ipl-logo

To What Extent Is Macbeth Responsible For His Own Actions

786 Words4 Pages

“… And damned all those that trust them.” To what extent is Macbeth responsible for his own actions? It is clear that Macbeth is a character whose judgments are easily influenced by those around him, yet it is not these people who are ultimately responsible for his uncontrollable ambition and ruthless murders. Macbeth’s character flaws – his unconfined ambition and gullibility - are used by the witches and Lady Macbeth to manipulate his thoughts through prophecies with multiple meanings and attacks on his nature. Despite this, Macbeth is a man free to make his own decisions, and through his nightmares, insomnia and madness it is clear the he feels remorse for his actions leaving him the only one responsible for his gruesome path. One of Macbeth’s character flaws, his unconfined ambition, is exploited by the witches and Lady Macbeth, leading him towards the grisly path he follows but not …show more content…

The witches, three supernatural and evil characters, are not trusted by Banquo upon encountering them, who tells Macbeth to be cautious. Yet in his gullibility, he ignores him and takes to heart their first apparition, their prediction that he will be made king. This fuels his existing ambition and creates the beginnings of the ruthless mindset he later uses to murder Duncan. He is also easily convinced through the witches’ second apparition that he has become invincible, ‘None of woman born shall harm Macbeth’, a belief which eventually leads to his death as he believes Macduff cannot harm him. The ambiguous words of the witches can be interpreted in different ways – as Macduff states that he was ‘from his mother’s womb untimely ripped’, their prophecy does not apply to him. Macbeth’s gullibility combined with the interactions with the witches can also share part of the blame, yet Macbeth is responsible for his own

Show More
Related

Lack Of Guilty In Macbeth's Responsibility

684 Words | 3 Pages

Macbeth’s responsibility People of our society struggles the most to take responsibility for their actions. When someone does something wrong they will deny it because they know they did wrong. Shakespeare uses scenes in the play to show the responsibility of character and how they react to their responsibility. Macbeth is responsible for what happens to him because, he puts absolute faith in the word the witches say, which causes him to commit murders and internally he fells guilt for his actions.

Read More

Explain Why The Witches Are To Blame For The Actions Of Lady Macbeth

394 Words | 2 Pages

Many argue that Lady Macbeth and the Witches are to blame for Macbeth's actions. Macbeth’s actions were heavily influenced by them both. Ultimately, he cared about the act of killing. Therefore, Macbeth is to blame for the things he did during the entirety of the play. Macbeth already had the thoughts of killing, Macbeth also had motive for wanting Duncan dead, lastly, Macbeth was the one in the end to actually carry out the action of murdering Duncan.

Read More

Unleashing His Demons: Blame In Shakespeare's Macbeth

1136 Words | 5 Pages

Unleashing His Demons: Blame in Macbeth The difficulty humans experience when trying to resist resorting to violence is remarkable. From noble disputes to trivia night bar fights, violence is an alluring tool. In William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the titular Macbeth is unable to resist the seductive nature of darker impulses. Spurred on by a trio of witches and his wife, Macbeth murders his liege, King Duncan, and becomes King of Scotland.

Read More

Examples Of Hunting The Culprit In Macbeth

475 Words | 2 Pages

At the beginning of the suspenseful play, Macbeth is consumed by his thirst for power and his lust to become the ruler. His heavy ambition persuades him to commit many acts of murder, starting with murdering King Duncan. Macbeth’s want for power guides him to be a continuous murderer, finally resulting in the horrible deaths of a great number of characters. A specific piece of evidence that points to Macbeth’s accountability

Read More

Macbeth's Heroic Monster

776 Words | 4 Pages

Many thought Macbeth was actually an innocent victim, and only carried out these actions because of all his influences. “Macbeth, despite influences of the witches and Lady Macbeth, is responsible for his downfall. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Macbeth is a tragic hero who Dominic Piunti 4/25/18 Mr. Moorhouse English 10 destroys himself by his own wicked and selfish ambitions,” (Study Notes 1).

Read More

Who Is To Blame For Macbeth Analysis

999 Words | 4 Pages

From honored soldier to murderous tyrant, Macbeth killed his way into power. He was informed of his “destiny” and stopped at nothing to achieve it. He had multiple chances to rethink his actions. He didn 't however, he kept on his march to power leaving only himself to blame. Macbeth is the only one to blame for his actions and ultimately, his death.

Read More

Theme Of Hubris In Macbeth

642 Words | 3 Pages

Macbeth is firstly at fault due to his own hubris. From the start of the play we hear praise for Macbeth from the captain when he addresses Duncan, “For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name—Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel,Which smoked with bloody execution,Like valor’s minion carved out his passage” (1.2.16-19), this sort of praise was likely commonplace after the battle, and likely was heard by macbeth himself, and being the proud man he was may have led him to feel deserving of greater power and authority. Another way his hubris is to blame is for being convinced by his wife's scorning oh his manhood should he not kill duncan “When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what

Read More

Macbeth's Decisions Essay

595 Words | 3 Pages

However, when making these choices to further his own prosperity, there may be some other sources that affect his thinking. When Macbeth makes the decisions to murder and torture the people in his way, he gets some influence from the witches and his wife; nevertheless, Macbeth’s choices that lead to the tragedy of the story were completely all on his part. In the very beginning of the production,

Read More

Who Is To Blame For Macbeth's Downfall Essay

1107 Words | 5 Pages

Who’s To Blame for Macbeth’s Downfall? (An Understanding of Who Was at Fault for the Downfall of Macbeth) Power is a necessity for many people, so much so that it can drive a person to do the unthinkable. Although the play started off with Macbeth being a joyous, and truthful character, he is bound to fall because of his greed for power. Although many people solely blame Macbeth for his own downfall, they don’t realize that he was not the only one who pushed him to his limits.

Read More

Does Macbeth Cause His Own Downfall

256 Words | 2 Pages

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth is the cause of his own downfall by being easily influenced, although he does take responsibility for many of his actions. Regardless of taking responsibility for h\s actions, he still fails to succeed, or live, in the end. Macbeth is influenced by the witches and his wife, Lady Macbeth.

Read More

Macbeth Insanity Analysis

975 Words | 4 Pages

5-7). In this instance, Macbeth shows that he can feel guilt, and he exhibits this by demonstrating that he does not desire to end the life of a man whose family was already victimized at his hands. Guilt is the one thing throughout the entire play that stops Macbeth dead in his tracks and causes him to take a moment to consider his present and future courses of action. Although Macbeth was lead to commit murder by the witches’ manipulative predictions of the future, he is the one who ultimately makes the choices that prove that he is in control of his actions, even when his actions cause him to be filled with

Read More

Essay Who Is Responsible For Macbeth's Downfall

953 Words | 4 Pages

Often times, people go through rises and downfalls in their lives that they themselves are responsible for. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, both main characters, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, himself, are responsible for the downfall of Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is responsible for the tragedy because she convinces and manipulates Macbeth into doing the deed. However, Shakespeare accomplishes in showing that Macbeth is more responsible for his own downfall than Lady Macbeth because he listens to the witches and follows his ambition rather than his conscience. To begin, Lady Macbeth is responsible for the tragedy because she convinces and manipulates Macbeth into doing the deed by insulting him when he changes his mind.

Read More

Responsibility In Macbeth

1211 Words | 5 Pages

Macbeth is constantly power hungry and has an excessive desire to be on the throne. He comes across as very greedy and selfish. Macbeth chooses to live a life of evil by making some decisions that are not considered virtuous. He says, “The prince of Cumberland! That is a step on which I must fall down” (I.iv.).

Read More

Ambition In Macbeth Essay

1275 Words | 6 Pages

Lady Macbeth, meanwhile, becomes guilt-ridden and tormented by her role in the murders. As Macbeth continues to be ambitious throughout the novel, he does not realize that it will impact him in his future. He becomes ignorant to his actions and becomes a tyrant instead of a true king. Fletcher also questions if Macbeths drive for power is “Witchcrsft, murder, or Rape?It is a sign of both his own restlessness and of the total society of Scotland that one image of evil should suggest another.”(77) Cl.

Read More

Responsible For The Tragedy In Macbeth Essay

654 Words | 3 Pages

He commits the murders of Duncan and Banquo, although he was goaded and provoked by his wife, and becomes foolhardy and over confident when misinterpreting the Witches’ prophecy. He is driven into madness and hallucinations by the terrible deeds he has done, seeing visions of ghosts, and blames himself (partially correctly) for the suicide of his wife. He is almost relieved when the army arrives at his gates, thinking that he is still unstoppable through all his tragedy. However, his main fault was to listen to the voices telling him to murder, mainly his wife, and carry through with the acts even when his own mind told him not to. Therefore Macbeth, too, is a guilty party in the tragedies that take place in

Read More

More about To What Extent Is Macbeth Responsible For His Own Actions

Open Document