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Who Is Responsible For Macbeth's Downfall

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Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, is a riveting play about a power-hungry ruler destined to fail. There are three internal and external factors that predominantly contribute to Macbeth’s downfall. These factors include the witches misleading Macbeth with the idea of gaining power, Lady Macbeth influencing Macbeth to increase his status, and Macbeth’s ambition. Nonetheless, the witches are one external force contributing to Macbeth’s demise by misleading him with promises of power. The ruthless witches place the idea of becoming a king in his head when they tell him the three prophecies. This is evident when Macbeth and Banquo are walking on the heath together, and the witches chant, “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (I, iii, …show more content…

The reason she uses his masculinity against him is so Macbeth proves he is a man by doing what she wants. This horrifying tactic works, and as a result, Macbeth slaughters Duncan, and Lady Macbeth proves to be successful. This indicates how manipulative Lady Macbeth is and how extensive of a role she has in Macbeth’s defeat. Without a doubt, Macbeth's strong ambition is a key internal factor contributing to his downfall. Macbeth’s hunger for more power than he can bear primarily leads him to defeat. After the apparitions notify him about his great future, he is optimistic but still wants to know if Banquo’s descendants will ever be rulers. When the witches suggest not to try to find out more, he cries, “I will be satisfied. Deny me this, and an eternal curse fall on you! Let me know.” (IV, i, 109) The example highlights Macbeth's prominent ambition because instead of being happy with what he receives, he thirsts for more knowledge and power. This reveals how his eagerness for more than he has led to his failure; he will never be satisfied with what he has. Additionally, Macbeth’s character flaws, such as overconfidence and pride, mask the reality of his situation. For instance, when Lennox brings a message to Macbeth saying Macduff fled to England. Macbeth is full of rage and

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He tries everything he can to rid himself of the witches' forecasts. He dispatches assassins to kill Banquo and his son as soon as he recalls the prophecy that Banquo will be greater than him. When the three witches reveal their final prophecies, he feels safe. Macbeth's murder of the king exemplifies his attempt to

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651 Words | 3 Pages

The play entitled Macbeth by William Shakespeare portrays Macbeth, a loyal and brave thane to the king. When a prophecy reveals he will become king, Macbeth is overcome with ambition and greed. Convinced of this prophecy and the encouragement from his wife, he is able to kill the king and take the throne. Although Macbeth was able to obtain the throne, he was was overwhelmed by power and guilt leading to internal conflict, which suggests that success is not desirable through cheating and corruption and ultimately cost more than its actually worth, Macbeth`s reckless pursuit of killing and becoming the king is representative of the power he has and what he is able to do with the power he's gained; therefore. His relentless ambition for king reveals the guilt behind power.

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In the first meeting with the witches; where Macbeth is prophesied to become the Thane of Cawdor and finally king. Banquo, whom had also been prophesized to become the father of many kings, comes to a realisation that “the instruments of darkness tell us truths; win us with honest trifles, to betray in deepest consequence”. By saying this, Banquo believes that the witches will earn Banquo and Macbeth’s trust by telling them truth about little things, but if the witches decide to betray the two men, it may leave a devastating effect. Nevertheless, in contrast to Banquo’s skepticism regarding the witches, Macbeth desires to know more, “stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more”, and the idea of becoming king now occurs to him as a possibility. This suggests that Macbeth already has a deep desire for power and status; although, at this point, Macbeth is “too full o’th’milk of human kindness”, to commit himself to this immoral act of murdering the innocent

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Throughout the play, the witches’ control over Macbeth developed into a strong tie with his choices. By prophesying to him, the witches essentially planted the seed that grew to dominate Macbeth’s mind. This is shown when Macbeth says, “Stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more” (1.3.70). Once Macbeth notices the prophecies becoming a reality, he starts to think about becoming king, thus fulfilling all the prophecies. Aside, Macbeth says,, “Two truths are told, as happy prologues to the swelling act of the imperial theme” (1.3.128-129).

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1040 Words | 5 Pages

In Shakespeare's play Macbeth, Shakespeare explores the consequences of unchecked ambition and greed paired with blind trust in the wrong people, and how this will ultimately result in inevitable repercussions. Shakespeare's character Macbeth explores these ideas through his political greed and desire to become King of Scotland. Macbeth was a virtuous man who was enrolled in the army, and this play represents how power can corrupt even these kinds of people. His ambition to be the king guides him to commit multiple heinous crimes, including the murder of his friends and allies. He lets this idealized version of himself control him, and lead him to malicious acts that eventually lead him to his death.

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Macbeth’s already harmful mindset collides with the witches. “(S)he is propelled in this direction by environmental circumstances” (McLeod). In this case, Macbeth is not in the correct state of mind to realize the witches are just another voice and the decision is ultimately

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919 Words | 4 Pages

In Macbeth, Shakespeare writes about a man named Macbeth, who has a very strong ambition to be the the king of Scotland. His credulousness led him into believing the prophecy from the three witches without thinking rigorously. Because of this prophecy, Macbeth is willing to do everything he can to gain the throne, even to the extreme of murdering someone. Shakespeare uses syntax, similes, and personification to convey the evolution of Macbeth’s insanity.

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Macbeth decides he needs to take action to keep his crown, “Given to the common enemy of man/ to make them kings, the seeds of Banquo kings/ Rather than so, come Fate into the list” (3. 1. 70-72). After seeing that all of his prophecies come true Macbeth thinks about Banquo and fears losing his crown. Macbeth hires murderers to go and kill Banquo and Fleance so that he remains king.

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Like all of Shakespeare’s other plays, “Macbeth’s” protagonist Macbeth is incredibly successful but suffers from one fatal flaw, his great ambition. His ambition will be the cause of his great success but ultimately also of his downfall. The man’s ambition drives him to seize every opportunity to promote his own agenda. His ambition hurts him the most when he decides to kill King Duncan and Macduff.

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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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At the start of the play, Macbeth visits the witches with Banquo at the closing of the battle. The witches speak to Macbeth and Banquo and get the idea of a prophecy in Macbeth’s mind. “All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Glamis./ All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor./ All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter” (1.3.46-48). When the witches get the prophecy in Macbeth’s mind, he believes it will come true and misunderstands the prophecy of the witches. Although the witches make Macbeth believe in the prophecy of becoming the King, Macbeth is responsible for his downfall because they do not recommend Macbeth to kill Duncan.

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Lady Macbeth plans to invite king Duncan over for dinner, but really she is convincing Macbeth to murder him. She influences him to kill Duncan because he is the only one standing in the way of Macbeth becoming king. Lady Macbeth plans the killing but convinces Macbeth to do the dirty deed. Lastly, Lady Macbeth is one of the causes of Macbeth’s failure because she repeatedly questions Macbeth’s manhood until she persuades him to make a bad choice. “When you durst do it then you were a man” (1.7.53-58).

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Often times in literature, the downfall of a character arises due to both external and internal forces. In Macbeth, William Shakespeare demonstrates that the downfall of Macbeth arises due to both internal and external forces, but among the two, internal forces have a greater influence on the outcome. The forces of Macbeth’s own nature, the supernatural and Lady Macbeth all contribute to his downfall but the true deciding factors are the forces within. The external forces that affect Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and the witches, prompt Macbeth into doing actions and making decisions that lead to his downfall.

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876 Words | 4 Pages

Macbeth started off as a valiant and courageous soldier, who would do anything for the king. By the end of the play, Macbeth was a tyrant and a horrible leader who killed those who trusted him to maintain the throne. It takes many factors to take a strong man and transform him into an evil monster. Macbeth’s downfall was caused by the deception and temptation of the witches and their prophecies, Lady Macbeth’s greed and aspirations for her husband to be king, and Macbeth’s own greed, jealousy and ambition.

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They told Macbeth that he was going to be king, and told Banquo that his children were going to be king. With the knowledge that there is a possibility to become king, along with the selfish human nature, noble Macbeth was easily swayed by this prophecy. At first, Macbeth’s conscience took care of his ambitions, he was afraid he would betray the king, because he knew that he was “his kinsman and his subject” (1.7.13). However as the three witches continue to encourage Macbeth with carefully chosen words, he eventually pushes his conscience away and committed crimes that were dishonourable. Macbeth, easily controlled by his ambitions, loses his noble and heroic title in fear of losing his power.

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