An Analysis Of The Downfall Of Macbeth

People are innately “good”– it is circumstance that has the transformative ability to twist commendable qualities into fatal flaws. Such is similar for Macbeth, as he too is a victim of fate – left vulnerable by the exploits of the supernatural, his wife, and most tragically, his own fatal flaw. Lady Macbeth effectively summarizes her husband’s downfall as a direct result of his ambition, as Macbeth “wouldst be great... not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it” (1.5.17-19). Readers witness how Macbeth “catches” evil as one would catch a disease; his symptoms develop through his corrupt rise to power, as he reigns with a decreasing hope of cure until his inevitable death. Although Macbeth 's monumental downfall is largely influenced through manipulation, it is ultimately his own hamartia and corruption of power that leads to his demise.

In the exposition of the play, the witches’ fateful prophecy impels the plot forward, and along with it, Macbeth’s destiny. Although the witches may be held responsible for instilling the ambitious idea into his mind, it is imperative to recognize the significance behind how quickly Macbeth is consumed by the prophecy. In his aside, Macbeth anticipates a mighty pursuit for the kingship, calling the witches’ prophecies “happy prologues to the swelling act of the imperial theme” (1.3.128-9). Shakespeare uses irregular grammar to further express Macbeth’s intrigued state of mind as he states, “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, / Shakes so my single state of man that function / Is smother’d in surmise” (1.3.138-40). It is evident that ambitious desires have always been rooted within Macbeth; the prophecy is simply the point where he succumbs to his evil thoughts. Lady Macbeth, who is essentially a physical