The tragic downfall of Macbeth can be contributed to several key factors. Macbeth’s downfall can be attributed to his blind ambition, the influence of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s own insecurities and misgivings. Blind ambition combined with immoral goals, with Lady Macbeth’s influence and Macbeth’s personal doubts all lead to his inevitable downfall. The greatest factor to Macbeth’s downfall should be attributed to his blind, uncontrollable ambition. This factor is first seen with the second appearance of the witches, upon which they meet Macbeth. Macbeth’s first thought to the prophecy “All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!” (1.3.63) is he must murder the king. This thought provides the groundwork in which Macbeth can seed his …show more content…
Macbeth needed Lady Macbeth to do this, for without her, he would have continued to see the horrible act as something he shouldn’t do. In this regard, Lady Macbeth does this very well, she makes Macbeth see things in a different light, tells him how he is erroneous in his thinking and gets him to think how she wants him to. The following quote shows these domineering and manipulating qualities of hers quite well: “Art thou afeard/To be the same in thine own act and valor/As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that…/And live a coward in thine own esteem,/Letting ‘I dare not’ wait upon ‘I would’/Like the poor cat I’ the adage?” (1.7.43-49) This passage of Lady Macbeth also sums up her thoughts quite nicely: “What beast was’t it then/… made you break this enterprise…/when you durst do it, then you were a man,/…to be more than what you were, you would/Be so much more the man.” (1.7.53-57) Both of these quotations display Lady Macbeth’s thoughts about Macbeth: he is weak, and he must be a man, while she is strong and would do the murder without a thought. These thoughts clearly show how ambitious she is, and how determined she wants to influence Macbeth’s actions. The third, most contributing factor that leads to Macbeth’s downfall is his own insecurities, including his active imagination and his experiences with the supernatural. Macbeth’s first meeting with the witches, and the
Macbeth’s courage and bravery at battle for his country leads him into being a great thane and eventually a powerful king. His eagerness to become king leads to his tragic downfall. Macbeth’s ambition makes him fall into the temptation of evil which leads to his inevitable downfall. There are many factors which contribute to his fall. The three points which contribute majorly to Macbeth's downfall are the prophecies that are told to him by
Lady Macbeth played a large role as Macbeth’s seductress and brainwasher. Lady Macbeth persuaded her husband to kill the King not so that he would himself be King but so that she could be Queen.Although because of her involvement in this web of lies she felt guilty and drove herself insane worrying about what had happened and what would happen to her and her husband for being so dishonest. She was not responsible for the tragedy, she was only a manipulative factor in the scheme of things. Even though it does take two to tango, Macbeth tangoed on his own.
The tragic downfall of Macbeth was not determined by one single cause. It was rather caused by a combination of three dark forces: supernatural, external, and internal. Supernatural forces are represented by the three witches and dark powers behind them. Lady Macbeth is an outer force that pushes Macbeth towards the bloody deeds. Macbeth's own ambition acts as deciding power in brining him to his downfall.
Macbeth’s tragic flaw is his ambition and it consequentially leads to his downfall and ultimate demise. Macbeth is a tragic hero who is introduced in the the play as being well-liked and respected by the general and the people. He brings his death upon himself from this tragic flaw. His strengths turn into his weaknesses and his ambition drives him to the edge and sets himself up for his tragic death.
A character’s tragic downfall is often influenced by other characters, but this is not the case in Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth. Macbeth conforms to the conditions of a tragic hero because in the beginning of the play, Macbeth is an honourable and trustworthy nobleman to King Duncan and all of Scotland. However, throughout the play, Macbeth commits evil deeds such betrayal, treason, and murder solely because of his ambitions to remain in power. Macbeth murders others upon hearing the witches’ prophecies and even proceeds to return to them to remain in power. Macbeth is influenced and manipulated by his wife Lady Macbeth and The Witches, but he is ultimately responsible for his own tragic downfall. Macbeth’s tragic downfall is caused by his ‘vaulting ambition’ to become king. Thus, Macbeth has no one but his ruthless, cruel, and greedy self to blame for his own tragic downfall.
While it seems that his downfall can be many different things, everything can be summed up into three reasons. Since the beginning of the play, the audience has known that the Weird Sisters that Macbeth meets had a plan for him. A plan which they did not need any hands on action on their part. Once the witches tell Macbeth his destiny in the first act saying, “that shalt be King hereafter” they
In the play "Macbeth" by William Shakespeare, it is very controversial whether or not Macbeth was doomed by fate or by a flaw in his character. It could be argued that Macbeth was doomed both by fate and by a flaw in his character. On one hand, the role of the witches influence could be regarded as a major external force that exploited Macbeth 's character flaws. However, on the other hand, Macbeth 's ambitious nature and greed for power was the flaw in his character that ultimately led to his downfall. The extent to which Macbeths downfall is determined by fate or a flaw in his character will be discussed.
Since The Tragedy of Macbeth was written there has been speculation about the cause of Macbeth's downfall. Readers ponder whether Macbeth's fall was caused by a flaw in his character, Lady Macbeth, or an outside force of evil. Although the witches set a certain mood and Lady Macbeth exerts a certain influence on him, Macbeth's downfall is caused by his own character.
Lady Macbeth has some responsibility for the transition of Macbeth because when Macbeth was unsure if he should murder Duncan she said, “And to be more than what you were, you would, Be so much more the man… Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, And dashed the brains out” (1.7.50-51, 58-59). Lady Macbeth is pushing Macbeth so he would go through with his plans. Due to the support of Lady Macbeth, Macbeth now has a reason to carry out his plans. Lady Macbeth also is trying to get into Macbeth’s mind and trying to make him insecure so he would do as she suggested. Macbeth would be insecure because Lady Macbeth made a comment that he would not be a man if he did not kill Duncan. As the play continues Macbeth in his dagger speech says,
Many kings and queens meet their downfall because they want more power and are extremely ambitious. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Macbeth is more to blame for his downfall than his wife because he was cold-blooded, impulsive, and over-confident.
Macbeth’s downfall was caused by Lady Macbeth’s annoyness and ambition. She was the one who controlled him and made him kill the king. She wanted to be the queen and wanted to have the power. “ Thou wouldst be great,/Art without ambition”(Shakespeare,I, iiiii, 5-7) She became very ambitious because she know that Macbeth listens to her and depends on her and that makes her to easily control Macbeth and get him to kill the King and gain the power she wants. She was very greedy too, she became more greedy than Macbeth and because of her ambition it led Macbeth to become a
The impact of the internal forces related to the external forces resulting in a character’s demise. In William Shakespeare's Macbeth, the protagonist, Macbeth is an example of a tragic hero whose downfall is due to his tragic flaw of ambition. The external forces that contribute to his downfall are the Witches, Lady Macbeth and after Duncan’s murder. The Witches, who are vindictive and cruel, played a significant part in Macbeth’s downfall. The witches manipulated Macbeth by stating his most deepest desires would come true.
The witches gave Macbeth a nudge in the direction of becoming king, but Lady Macbeth shoves him in that direction. Lady Macbeth understand that that Macbeth does not have the backbone to go through with this when she points out that he “is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness” (I.5.16). After convincing Macbeth to murder Duncan, Macbeth talks himself out of it once again and “will proceed no farther in this business” (I.7.31). Lady Macbeth, finally, resorts to taunts and questions whether Macbeth is a man since a man was suppose to be true to their word and intentions. Lady Macbeth is the epitome of a puppet master and know how to influence Macbeth into doing what she wants him to do through her unique diction. As a result, Lady Macbeth was the one who introduces Macbeth to murder which he later becomes addicted to as he laments, “I am in blood / Stepped in it so far that, should I wade no more,/Returning were as tedious as go o’ver” (III.4.136-138). Murder is like a drug. Once it is introduced, it will be commonly
In conclusion, Macbeth's fatal flaw is ambition, which prevents him from reigning over Scotland for a long time. Macbeth's ambition causes him to act rashly and eventually drown himself in blood caused by his ambition. Reading the play through the lens of Macbeth's ambition shows that ambition drives the plot and is key to the
Like every tragic hero, Macbeth suffered from a flaw. In his case, his flaw was his strong ambition, combined with a thirst for power. Ambition alone is not a bad trait, but when added with a lust for power, this ambition can become dangerous. At the beginning Macbeth was seen as brave Macbeth and shown as a loyal and brave solider on the battle field. That ambition always resided within him but did not cause a problem until the prophecy was made by the witches.