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Macbeth's Destruction Essay

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Many people recognize the name Shakespeare and the plays he has written. His most famous plays include many tragedies that occur, a very popular tragedy is Macbeth. Macbeth’s tragedy stems from a prophecy that three witches gave him. This prophecy said that Macbeth will be a thane, Macbeth would be king, and Banquo's sons would be kings. This stays in Macbeth’s head until the very end of the play. This is why the witches are the most influential part of what destroys Macbeth. There are still more forces that played a role in the destruction of Macbeth, like the influence of Lady Macbeth’s opinion on what Macbeth decides to do. Macbeth also played a role in his downfall, he had many bad characteristics primarily his ambition and ruthlessness. …show more content…

This idea is the same in Macbeth, it is predictable that witches are primarily evil because, during the Elizabethan Era, a lot of women could be accused of being witches and could be killed because of it. I think Shakespeare knew this when writing Macbeth because the first encounter Macbeth had with the witches is they were making potions and casting spells. Macbeth asks them if they can tell him about his future. “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none: So all hail Macbeth and Banquo. Your children and descendants will be kings”. (RSC) After Macbeth hears this prophecy he is happy because this is his chance to become Thane of Cawdor. It is obvious the witches' intention when giving Macbeth these prophecies was to bring out the bad qualities in him and make him greedy. Soon after Macbeth hears his prophecy he sends a letter to his wife Lady Macbeth about the news he …show more content…

Before the witches told Macbeth about the prophecy, he was just returning from a battle with rebels. This battle shows how ruthless he can be. It is hard to see Macbeth as cruel because he is also caring for his wife. Macbeth is seen as ambitious because of his need to keep improving no matter how much success he already has. As the play progresses Macbeth’s ambition becomes ruthlessness as he wants to protect his kingship. Even though Macbeth is trying to avoid his fate he only gets closer and closer to it. “Although he is encouraged by the Witches, Macbeth’s true downfall is his own ambition. Lady Macbeth is as ambitious as her husband, encouraging him to murder to achieve their goals. Both Macbeths fail to see how their ambition makes them cross moral lines and will lead to their downfall.” (SN) This quote explains that both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were both very ambitious, this amount of ambition between two people resulted in both thinking that no matter what they had to do they needed to make what they truly wanted to come true. What Macbeth wanted was to become king, and Lady Macbeth wanted her husband to become king because she thought it could make them both happy. This didn’t happen though because both of them regretted murdering

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