Macbeth Essay (Prompt 2) In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the main character Macbeth undergoes a decay into guilt and eventual madness. The story begins with Macbeth betraying and killing King Duncan in order to take his place as King of Scotland. After this happens, a string of events lead Macbeth to act mercilessly when members of the royal court, like Banquo, start suspecting Macbeth. Macbeth feared being exposed and started to kill whoever got in his way. Once a man of loyalty and honor, Macbeth became an evil and treacherous man. His downfall was initiated by three factors. These factors include his own ambition, Lady Macbeth, and the three witches’ prophecies. Our ambitions can sometimes be extreme and cause us to become different people. In this case, Macbeth’s ambition indeed caused him to change. He was once loyal to King Duncan. This changed when Macbeth was informed that he was going to become king. His aspiration of being the King of Scotland blinded him and caused him to do unspeakable acts, such as murdering Duncan, Banquo, and Macduff’s family. Macbeth became the villain and did everything he could, in his ambition, to prevent his downfall. Blinded by his ambition, Macbeth failed to realize that his actions resulted in consequences. …show more content…
When she found out about the witches’ prophecies that foretold Macbeth becoming king, she immediately pushed for Macbeth to assassinate King Duncan. Before having to kill Duncan, Macbeth was uneasy and unsure. Lady Macbeth responded by demeaning Macbeth and questioning his manhood. By doing this, Lady Macbeth made Macbeth feel inferior at the moment he felt unsure about killing Duncan, which caused him to act mercilessly so as to avoid humiliation from his wife and redeem his manhood. Macbeth unnecessarily defended his “manhood,” and did horrendous acts simply because of Lady Macbeth discrediting