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. One of the leading reasons that contributed towards Macbeth’s downfall was his guilty conscience. In the early stages of the play, Macbeth had come into contact with witches who hailed him the king of Scotland. After …show more content…
In The Tragedy of Macbeth, this is seen when Macbeth starts to believe he is unbeatable. Macbeth meets with the witches alone, wanting to ask what is next in his life. The witches show him four apparitions: an Armed Head, a Bloody Child, a Child Crowned, with a tree in his hand, and a show of eight Kings and Banquo (Citation). Each of these apparitions warned him of something and someone. The first apparition was to make him aware of Macduff. The second told him that no man born of a woman could harm him. For that reason Macbeth questioned, “What need I fear of thee [Macduff]” (Citation). The third told Macbeth he could never be defeated until The Great Birnam Wood travels to Dunsinane Hill to which he responded, “That will never be. Who can impress the forest, bid the tree unfix his earth-bound root” (Citation). Due to his interactions with the witches and the apparitions shown to him, he believed there was no reason to prepare for battle, leaving him and his kingdom unprepared for when Macduff arrived, ultimately leading to his downfall. Macbeth's ambition brought about his destruction through his remorse, hallucinations, and belief that he was
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
35-39). Macbeth's descent into the madness he continues to show is marked by hallucinations and paranoia, manifestations of his internal struggle. The relentless pursuit of power transforms into a long lasting battle within his psyche, and his inability to reconcile with his actions becomes the reason for his tragic demise. In the end, Macbeth's tragic flaws of unchecked ambition, moral vacillation, and the burden of guilt converge together to shape the path of his tragic destiny that has been shaped by decisions made along the way. Shakespeare's nuanced portrayal of these human weaknesses serves as a cautionary tale, emphasizing the vulnerability of the human condition to the allure of
Throughout the play Macbeth falls deeper and deeper into insanity until he breaks while losing all conscious and traces of any good. What caused this descent? Well, he had influences such as the witches and his wife, but I don’t believe they were the main cause. I believe that Macbeth caused his own downfall. He had his ambitions too elevated and he was gullible enough to listen to the other bad influences around him. He could have just ignored the witches like Banquo did. Even if he did not ignore them, he still could have said no to his wife. Instead, he took the easy way to his dreams and tried to fix things himself. Unfortunately, his ambition for more and lust for power blinded him. He might have gained power, but in the end he lost everything. He lost his soul, which is the worst thing one has to lose. Macbeth teaches us a lesson on how not to give in to the lust for power. It’s ok to dream, but if you let your ambitions blind you to where you can’t see what is right and wrong anymore then you are losing everything. If the line between right and wrong is blurred then do not follow that dream. Instead, get into God’s word and pray about it. If your dream is in God’s plan for you then he will make it happen in his time. If God tells you it is not a good idea, then don’t do it. If you are patient and wait for Gods will then things will work out. Don’t take the easy way out like Macbeth did.
Because of Macbeth's guilt of killing his King, Macbeth slowly became insane which eventually lead to his downfall emphasizing the power of guilt that holds Macbeth’s fate.
In "Macbeth" by William Shakespeare, Macbeth is really respected and a totally different person at first but because of his own actions, falls from king and is murdered. His life turns from the best to the worst very quickly. Macbeth is responsible for his own downfall because he lets fear, ambition, anger, and ignorance control him and his actions. Fear is a huge factor for Macbeth's downfall. Macbeth is really afraid that Banquo may think him of being Duncans' murderer.
Then, he continues to kill heirs to the throne, but ends up being murdered for his actions. While it may be true that ambition drives people to accomplish greater things, Shakespeare illustrates that Macbeth’s ambition corrupts him and leads to his downfall because he cannot control his ambition. Nothing gets in the way of Macbeths goal to become king. Macbeth’s harsh, ruthless attitude and his strong ambition lead him to mercilessly murder others to gain more power.
Macbeth accepted that his life was in change in the play; as a result of this decision, Macbeth grew more comfortable in his savage deeds. Madness takes hold of Macbeth, as a result to bearing knowledge of his future. This is an element that is deeply woven within all of Shakespeare’s Tragedies; the protagonist looses their sanity, as a result to their inner struggles. Macbeth’s ambition of status and the desire to know his future, became the reason why Macbeth fell from grace and into hell. The choices and the hysteria that came along with those choices are what Macbeth a tragic hero; it is Macbeth’s loss of reason through infinite knowledge and ambition that killed
In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the main character, Macbeth, is a brave and loyal subject to the King of Scotland, but as the play progresses, his character begins to change drastically. Evil and unnatural powers, as well as his own passion to become king, take over his better half and eventually lead to his downfall. The three main factors that intertwine with one another that contribute to Macbeth’s tragic end are the prophecies told by the three witches, Lady Macbeth’s influence, and finally, Macbeth’s excessive passion and ambition which drove his desire to become king to the utmost extreme. The prophecy told by the three witches was what triggers the other factors that contribute to Macbeth s downfall. In the first act, the witches
Macbeth himself was the biggest factor to his downfall due to the consequences of his decisions. This was first shown when Lady Macbeth says “From this time Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard To be the same in thine own act and valor.” (Shakespeare 1,7,38) Lady Macbeth states that Macbeth is too afraid to act under his own power to obtain the crown. The reason this is an internal force is because Macbeth allows himself to be easily manipulated into doing the wrong thing. At the same time, he is so easily manipulated that he must have some desire of his own to go through with killing Duncan. The final decision is up to him, therefore he has a choice whether he wants to kill duncan or not, but he does not want to seem cowardly and he lets
The first apparition to beware Macduff. The second says that man that is not woman born will kill you. The third says when the woods come to Dunsinane hill, he will die. This makes his anxiety go down, because he thought there were no way for the last two to happen. Though later, it does happen, and he is almost happy that he does not have to live with all the guilt and anxiety of his
Macbeth admits that this is a strange and unnatural occurrence yet instead of using reason to calm himself, he believes in his deceptive illusions. Lady Macbeth says to Macbeth that this situation is similar to when he saw the dagger yet Macbeth ignores her and continues to act on high emotion conveyed through a series of exclamation marks. Macbeth opts to put his faith on his delusions instead of listening to a voice of reason; which is in this case, Lady Macbeth. This action causes him to lose sight of what is actually real and allows him to continue to believe in more dangerous delusions - such as believing the witches regarding the apparitions.
Macbeth's downfall is not only mainly his fought but others around hims fought also. He was talked into killing king Duncan by Lady Macbeth.She does this by talking about Macbeth's Manhood by saying “When you durst do it,” she says, “then you were a man” (Macbeth Act 1 Scene 7).Lady Macbeth does a unsex me spell so she can be more like a man whichs make her have that sense of control she needs to boss people around.One of the most reason
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 first apparition is shown to Macbeth and this warns him about Macduff and look out for his intentions. “Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn, the power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth” ( 4.1.78-79). The second apparition informs Macbeth that the individual who has been untimely ripped from its mother's womb, will be king. “ Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him” (4.191-93). The last apparition shown by the supernatural uncovers that he will not be defeated until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane Hill.
They way in which he is addressed by the influential members of his country further informs the reader that Macbeth is respectable. However, after Macbeth interacts with the three witches, his curiosity is stirred by their prophecies, especially their prediction that he will become king. He commits murder in order to fulfill their prophecy and then returns to the three witches a second time for reassurance. The three witches, with the aid of three apparitions, then revealed to Macbeth in Act 5, Scene 1 the following prophecies: