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Who Is Responsible For Macbeth's Downfall

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In Shakespeare’s tragic play Macbeth, Shakespeare demonstrates the different factors that influenced Macbeth’s decisions as it led to the total decline in his reign. Whilst Macbeth was prophesied and manipulated into his path of destruction, his ambitious nature is responsible for the inevitability of his downfall. From the prophesied fate of the agents of chaos, the witches, the manipulative puissance of Lady Macbeth’s masculine persona and Macbeth’s innate ambition for King, it explicates the eventual destruction of Macbeth’s reign over Scotland. Shakespeare highlights the scheming and supernatural nature of the witches and how they helped reinforce Macbeth’s ambition for King, and thus, is partly accountable for his actions and downfall. …show more content…

The witches aroused the greed within Macbeth as they hailed him “king hereafter”, prophesying that Macbeth will be promoted to Thane of Cawdor and then King. This ignited Macbeth’s innate ambition to kill King Duncan as it caused him to see a “dagger which I see before me”, highlighting his inherent characteristics of bloodlust. Moreover, the witches state how the “battle’s lost and won”, foreshadowing Macbeth’s death as he lost the battle to Macduff. It also infers how the witches have destined Macbeth to lose against Macduff, reinforcing their partaking in his eventual downfall. Furthermore, Shakspeare utilises equivocation to demonstrate how the witches “win us with honest trifles” in order to betray Macbeth in “deepest consequence”, alluding to their destructive and malignant nature as they tyrannise Macbeth throughout …show more content…

As a result of the inversion of stereotypical gender roles, Shakspeare highlights Lady Macbeth’s ambition for masculinity as it empowers her to employ her manipulative persona. By calling upon the evil spirits to “unsex me here”, it illustrates the ties between masculinity and manipulation as it gives Lady Macbeth the strength and “direst cruelty” to influence the downfall of Macbeth’s grotesque actions. As Lady Macbeth accumulates her masculine features, it allows her to “chastise [Macbeth] upon the valour of her tongue”, demonstrating how her masculine features now allow her to embody the theme of manipulation which grants her the ability to have dominion over Macbeth’s downfall. Lady Macbeth can be seen manipulating Macbeth’s downfall as she states that when he “durst do it, then you are a man”, calling him a coward and questioning the true honour and dignity of his manhood as he doesn’t have the “illness to attend it”. By implying that Macbeth doesn’t have enough “illness” in him to kill Duncan as he is too full of “th’ milk of human kindness”, Lady Macbeth attempts to “poison” him by stating that he must look like “the innocent flower” but to reveal themselves as the “serpent under’t”. This quote clarifies the sheer manipulation and ambition that Lady Macbeth wields as her innate desire for the status of

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Lady Macbeth craves to be cold, ruthless and in control, which are typical masculine traits in Shakespeares time. As a result of this she begins manipulating her husband to gain what she wants. She manipulates Macbeth with great effectiveness, which she achieves by undermining his objections to murdering Duncan. when she sees him hesitating to go forward with the murder, she begins repeatedly questioning his manhood until he feels that he must do it just to prove himself and his masculinity; she says “When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man”. Lady Macbeth abuses her power by planting the idea in her husband's mind that anybody who stood in her and Macbeth’s way on the journey to reach royalty was to be destroyed, and made him feel as if he was less a man if he decided against it.

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Mourning the weakness and inability of her gender, Lady Macbeth urges her husband to follow through with their devious designs. Inevitably, he gives in and completes the first of many horrendous deeds. Out of all his associates, Macbeth’s wife may actually have pushed him to murder to obtain the kingdom, with or without a prophecy. Yet, she could have had apprehensions of her own, or doubted her husband’s ability, thus deciding to keep her ambitions to herself. One thing is certain: she is a twisted enough person to contemplate such a purely evil

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Macbeth is a tragic play written by William Shakespeare in 1606. The tragedy is about a brave and ambitious Scottish general named Macbeth, who falls under the sway of the prophecies of the three witches and the manipulations of his wife, Lady Macbeth. These influences lead Macbeth to commit regicide and seize the throne of Scotland, resulting in his eventual downfall and death. Despite being swayed by external forces. This essay will explore to what extent is Macbeth bears responsibility for his own downfall.

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At the beginning of William Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ the protagonist Macbeth is described as ‘brave’, ‘noble’ and ‘honourable’, however Lady Macbeth’s and Macbeths desire for power consumes them. Macbeth’s ambition overrides his conscience and transformed his greatest strength into his greatest weakness. Macbeth’s inability to resist temptations that led him to be greedy for power, Macbeth’s easily manipulative nature which allowed his mind to be swayed, Macbeth having no self control and his excessive pride was what allowed him to renew his previously honourable and celebrated title into one of an evil ‘tyrant’. Macbeth is led by the prophecies of the witches after they foretell he will become the Thane of Cawdor. Not only the witches, but also his wife easily manipulate Macbeth as she attacks his manhood in order to provoke him to act on his desires.

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William Shakespeare portrayed the character Lady Macbeth to be extremely ruthless, malicious and manipulative. Thus, being the reason she could easily convince Macbeth to do her will, yet still put on such a convincing performance in front of those who knew nothing of her and her husband’s actions. Lady Macbeth shows her complexity constantly throughout the story when she shares her view-point on masculinity by demasculinizing her own husband, when she strategically plans the murder of the King Duncan, and finally when she finally goes crazy because of the guilt she possesses for not only her own actions but also turning her own husband into a

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This shows corruption as the witches know what really happens and are watching Macbeth create horrible decisions, thus leading up to his death. Macbeth says, “I have no

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As one of the Bard’s most iconic tragedies, Macbeth resides in a niche of unique characterisation, structure and tone. The tale of Macbeth is constructed in a way to enable a sense of forward momentum, allowing the development of the characters to follow every beat of a storyline crowded with desire, conflict, violence and ambition. Fluidity in storytelling and emotional development is facilitated by the use of constant elements, namely, the symbolic introduction of the witches, Lady Macbeth’s desire to escape her womanhood and the cycle of violence that ultimately results in Macbeth’s downfall. Shakespeare’s turbulent yet consistent expression of the constant conflict between duty and desire is key to interpreting the inevitable deterioration

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Macbeth is the Shakespearean play that features the triumphant uprise and the inevitable downfall of its main character. In this play, Macbeth’s downfall can be considered to be the loss of his moral integrity and this is achieved by ambition, despite this, Lady Macbeth and the witches work through his ambition, furthering to assist his inevitable ruin. Ambition alone is the most significant factor that led to Macbeth’s downfall. The witches are only able to influence his actions through Macbeth’s pre-existing and the three witches see that Macbeth has ambition and uses it to control his action. Ambition alone is displayed throughout the play to be the most significant cause for Macbeth’s downfall.

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Lady Macbeth plays a significant role in Macbeth’s downfall. Which led to the question was his downfall primarily caused by Lady Macbeth? Throughout the play, Macbeth is being seen as a brave and honourable warrior but later on he was influenced by Lady Macbeth which led him to drive his greed of becoming a king even more and this is one of the reasons that led him to his downfall. One of Lady Macbeth’s trick was questioning his manhood.

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“Come, you spirits, That tend on mortal thoughts,/unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full/ Of dire cruelty” (1.5.41-44). Lady Macbeth is the personification of male dominance, ruthlessness and violence. She hopes that she could take control of all action. She yearns to be a man and her implication is that she is more masculine than Macbeth. Her drive and violent nature is more akin to men and their masculinity.

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Macbeth 's belief and desire for becoming the king have been so great that he has decided that his foretold fate must come true and he does everything to accomplish it. Unfortunately, the ambition assumes control of his

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Macbeth’s ambition is one of the most prominent things that drive Macbeth in the play and truly becomes evident when he hears of the Witches prophecies. When the witches stop talking, he demands to know more. “Stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more” (I, III, 73-74). This portrays his excessive curiosity on the subject as well as his craving for more desirable prophecies. This ambitious nature and craving for power is also demonstrated only moments after hearing the witches, when he starts formulating a plan to kill Duncan in order to make the third prophecy come true.

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