Examples Of Overconfidence In Macbeth

Macbeth is one of the most important characters in the story “Macbeth”. The name “Macbeth” means ‘son of life’ in Gaelic. He is a scottish general and the thane of Glamis. In the beginning of the play, he is shown as a brave soldier and a powerful man by showing his military achievements such as by destroying and having victory over the rebel Macdonwald and Cawdor. Macbeth fights with a great courage and violence in the battle and receives the thane of Cawdor. However, after the violent battle, Macbeth begins to reveal his vicious traits and becomes obvious that he is not a virtuous soldier. Macbeth gets easily tempted into murder to fulfill his ambitions, and once he commits his first crime, he becomes the King of Scotland, and commits even

His sense of overconfidence makes him overly self-reliant on his power. The main factor that makes him have the sense of overconfidence is the witches’ prophecy. The witches’ prophecies gave Macbeth a confidence that he is the best among all. His sense of confidence eventually leads to the murder of Banquo. For example, Macbeth decides to murder Banquo as he hears one of the witches’ prophecies that one day, Banquo would be lesser than Macbeth but greater. Since Macbeth does not have any children, he thinks even though he becomes a king, he has no offspring to continue his kingship. Based on that reason Macbeth thinks he will get threatened by Banquo in the future. Macbeth takes the witches’ advices seriously, and he decides to tell the prophecies to Lady Macbeth. This action taken by Macbeth eventually gives misled ambitions to Lady Macbeth. In contrast to Macbeth, Banquo did not take witches’ prophecies seriously as Macbeth did. Even though he accepts the prophecies, he is neither overly confident in himself nor frightened by the prophecy for Macbeth. Another factor that gives Macbeth to have the sense of overconfidence is the victory over Cawdor. Macbeth is confident to take over everyone after he receives the thane of Cawdor and hears the witches’ prophecies. He was nothing on the earth, even the king Duncan, would defeat or kill him. Moreover, his highly elevated sense of

There is one quote that describes Macbeth’s ultimate fate. It is said by the captain in the beginning of the story “And Fortune, on his damnèd quarrel smiling, Show'd like a rebel's whore. But all's too weak; For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name) Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel, Which smoked with bloody execution,”. This quote shows that Macbeth should have died in the battle between Cawdor. However, he is not killed because he was stronger than his fate. The phrase “Disdaining Fortune” reveals that Macbeth would escape his fate earlier, but he will get killed at last. In short, along with Macbeth’s destined fate, the sense of overconfidence, unchecked ambition, and the impact of apparitions and Lady Macbeth lead to the tragic downfall of