrymen and other peers. Evil
Macbeth is a play told by William Shakespeare. A tragic hero is someone we look up to and has as “tragic flaw”,“fatal flaw”,or “hamartia”. In the play Macbeth, the tragedy is about someone willIng to take risks doing something they want, but at the end it always seems to fail. Macbeth was such a selfish person he killed Duncan just to get what he wants, but at the end he ends up dying. William Shakespeare wrote the play Macbeth to show how every situation doesn't need a reaction, even though many bad actions was shown it discussed, risks and bad behavior to show who the strongest and powerful one.
Many can speculate about who is responsible for the downfall of Macbeth in the 1606 tragedy by Shakespeare. Although written in 1606, this play takes place in the Scotland of medieval times, approximately around the 11th century. The play tells a story of a noble man named Macbeth and the transformation of his character through his vaulting ambition. Macbeth stumbles upon a trio of witches, who inform him of his prophecy, leading him to murder his way to the throne of Scotland. Despite influences from the Three Witches and Lady Macbeth his wife, Macbeth is ultimately held responsible for his own downfall.
Macbeth is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Macbeth is a brave Scottish general who ruins himself by his own evil and selfish ambitions. At the start of the story, Macbeth is portrayed as a noble hero of Scotland who has courageously won the war against the allied forces of Norway and Ireland. Eventually, Macbeth becomes a ruthless king who is willing to murder anyone who is a threat to his kingdom. Macbeth is to blame for his own downfall because without him being so ambitious and narrow minded, Macbeth wouldn’t have taken the path it did.