Anthony Barone Ms. Pulvino English 10H 20 April 2023 Research Paper In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, Shakespeare depicts Macbeth’s rise and fall, and establishes how Macbeth is pitifully responsible for his own demise. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth was a fighter and the thane of Glamis, he hears prophecies from three witches, and he follows these prophecies to his rise to power. 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. …show more content…
People of Scottland began to rebel against Macbeth and gained the help of England to de-throne him. Macbeth let his desire to hold his title drive his actions and he killed anyone that he saw as a threat to this desire. After Macduff finds out that Macbeth killed his entire family, he says “O, I could play the women with mine eyes / And braggart with my tongue! But gentile heavens, / Cut short all intermissions! Front tot front / Bring thou this fiend of Scottland and me. / Within my sword's length set him. If he ‘scape, / Heaven forgive him too” (4.3.270-275). In this quote, Macduff calls Macbeth “Feind of Scottland” this shows that he is a tyrant and that people rebelled against him. In a scholarly source titled “Macbeth: What Does the Tyrant?” by Mary Ann McGrail, McGrail explains “He is intent on eliminating all other possible heirs to the throne rather than producing one of his own. Other than in her famous speech on infanticide, Lady Macbeth never mentions children. One might expect that the tyrant Macbeth, so concerned to ensure the throne for his progeny by eliminating all potential threats--Banquo and his son, Macduff's wife, and children--would be concerned about an heir--but he never shows such concern” (McGrail 50). McGrail explains how Macbeth lost the support of the Scottish people by focusing on his desires to keep the title of king. He could not have children of his own, so he focused on killing all the heirs that could replace him. Macbeth is responsible for his own downfall because of his tyrannical actions such as killing Lady Macduff and her