A flaw is a mark, fault, or other imperfection that mars a substance or object. Flaws can either be noticed or not.Flaws are brought out in a person that goes through certain circumstances. Many factors come into play when speaking about a person’s flaws. Shakespeare was able to exemplify the meaning of flaws in his play, “The Tragedy of Macbeth”. Shakespeare amplified Macbeth’s flaws all throughout the play. Macbeth’s tragic downfall was brought down by his fear, but also his gullibility and ambition entwined to make him fall down a path of no return.
Macbeth’s fear was one of many flaws that lead and build other flaws. Macbeth is afraid of not being king and then being able to keep power , while he is king . Macbeth’s fear makes him kill
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His fear makes him gullible. He is willing to listen and do unreasonable things to not feel afraid anymore. Macbeth’s gullibility starts with listening to the witches. When they tell him about his prophecy he is at first skeptical, but with his wife's help he gradually starts believing in them. Macbeth’s wife is also a bug factor in his gullibility. He does not know how to be strong and is quickly convinced by her to kill Duncan. She gets him to help kill Duncan by poking at his manhood. “What beast was’t , then, That made you real this enteprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man;And to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more than the man. Nor time nor place Did then adhere, and yet you would make both.”(I,vii,47-52). Once Lady Macbeth made him look weak , he was gullible enough to easily fall into her plan. But as the story goes on Macbeth is the one that starts to become evil. His gullibility starts to overwhelm him in certain situations. Thus making him believe everything that the witches say, because he is gullible enough to think it is true. But really he is just making it come true by doing the things he is doing. Which leads to his most tragic downfall , Macbeth’s unchecked …show more content…
“He has courage, individual consciousness, and will-power, and in his inability to acquiesce patients in the primal order of things we sense a strong, restless energy which is compelling. He is still a terrifying criminal who spreads death and destruction about him”(Long). Macbeth’s ambition is all circled around obtaining more power. But once he gets power his ambition changes to keeping and securing his power. Macbeth was so headstrong on trying to get power that he didn't realize that his ambition was causing his downfall. His ambition first started with the death of Duncan. After that he wanted to get power and keep it. That was why he was so demanding of the witches in the end , because he wanted to keep power. But in the end it all lead to his death. Even when he was fighting Macduff he was blinded by ambition. He was letting the witches prophesies get in his head causing him to believe that he was going to die. “They begin to give him reason to doubt, and his belief, steaming from his ambition , allows Macduff to defeat
Fear motivates us to do many things, whether they are right or wrong. In the play Macbeth, fear was the main motivation that influenced the outcome of the play. This can be proved by the subsequent murders after Duncan's. Why were these committed? Macbeth was scared of being caught and having to pay for the wrongs he had done. Also, look at Lady Macbeth. The constant washing of her hands, sleepwalking, and other behavior like this is done out of fear. It resembles her husband fear of being caught. The final piece of proof is Macbeth's actions. They were all due to fear, not only of being caught but of the witches' prophecies. He was scared of them coming true and tried to stop them from happening. This whole play was inspired by fear and what it can do to a person.
A quote which really defines Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s ambition regarding power is “Power does not corrupt men; fools; however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power” George Bernard Shaw. Lady Macbeth is more ambitious in terms of gaining power then Macbeth is and that Lady Macbeth will do almost anything to gain power, even evil things that she normally wouldn’t do. This is shown when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth learn about the witches’ predictions, then roles in the plans to murder king Duncan in order to gain power and then finally after the murder, Macbeth doesn’t want to finish the plan making Lady Macbeth angry and causing a chance they might get caught and gain no power at all.
His ambition made him a man with progressive external misfortunes that produce and are produced by his progression from goodness to wickedness (Booth 95). Macbeth automatically trust the words of the witches. Macbeth had so much confidence in the witches that he never concentrates on the reality of the prophecies. Each prophecies led him deeper into the diabolic course, the more he was told by the witches the greater his ambition and confidence grew. It was very clear that Macbeth was a man flawed by his own ambition. Macbeth 's ambition and overconfidence put him in a position where it was impossible for him to see through the witches insidious plotting. Though the witches prophecies got him to the throne, it was not as great as Macbeth
What drove him to become a power hungry tyrant was his wife. She put ideas in his head that changed him. A day before Macbeth would not speak of the idea of killing the king and now he was considering it. By killing the Duncan, gaining the title and king, and not being caught, Macbeth was given an enormous boost. He now felt invincible and let power finally get to him and corrupt him. With this new amount of power, Macbeth was not willing to let it slip away. To protect his power, he did whatever was necessary. Macbeth cowardly had Banquo killed, going against everything he ever believed in. Killing Banquo was not enough for Macbeth. Shakespeare shows to the audience how power can make a person go higher in the world but at the same time make them more vulnerable. Macbeth was now vulnerable, to solve this he sent the murderers to kill Macduff.
Before the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth was a brave, noble warrior. “For brave Macbeth well he deserves that name… Till he unseamed him from the nave to th’ chop and fixed his head upon our battlements” (Act I, Scene 2, lines 2). He was one of the last people anyone would expect to kill King Duncan. Shakespeare chooses a noble character such as Macbeth, to emphasize how greed and power can alter a person’s good morals. In Act one we start to see Macbeth’s desire for more power rise. “Stars, hide your fires; Let no light see my black and deep desires. The eye wink at the hond yet let that be which the eye fears, when it is done to see” (Act I, Scene 4, lines 52- 55). His desire for power is at war with his good morals. He wants to become king but does not want to kill Duncan.
In fear of losing this power to his friend Banquo or his son Fleance, whom of which the witches said would be king after Macbeth and would yield a long line of kings, Macbeth had them murdered in the woods while they were out horseback riding. This proves that he truly believes in what the witches have to say about him and his future, which leads him to back to seek out more of the witches half truths to see what else would come of his future. The next set of prophecies that the witches had to offer were shown in a set of three apparitions. The first said “Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff. Beware the thane of Fife,” the second apperition then spoke “none of woman born can harm Macbeth,” the third aperition then said “Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill Shall come against him”(Shakespeare,168-170). Some say it was the witches fault for Macbeth’s actions next, but in reality it was Macbeth’s and Macbeth’s alone. Due to these three prophecies Macbeth’s level of arrogance went up along with his hunger for power as well, his level of common sense was decreasing faster and faster. Macbeth’s lack of common sense caused him to make rash decisions without thinking them through. Such as when he says “From this moment the very firstlings of my
Macbeth is captured by his wild ambition at the opening of the play when he and Banqou meet the three witches. The witches tell Macbeth that he is the Thane of Cawdor, and later will be king. They tell Banquo that his sons will be kings. Instantly Macbeth started to fantasize how he is going to be king. He understood that in order for him to become king he has to kill Duncan. “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical”(Act 1 Sc. 3, p.23). He was pondering about the assassination until the moment that he could no longer control his emotions. “To prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which overleaps itself and falls on the other-“(Act 1 Sc. 7, p.41). Because of his “vaulting ambition” he killed Duncan.
Within Shakespeare's collection of tragedy plays, several protagonist were presented with a character flaw that would lead them to their downfall. These would include Romeo, Hamlet and Macbeth who struggled to resolve the tension between his morals or conscience with his lust and ambitions for greatness. Several factors are to be considered when evaluating the force that ultimately lead to his demise, such as the Three Weird Sisters' prophesies, Lady Macbeth, or the flaw in his character. The one factor that predominates the other two is the character flaw because the ambition lead him to stray to the path of darkness, murder his own men to protect his throne, and the other two only influenced his decisions, but only he can decide on the
Macbeth’s visions and the prophecies of the witches cause Macbeth to make poor decisions, which lead him to his eventual downfall. Macbeth started off as a noble, virtuous man, he was loyal to the king and was well respected by the other noblemen. The prophecies and hallucinations corrupted Macbeth’s intentions and as a result, Macbeth became power hungry and overzealous. A combination of Macbeth’s ambition and paranoia lead to many senseless murders.
Fear motivates many to act upon matters, be they right or wrong. In the play Macbeth it was fear that was the main motivating factor that influenced the outcome of the play. Macbeth was fearful of being caught and having to pay for the wrongs he had done – this led to the murders that followed after the murder of King Duncan. Macbeth's actions were also driven by fear of the witches' prophecies - he was afraid they would come true and tried to stop them from happening. Lady Macbeth, was also plagued by fear as evidenced by the constant washing of her hands, sleepwalking and other similar behavior. This entire play was inspired by fear and what it and do to a person.
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.
Firstly, he defeats his enemies. Next he is praised by the other soldiers and King Duncan appoints him as the Thane. For example, if a person desires for a manager title, the person will work hard to earn it, and it is possible that other workers will see this and boost the chief individual’s desire. It is from here that the person might think they deserve the title and look for more power. Similarly, Macbeth must have thought somewhere in his mind to be king. In the book Witches’ Caldron: a study of motive in Shakespeare’s Macbeth Dr. K.C. Mathur says that although the witches did prophesy he would be king and even boosted his desire “They did not create the thought of murder of King Duncan. It was Macbeth’s own latent ambition embodying his power drive and seeking affirmation that invites the witches.” (Witches Caldron, 6) Dr. Mathur also says “Macbeth had acquired this status and it is not surprising that he thinks of achieving higher status by being aggressive and domineering. It is this psychological impulse that is projected in his ambition for the crown and not any criminal instinct or latent evil.” (6) There was a negative environment of witches and the association of Lady Macbeth around Macbeth which influenced him to murder. The environment creates a huge part in the play and if he had a good environment it is possible that he would have remained loyal to King
The Tragedy of Macbeth written by William Shakespeare is a tale of a man and his un-bridled ambition, set in ancient Scotland. Macbeth is a nobleman of the king of Scotland, Duncan, who is in mid-war with Norway. Macbeth and his fellow general Banquo encounter three witches. The witches tell the pair that Macbeth will be king, and Banquo’s children will also be kings. Any person in their right mind would question information given to them by strangers, let alone witches, but for some reason these statements intrigue Macbeth. They temp Macbeth to do evil things such as treason, and worse, to kill. Although un-bridled ambition is his main tragic flaw, there is one more that plays a big role in his decisions and the outcome of the story; Macbeth is far too impressionable.
Macbeth was capable of achieving his place as king but his path to greatness would not have occurred without his ability to be overconfident. This ability was responsible for his overall position as being blind to the possibility of failure. The witches assured him that he would be essentially invincible and that only in what seemed to be impossible situations, would his life be threatened. Macbeth explains:
The witches do not force him to kill Duncan, but they do plant the idea is his head. After murdering Duncan, Macbeth made the decision to murder the guards, making Macduff suspicious of him. He also chooses to kill Banquo, and Macduff’s family. His actions are the reason that his life ended in the way that it did. At the beginning of his moral conflict he says in an aside “If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me without my stir” (1. 3. 143-144). Macbeth is thinking to himself that if he is meant to be king by fate, he should just sit back and let it happen. He does not want to betray his king. After some careful thought, Macbeth chooses to take matters into his own hands by murdering the king. He was not influenced by the witches when he makes the decision to have Macduff’s family murdered. In an attempt to scare Macduff and show that he does not fear the Thane of Fife, Macbeth seals his own fate and ensures his death. Shortly after the death of his children and wife, Macduff returns to Scotland for revenge.