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Who Is Responsible For Macbeth's Downfall

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Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.” We are responsible for our actions, which shape us as a person. Our ignorance towards our actions can distort our reality, just like Macbeth and Lady Macbeth commit actions that shaped their character which ultimately leads to their downfall. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are responsible for their own downfall. Lady Macbeth has no sense of reality, which leads to her undoing. She is so power- driven that she manipulates her husband, Macbeth, to obtain power. Although she is able to influence Macbeth, she creates …show more content…

Lady Macbeth can easily manipulate him, because he feels the need to prove his masculinity. However, Macbeth attempts to “prove” his masculinity by complying with Lady Macbeth’s manipulative demands. For instance, when Macbeth is having second thoughts about killing Duncan, Lady Macbeth says, “Wouldst thou have that which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, and live a coward in thine own esteem.” (42) She calls him a coward and accuses him of not going after the things he most desires. Macbeth responds that he will do whatever he needs to do to become a man but he must do whatever is right not what is wrong. Lady Macbeth then rebuttals by questioning his “goodness,” and asks, “What beast was’t then..When you durst do it, then you were a man”(42) She tests him to see if he is a coward by only considering Macbeth as a “man” if he commits atrocious crimes. Knowing that she believes “manliness” is when someone acts violent to get their desired greed for power, Macbeth comes to the conclusion that he will kill Duncan. Macbeth is fully convinced to go through with killing Duncan. By questioning his masculinity, Macbeth is manipulated into killing Duncan. This characteristic in Macbeth is a flaw which solidifies his downfall. Because Lady Macbeth kept pushing at Macbeth that he was a coward, he felt the need to protect his manhood. His pridefulness in being a man results in him complying to Lady Macbeth’s manipulative

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She becomes fearful that Macbeth will not go through with it and begins to manipulate him. She begins to call him a coward and that he has never been a man. She says, “When you durst do it, then you were a man” (1.7.55). She uses this kind of talk to her advantage. She knows that Macbeth fears her and if she accuses him of never being a man, he will do whatever it takes to prove to her that she is

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Lady Macbeth uses many different tactics that ultimately convince Macbeth to go through with the murder plan she creates. One idea she uses is questioning and degrading Macbeth's masculinity by saying, "Wouldst thou have that/Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life,/And live a coward in thine own esteem,/Letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would, ”(Macbeth 1.7.41-44). She is basically asking Macbeth will you take the crown you desire so badly, or will you love as a coward. Macbeth is still troubled by the idea of actually killing King Duncan and the fact that his wife is urging him on as well.

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In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, there are varying conflicts which are fueled by the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. After Macbeth obtains a prophecy hinting at his future position as king, his ambition and rise to power was largely influenced by the manipulative nature of Lady Macbeth. This is supported by Lady Macbeth's decision to denounce Macbeth's indecision to kill King Duncan in favor of desired power and her exertion of continuous pressure targeted at breaking Macbeth's ethical ideals and moral compass. Macbeth struggles to conceive the possibility of murdering King Duncan, which is met by a torment of judgement and criticism by Lady Macbeth to coerce his actions for her own personal gain.

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He has immoral thoughts about killing King Duncan from the beginning of the play, but his wife pressures him more and pushes him to kill Duncan, this makes Macbeth a morally corrupt character. He turns into a tyrant and cannot maintain the support of his people, Macbeth then becomes overconfident in his power and is defeated by Macduff.

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Lady Macbeth accuses Macbeth of not being man enough and calls him a coward because he is unsure about killing King Duncan. Macbeth responds by reassuring her he is willing to do what is necessary to be a man and eventually

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Although he is ambitious, Lady Macbeth’s evil influence is the reason he commits a regicide. The passage states, “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent.” Macbeth says he lacks the motivation to kill Duncan, but he still plans to do so out of ambition. In Act ll, Scene l, Lady Macbeth attacks Macbeth’s masculinity and persuades him to kill Duncan. She does this because she knows that belittling Macbeth will drive him insane and motivate him to commit regicide.)

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Essentially, Macbeth, full of ambition, exhibited positive attributes, but when he becomes consumed by desire for power, he transforms into a tyrannical, violent mastermind. Throughout the storyline, Macbeth has an inner conflict; he must decide whether he believes he can change his fate. To do so, he must kill King Duncan, king of Scotland. At first, he is hesitant, but

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Not only did Lady Macbeth use “insults” to persuade Macbeth into doing acts, Lady Macbeth always used stories and accusations to convince Macbeth that in order to be considered a man he had to as she said. For instance, Lady Macbeth uses the story of killing her baby if she promised to do so. She states, “I have given suck, and know/ How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me./ I would, while it was smiling in my face,/ Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums/ And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you/ Have done to this” (1.7.62-67). This is another example of Lady Macbeth manipulating Macbeth through the use of masculinity in a story.

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Lady Macbeth threatened Macbeth’s manhood when Macbeth began to second guess himself for killing Duncan, which put even more pressure on

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Lady Macbeth forces this idea of being a “man” on Macbeth, and he starts to believe her which forces him do insane acts of immorality just to live up to the standard of being a man. Macbeth becomes fearful of

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When she hears that Macbeth is contemplating the murder and deciding whether to follow through with it or not, she attacks him verbally. She questions his manhood when she says, “What beast was’t, then, that made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man” (I.vii.). Lady Macbeth is explaining how Macbeth’s masculinity is in question because he is wavering in his decision to follow through with the plan of killing Duncan. Macbeth is offended when she humiliates him.

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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.

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Initially, Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth by planning Duncan's murder and also telling him to stronger then who is. Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth into killing Duncan. Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth that he is not a men, “And live a coward in thine own esteem / letting I dare, not wait upon I would / like the poor cat i’ th’ adage” (1.7.46-49). Lady Macbeth calls him a coward and a pussy cat. Afterwards, she is mocking him by saying, he is afraid to do what it takes.

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The Tragedy of Macbeth- Downfall Throughout the Macbeth play, Macbeth himself is a very dynamic character. Macbeth changes more than any other character in the play. With Macbeth being such a dynamic character, it causes him to have a tremendous downfall as a person. The three main causes of his downfall is his wife’s persuasion to kill the king, trying to cover up his actions, and having people killed just to try to keep his role as the king.

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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.

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