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Who Was Responsible For Macbeth's Downfall

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Macbeth’s downfall could be described as a combination of all the various influences in Macbeth’s life that led him down that path. Perhaps the witches’ prophecy led him to ultimate doom, or his wife’s urging him to murder Duncan to seize the throne did. However, in the end, no one can be blamed for this but Macbeth himself. From the moment Macbeth hears the witches’ prophecy, he immediately begins seeing visions of him murdering Duncan, foreshadowing his inevitable fate. From there, although Lady Macbeth did persuade him to do so, in the end, he chose to usurp the crown from his own volition. Once he takes the crown, his hubris and fear over losing his power leads him further down the road to destruction. As such, it can be said that Macbeth alone caused the actions that led to his downfall. …show more content…

They are the ones who first implanted the ideas that Macbeth would become the Thane of Cawdor and the future King. However, if these ideas alone caused his downfall, he would have immediately slain Duncan when told that it would lead to his taking of the throne. Instead, he initially seems unwilling to submit to the prophecies that the Witches told him, saying “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me/Without my stir” (1.3.155-156). This statement shows that the Witches’ prophecies have no bearing on his wanting to take the crown. Although his saying this also means that he will not have anything to do with fate if he does end up becoming King, he does end up taking things into his own

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327 Words | 2 Pages

Who Was Responsible For Macbeth’s Downfall? In "Macbeth," there are a few characters who share responsibility for the tragedy that happens. Though, Macbeth himself takes the most responsibility for his actions, as his own actions lead to his own downfall. “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself and falls on th' other.”

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742 Words | 3 Pages

Macbeth’s downfall was clearly caused by the witches. I know this because the witches gave him the prophecy in the beginning and spoke of their intentions to insure his downfall. I believe that the cause

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443 Words | 2 Pages

Third, persuasion led to his downfall because of him being easily convinced. He was also tricked by the witches by them telling half truths with the prophecies , which led to his demise. Also he was easily persuaded by lady Macbeth to kill king Duncan which led to Scotland turning into turmoil. When Macbeth announces “I dare do all that may become a man who dares do more is none” Macbeth stating he dares anyone to get in his way because he knows he will become all powerful (Shakespeare 41.1.7).

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881 Words | 4 Pages

To summarize it all, the multiple hallucinations that Macbeth had throughout the play were due to his guilt of killing many of his close friends. The more close friends that he killed, the more insane and paranoid he became. This shows that guilt is a deep scar within Macbeth so that’s why he went into a downward spiral. In conclusion, Macbeth’s guilt is the main reason for his downfall because guilt is the reason for the destruction of many characters in the play. From Macbeth’s point of view, we see that he starts off as a heroic person and ends up as a tyrant.

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830 Words | 4 Pages

He becomes obsessed with the idea of fulfilling his destiny to be king and is willing to overcome anyone who becomes a threat to his kingship. Macbeth’s downfall and corruption is due to the witches prophecies and equivocations, his wife’s manipulations and scheming, and ultimately his own ambition and tragic flaw of always resorting to violence. At the start of the play, the witches discuss their future plans of meeting with Macbeth proving how they were determined from the start to influence his life, leading to his downfall. Macbeth is firstly

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419 Words | 2 Pages

Macbeth does not really have a downfall from his position, but he does have a mental breakdown, and if someone is not mentally right in a critical position like Macbeth’s, that could be catastrophic. It could not only hurt Macbeth, but it could hurt his wife, and everyone he rules over. Macbeth’s breakdowns were not only confusing but they were troubling to the people that had to watch them. When Macbeth says to the empty chair, “ Thou canst not say

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831 Words | 4 Pages

In addition to the witches and Lady Macbeth sharing somewhat of the blame for Macbeth, it is also duly noted that Macbeth is also at equal fault for his downfall. One of the main causes of his downfall is his hubris. Hubris is defined as the “excessive pride or self-confidence, often that leads to negative consequences”, and Macbeth, his over-obsession with his ambitions leads to the negative consequence of his

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724 Words | 3 Pages

Macbeth shows his downfall when the English army comes to his castle and an English soldier starts to call him a “tyrant”(5.2.12). This demonstrates Macbeth's downfall because everyone used to think that he was a good strong leader and that he could do anything. When everyone realized that it was Macbeth who killed king Duncan and the others, they were disappointed in him. His downfall ended up leading to his punishment. In the play everyone finds out that that Macbeth killed Duncan and the others, Macduff brings an army to attack Macbeth at his castle.

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1125 Words | 5 Pages

As the book progresses, he takes extreme actions to stay in power, which lead to his demise. Although supernatural forces have a significant role in this play, Macbeth still has a substantial amount of autonomy over his own life, therefore, his downfall is the result of his own free will. Firstly, Duncan’s murder was not caused by any external, supernatural forces. After the

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621 Words | 3 Pages

In Macbeth’s downfall, the witches and Lady Macbeth played a part and they did affect Macbeth’s life. The three witches were the ones who planted the seed in Macbeth’s mind with deep dark thoughts. “All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!” The words of the witch.

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835 Words | 4 Pages

The main reason for Macbeth’s fall from grace was caused by himself. He became extremely greedy and self-indulgent when the witches revealed their prophecies to him. He once was a noble and respectful man, but when he was introduced to the evil witches he instantly became a whole new person and forgot how much of a respected person he was. He began to murder anyone who was doubtful or a threat to him. His judgement was completely impaired by the fascination of being king.

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1288 Words | 6 Pages

Macbeth had become everything that he had ever wanted to be which was the king of Scotland and when the witches told him that someone else was going to take his crown he went to extremes to try to keep them from doing that which was eventually what lead to him dying. The witches had told Macbeth that the sons of Banquo would take his crown so he decided to have Banquo and his son killed Macbeth said, “Our fears in Banquo stick deep/ And in his royalty of nature reigns that which would be feared”(3.1.49-51). Macbeth did everything he could to protect his crown, but that is eventually what lead to his downfall and his death. He killed his best friend Banquo which was when his ambition had gone to far and was the beginning of his decline.

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999 Words | 4 Pages

From honored soldier to murderous tyrant, Macbeth killed his way into power. He was informed of his “destiny” and stopped at nothing to achieve it. He had multiple chances to rethink his actions. He didn 't however, he kept on his march to power leaving only himself to blame. Macbeth is the only one to blame for his actions and ultimately, his death.

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688 Words | 3 Pages

At the end of the play, Macbeth’s ambition caused him to lose Lady Macbeth to suicide and to no longer have moral sense. Ambition led to Macbeth’s downfall because Lady Macbeth and the witches caused him to make brainless decisions that caused his collapse. Macbeth’s ambition led to his downfall because of Lady Macbeth's ambition. Lady Macbeth had

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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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