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Who Is To Blame For Macbeth's Downfall

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Macbeth, Welcome to Your Paper. The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play written by William Shakespeare around 1606 that focuses on a Scottish man named Macbeth, and his wife, and their desire for power. Macbeth is started on the road to self destruction when he is given his future by a group of witches. Rather than letting life take its path, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth try to control their own future and cheat their way to becoming powerful tyrants. The downfall of Macbeth was the result of the witches’ predictions, his own guilt, and Lady Macbeth’s temptations. Firstly, the witches, or pow are at fault for Macbeth’s downfall because they lit the fuse that set Macbeth to want to change his future. Macbeth and Banquo do not, at first, recognize what …show more content…

Despite the witches’ unsightly appearance, Macbeth disregarded their instincts and trusted them anyway. The witches tell Macbeth his future and build up his ego by saying, “All hail, Macbeth!”(1.3.48). “Psychoanalytic criticism has focused on the witches as malignant mothers feeding reckless ambition and false security to an infantile Macbeth”(Favila 8). The witches told Macbeth that first he would become the Thane of Cawdor and then become the king. While at first he was unsure of his fortune, he fell for the witches’ trap after their first prediction of becoming the thane came true. “Two truths are told, as happy prologues to the swelling act […] This supernatural soliciting cannot be ill; cannot be good. If ill, why hath it given me earnest of success, commencing in a truth? I am Thane of Cawdor”(1.3.128-133). But yet, even after Macbeth murders King Duncan, the audience still is not quite angry at him. “The malignant hags are the primary reasons for our ability to feel true sympathy for Macbeth despite his heinous crimes”(Mabillard). So while most blame Macbeth’s downfall on only himself, it is partially the fault of the weird

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Finally, Macbeth’s surrender to his uncontrolled passion for power led to his own tragic death and to his total transformation from being one of moral character to a heartless murderer. Although Macbeth’s decline evokes pity and compassion from the reader which makes him a tragic hero, passion without reason cannot be tolerated , because every man has a specific gift: the freedom of choice. Indeed, the prophecies of the three witches, Lady Macbeth’s wicked inspiration and encouragement, and Macbeth’s lustful passion to keep the throne altogether provided the perfect elements for the development and the end of the Shakespearean tragic play,

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Macbeth was a simple man, ferocious in battle and humble in the presence of authority, he was continuously praised for his impeccable strength; and many stood in great awe at his demeanor in battle. The captain of his battle battalion testified of his strength on the battlefield, “... But all too weak; 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”( 1.2.15-19). Macbeth’s behavior shows that he operates within an intense caliber of strength and bravery, yet what more specifically sets men like Macbeth apart from those like Macdonwald (the traitorous Thane of Cawdor at the time) was Macbeth’s ability to restrain and defeat evil. Macbeth’s judgment has earned him a new sense of honor back in the palace.

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His greed brings temporal joy, but later causes social and mental insanity. Although the fictional tragedy portrays a practical lesson for one’s character, it also has a spiritual application. He is merely an ordinary man, a respected general of King Duncan’s army. Macbeth is living a pleasant life, "For brave Macbeth — well he deserves that name” (Act I Scene II), until three witches prophesy of a greater future. Although he believes it is an impossible fate, Macbeth allows the prophecies to linger in his thoughts.

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In Shakespeare's Macbeth there were a lot of influences for Macbeth downfall. From Lady Macbeth, to banquo, to Macduff, and even Macbeth himself had a part for his downfall. However, the key characters that played a major role in Macbeth’s demise, were the three witches. From the very first prediction they gave him put in his head that he had to kill in order to gain power or out of fear of being dethroned. If they hadn't given Macbeth the predictions he wouldn't have killed Duncan, Banquo, and Macduff's family.

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In Act 1, Scene 3, Line 140, Macbeth speaks of a murderous thought that is imaginary, yet still in his head. He says, “The invitation by supernatural beings cannot be bad, and yet cannot be good. If it is bad, why has it given me a promise of success, beginning with something true? I am Thane of Cawdor. But if it is good, why am I ready to yield to that temptation— the horrid image of which makes my hair stand on end, and causes my well-fastened heart to beat against my ribs in such and unnatural way?”

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Which leads his conscience into hallucinating about a dagger telling him to kill Duncan and other influences that led to his decision. Macbeth knew that killing Duncan was treason and that he will get into major trouble with Scotland if anybody finds out. Macbeth’s downfall starts to take a turn because the only person that knew about Macbeth’s prophecies from the witches was Banquo. That’s when Macbeth started to get even more paranoid ; he knew his best friend had heard the prophecies and that in one of the predictions was that the descendants of Banquo will be king of Scotland. His paranoia about Banquo getting the crown leads further on his downfall by planning Banquo’s death along with his son Fleance.

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Macbeth is tempted by nothing but his own pride to kill others. We witness him fall victim to his own selfish inclinations many a time, “Is this a dagger which I see before me? A dagger of the mind, a false creation proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?” (Act 2, sc. 1 pg 52-53)

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William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth explores the fall of a tragic hero who is influenced by the supernatural into committing regicide and evil deeds, resulting in destruction and severe consequences. Shakespeare wrote Macbeth to support King James I and to demonstrate to his audience the importance of being supportive to the reigning monarch and abiding by the natural order of society. Shakespeare demonstrates that Macbeth is partly responsible for his downfall, however it is the influence of evil individuals that are mostly responsible for his tragedy. Although, it is due to Macbeth’s ambitions that causes him to first consider committing regicide, Shakespeare emphasises that it the impact of the three witches and Lady Macbeth’s manipulation

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Macbeth is unable to live with the gravity of the situation and starts to spiral after his first act of cruelty. Author Richard Whalen foreshadows the effects of Macbeth’s actions by including, “As you say, in this case "royal murder corrupts absolutely" but the honorable warrior Macbeth, brave in battle, shrinks from corrupting himself by royal murder. He has neither the experience nor temperament for it” (Whalen). Macbeth’s first act of cruelty, Duncan’s murder, sets him down a path of corruption for the rest of the play.

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Macbeth’s meekness allowed him to be disparaged by Lady Macbeth into giving in and killing the king for the throne. The amount of ambition Macbeth had was unrestrained and instead of doing it for the people he was just doing it for himself. The witches were unclear about Macbeth’s future, yet they never insinuated that he had to kill anybody in order to become king. Macbeth became Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and later, became king.

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William Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1606), “an unruly chaos of strange and forbidden things” (William Hazlitt), introduces us to crucial lessons through examples of how one’s ambitions, when left unchecked can wreak havoc on their life. Macbeth further highlights the consequences of regecide and other evil acts by exposing the array of abnormal affairs associated with guilt. Macbeth displays the consequences of one’s ambition as an array of sacrilegious concepts and events which corrupt his mind, eventually leading to his demise. This notion is expressed through Macbeths’ plot against King Duncan to usurp the throne, a condemned act in the Elizabethan Era as it disrupts the Great Chain of Being and symbolises a rebellious act against God.

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In Shakespeare's play "Macbeth," the characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are both portrayed as evil. However, the question of who is more evil between the two remains a topic of debate. While both characters display evil actions, Lady Macbeth's deliberate manipulation and disregard for human life make her more evil than Macbeth. This essay will provide evidence to support this argument by analyzing Lady Macbeth's manipulative nature, her disregard for human life, and Macbeth's reluctance to commit any crimes against kin or country.

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This suggests, that Macbeth’s choices and decisions were altered due to the prophecies heard; the prophecies given to Macbeth, made him realise his dream to be king one day were going to come true, but he believed to make that happen he had to commit immoral actions. As the Witches begin to influence Macbeth's subconscious with prophecies about the future, it begins to change who Macbeth is. As the influence from the Witches prophecies. In the beginning Macbeth was once a loyal warrior, when he was willing to sacrifice his life for

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Macbeth’s evil ways to attempt to control the

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At the beginning of the play, Macbeth’ ambition starts to grow that makes him consider immoral acts to fulfil his ambition and desire to become the king of Scotland. In Act 1, Macbeth and Banquo encounter the three witches, who prophesied to each of them regarding their fate. The three witches intentionally tell Macbeth that he would be the thane of Cawdor and the king of Scotland and to Banquo that his sons would become the king. And the unexpected title of thane of Cawdor given by the king has made one of the surprising prophecies come true and has given Macbeth the strong belief that the latter of the prophecy, him becoming the king, would become true as well. For his strong belief, he starts to ponder whether the prophecies of the witches are good or bad; and meanwhile he finds himself thinking about murdering the king and is extremely surprised by his immoral ideas as can be seen when he says, “why do I yield to that suggestion /

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