Macbeth: The Ambitious Downfall
Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, is about a man who murdered and climbed his way to royalty because three witches told him “All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!” (1.3.150). Stating, that one day he would be king. Since then he had gone down a road that had led him to an unfortunate death, and though some would say it was the witches that led him to his downfall, it was really him and his prideful ambition.
Starting with the murder of King Duncan which placed Macbeth on the throne. Now on the throne, Macbeth became paranoid that he would lose power, causing him to murder many more people. Eventually, all his subjects had turned against him, including his armies. In the end, he is killed in a battle which he thought he was safe from. He wrongly obtained confidence from the misleading witches, but is that the reason he came to an end?
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When Macbeth heard this, he assumed he could not be defeated, since there is no man not born of a woman. But what Macbeth failed to realize, was that the witches were using a sort of play on words. In his last battle, Macbeth had to fight Macduff, Thane of Fife. During that battle, Macbeth states “Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests; I bear a charmed life, which must not yield, to one of woman born” (5.8.2485). Macduff exclaims that he had been removed from his mother’s womb through cesarean section, which means he was not “born” of a woman. Upon hearing this, Macbeth realizes he had been foully misleading by the witches. Although it may seem as though it was the witches fault, they did not say anything wrong or incorrect. It was Macbeth's interpretation which leads him to believe he could not be
Was he not born of woman? The spirits that know All moral consequences have pronounced me thus: ‘Fear not, Macbeth. No man that’s born of woman Shall e’er have power upon thee.’” (V.iii.3-7) Macbeth is overconfident of the battle.
Macbeth’s foolishness to believe what the witches told him about him being untouchable is also a reason as to why Macbeth is ultimately responsible for his own downfall. Being gullible can lead to
In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth the main character has a dramatic rise to kingship but suddenly loses it in his tragic downfall. Characters in works of literature usually have a downfall due to a certain event or trait they possess, in this case Macbeth has too much greed. Early on in the play, three witches give Macbeth a prophecy, this entails that he will become the Thane of Cawdor and then king. They also tell him that he will never be defeated from a man that was born from a women. Throughout the play Macbeth sticks to this and ends up becoming king but in an inhuman manner. Macbeth kills the previous king Duncan to gain his power just like the prophecy, once he has the power it gets used to his advantage. Next, as Macbeth gets too greedy with his belief in the prophecy he feel unstoppable and accepts a fight with Duncan who has a strong army ready to defeat Macbeth who is slowly breaking down. Macbeth's excessive amount of greed is responsible for his downfall because of his hunger for power, abuse with
This apparition, along with another that states no man born of woman can harm him, provides Macbeth with false hopes that the “rebellious dead” will never come back to threaten his kingship. The witches deceive Macbeth into thinking that he will remain king for his entire life. Due to these misleading spirits, Macbeth gains more confidence and trust in his decisions. He starts to follow up his malicious thoughts with immediate actions such as raiding Macduff’s castle and killing Macduff’s entire family. If the witches had not
Macbeth Downfall In the first act of Macbeth, we find out that Macbeth is a well-respected soldier who works for King Duncan. As the novel progresses, Macbeth turns into a dark, sinister figure who commits several murders, either himself or through other people. To be fair to Macbeth, there is more to the story than just him murdering people. The first murder he commits is of his beloved king Duncan in cold blood.
What drove Macbeth to ruin? Was it greed? Was it his desire for power over the entire kingdom? Or did he in fact suffer from the mental illness identified today as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). The symptoms shown by Macbeth include his need for perfection, his need to be in control, and the fact that he caused great harm and death to others.
The Ultimate Demise of Macbeth The desire for power can bring a person praise or destruction. In The Tragedy of Macbeth we are able to see the long road to Macbeth's demise, from his first interaction with a group of witches and Banquo, to his last interaction with them where they warned him of his own downfall. Macbeth's desire for a higher ranking and the demand for more power resulted in his downfall from his guilty conscience, delusions, and his belief that he was invincible. The Tragedy of Macbeth was caused by many things.
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
A person’s faith is incredibly powerful when it comes to their behavior. In the tragedy Macbeth illustrates how someone’s words can affect what they believe, in this case it was the witches. Act 1 lines 47-89 show how Macbeth was first suspicious of the but then started believing them after he heard the prophecy. Macbeth considered the prophecy credible because because it contained something that interested him, it said that he was going to be king.
As Macbeth’s arrogance and power is the main reason for one's downfall due to just wanting more power and not caring for the others under his own ruling.
He will not let anyone steal his crown. Macbeth and his wife make sure that nobody takes his place, thus leading him to his own downfall. Macbeth was a gentleman that became a monster, and it was because of his actions that the choices he made was nobody's fault but his own. That is why the witches are not responsible for Macbeth’s downfall because they did not tell him to murder King Duncan, Banquo, they did not tell him to go after Macduff and his family, and they did not encourage him to go to war.
Everyone has done something bad, and/or questionable, in his/her lifetime, but he/she also knows that consequences will follow said action. Macbeth, however, did not realize the intensity of what would fall back onto him for all the vile acts he had committed to gain and stay in power. Shakespeare is the one who gave us the corrupt tale of Macbeth to experience and he shows us the deterioration of a power hungry murderer. In the play we see how Macbeth’s evil deeds make him lose his touch with good human emotions, take away his family’s sanity, and then eventually take their life. The first effect of his cruel acts was the lose of his humanity, or human feeling.
Unfortunately, Macbeth lost himself and asking the witches for advice, and he should have just followed his gut instinct. In addition, Macbeth lets greed get the best of him, and he struggles with a sense of right and wrong. In the process of losing himself he kills many people he had close relationships along with his ultimate choice to kill the King which is what eventually leads to his downfall. Therefore, after Macbeth already participated in killing one person it was difficult for him to stop because he felt like his quest for power was getting closer. Macbeth wanted everything to himself, and yet he found himself in the end with nothing.
Additionally, the witches told Macbeth he was not able to be killed by anyone who was born from a woman. He was extremely confident in himself. However, this took a turn for the worst in Act 5 when Macbeth was battling Macduff and thought he was not able to be killed. Macduff was not born from a woman, and Macbeth instantly realized he was in trouble and lost courage. Macbeth was very sure that Macduff was born from a woman.
The three witches told Macbeth his fate, but the event happened because of his actions not because of the witches’ prophesy. All Macbeth actions leads to his death, because he killed to have power and how he said everything comes around in some point. Macbeth had a lot of fate and because of his fate he got killed. He decided to take the witches’ prophesy on the wrong way that they actually meant, they said “ Be bloody, bold, and resolute! Laugh to scorn the pow’r of man, for none of women born shall harm Macbeth.” This was one of the predictions and Macbeth first though was that nobody can harm him because everyone is born from a women. The second Prophesy of the witches was ‘ Be lion-mettled, proud, and take no care. Who chafes, who frets,