Macbeth has always been viewed as a tragedy. A tragedy is a story of a hero whose flaws got the best of him. The question is what exactly is Macbeth's fatal flaw? Is it his 'vaulting ambition'? Is it his pride, his greed? Or is it a general weakness in his character, an uncertainty about his own identity that brought about his doom? Can we truly say he is a good man? Are the choices he makes truly made of his own free will? How much of it is his own fault and, if indeed, the lions share of the blame can be placed on Macbeth, what does this mean for his sense of self?
The idea that Macbeth was originally a good man at the start of the play is confused at best. We first here of him through the witches in the very first scenes, which gives him an automatic association with the powers of evil present in the play. After this, we hear him described as 'noble' but in this same description we also hear that he committed extreme acts of violence which seemed excessive even on the battle 'he unseamed him from the nave to the chops'. Macbeth's actual encounter with the witches does nothing to improve our view of him, as he essentially admits to himself (and thus the audience) that he has wondered about becoming king before this. So we are left with an uncertain handle on who Macbeth really is.
In order to attempt to understand Macbeth, we must search for a character in the play who would have any effect on or influence over Macbeth. The most obvious of these would be Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth has the closest relationship of anyone in the play with Macbeth by virtue of being his wife. This means she is in a unique position for understanding Macbeth. It could be said that she takes advantage of this, using her relationship with Macbeth...
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... keeping with his role as a solider, where he would be expected to take orders, rather than act on his own initiative. However this in no way excuses his actions throughout the play. The 'we were only following orders' excuse does not stand here for two reasons. One is that is that excuse never does stand anyway, as soldiers still have a duty to act on what is right, despite the orders of their superiors. The other is that Macbeth was following no ones orders but his own, egged on by his own desire for power and glory. His choices were his own and therefore the blame is also his. Macbeth did not lose himself in the crisis of his life. He created it through his own deliberate actions and then immersed himself in that crisis.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William, and John Crowther. No Fear Shakespeare: Macbeth. ed. New York: Spark Publishing, 2003. Print.
This is my account of Macbeth’s downfall from a popular, successful soldier, quote “What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won”, who has received great honours for his loyalty, his courage, his bravery and his nobility. At the end of the play, the only respect he has is because of the fear that his subjects have of him. “Great Dunsinane he strongly fortifies // some say he’s mad, others that lesser hate him.” I will go through Macbeth’s soliloquies and chart his character as it changes.
Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tragedy in which the main characters are obsessed by the desire for power. Macbeth’s aspiration for power blinds him to the ethical implications of his dreadful acts. The more that Shakespeare’s Macbeth represses his murderous feelings, the more he is haunted by them. By analyzing his hallucinations it is possible to trace his deteriorating mental state and the trajectory of his ultimate fall. Throughout the play Macbeth is never satisfied with himself. He feels the need to keep committing crime in order to keep what he wants most: his kingship. The harder Macbeth tries to change his fate the more he tends to run into his fate. His ambition and struggle for power was Macbeth’s tragic flaw in the play. Macbeth’s rise to the throne was brought about by the same external forces that ensure his downfall.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. Element of Literature, Sixth Course. Austin: Holt, Rhinehart & Winston, 1997. 300-382. Print.
Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Washington Square Press New Folger Edition, 1992
Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.
Before being transformed into a murderous monster, Macbeth is a model Scottish noble. He shows great loyalty and devotion to both King Duncan and his country in his fight against the Scottish rebels. He also fights with great courage, which he draws from knowing that he serves a good and virtuous cause. He is modest when confronted with his achievements, in contrast to the arrogance that he displays after becoming king. He loves Lady Macbeth, an emotion he will eventually lose by the end of the play. Most of all, he fears what his greed and ambition can lead him to become, and he feels dubious about acting on them.
Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.
MacBeth is Responsible for His Downfall. There were many wrongs committed in "MacBeth." But who should bear the major responsibility for these actions? The witches prophesying the truth? Lady MacBeth's scheming and persuasion?
Macbeth’s greatest tragic flaw: being gullible is what brings him deep into sin. This is shown by him believing the witches, his wife, and his own delusions. The witches wanted to play tricks on Macbeth and his wife measured his love by his actions. Being haunted by delusions of Banquo and a dagger tormented him yet motivated and drove him to continue his horrible deeds. He did not start out bad but ended up that way from the choices he made.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Washington Square, 1992. Print. The New Folger Library Shakespeare.
Shakespeare, William, and John Crowther. No Fear Shakespeare: Macbeth. ed. New York: Spark Publishing, 2003. Print.
Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.
In Shakespeare's Macbeth, the focus that is placed on the character of Lady Macbeth helps to convey the play's theme of the strife created by the struggle for power and control that is present throughout the entire work. Shakespeare presents her character in great detail and shows her to be a dominating, authoritative woman who thrives on the power she holds over her husband. He then shows the principle character, Macbeth, rise up and join his wife in a struggle for power of his own. It is the actions that Macbeth takes in attempt to achieve ultimate authority that lead to his downfall, and it is Lady Macbeth's loss of control over her husband as he gains this independence which causes her own weakening and eventually leads to her demise as well.