Placing the Blame in Macbeth

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Placing the Blame in Macbeth

The blame for the tragedy of Macbeth must be apportioned between the three witches, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth himself.

The three witches play a very important role in affecting the actions of Macbeth with their ability to steer him in the direction they desire. They not only use their supernatural powers but also prey on his greed and ambition.

All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee thane of Glamis!

All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!

All hail Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter!

These predictions are effective in attracting Macbeth's attention because they feed off his desire for what they promise. At this point in the play he is the newly appointed thane of Glamis. Immediately after the predictions, news arrives that he is to be thane of Cawdor. Macbeth cannot help but wonder whether the third prediction will come true or not. Banquo says that the forces of darkness use the truth to win us to harm but Macbeth's ambition makes him unwilling to believe this.

There is an ambiguity in Macbeth - do the witches represent inevitable fate, and is there in this instance the triumph of the forces of darkness, or does Macbeth have free will? If the responsibility for his actions rests with him and him alone, it may be argued that it is his weakness and his ambition that matter. His weakness lies in allowing himself to be bullied and shamed by Lady Macbeth into the murder of his king and guest.

Macbeth Prithee, peace: I dare do all that may become a man, who dares do more is none.

Lady Macbeth What beast was't, then

That made you break this enterprise to me?

When you durst do it then you were a man;

And, t...

... middle of paper ...

...f the above, Macbeth is ambiguous about whether we have free will or are controlled entirely by fate. In the play, even though we see Macbeth changing his mind about whether to kill Duncan, he eventually does as the witches foretold; in addition all their other pronouncements came true. This veers more or less towards the idea of fate. If fate is unchangeable and the witches are acting only as messengers, the blame for the tragedy can not be attributed to the witches, Macbeth or Lady Macbeth. However, the witches also say about the sailor they are tormenting

Though his bark cannot be lost

Yet it shall be tempest tossed

This implies that the witches have only limited powers and can only direct people within certain limits. If this is the case, then we must see that Macbeth's ambition and moral cowardice are responsible for his tragedy.

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