Responsibility for the Downfall of Macbeth

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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 greatest factor to Macbeth’s downfall should be attributed to his blind, uncontrollable ambition. This factor is first seen with the second appearance of the witches, upon which they meet Macbeth. Macbeth’s first thought to the prophecy “All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!” (1.3.63) is he must murder the king. This thought provides the groundwork in which Macbeth can seed his thoughts and follow through on them. Macbeth knows what he is thinking is very wrong “Stars, hide your fires,/Light not light see my black and deep desires” (1.4.56-57) therefore proving he has a conscious. The presence of a conscious further shows how ambitious Macbeth is when he actually commits the deeds. The way Macbeth views his situation, “… I must fall down, or else o’erleap, /For in my way it lies.” (1.4.56-57) also highlights on how his ambition is making him think, for his first reaction to Duncan’s words is he must kill him to obtain the crown. Even though Macbeth is afraid of what he is going to do, he knows that his ambition will carry him through it: “I have no spur/To prick the sides of my intent, but only/Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself/And falls on the other [reasons]” (1.7.25-28) Through the persuasion of Lady Macbeth and a ghostly apparition/hallucination, Macbeth finally commits the deed of what he is so afraid to do.

Thus brings the second factor that causes Macbe...

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...’d in surmise, and nothing is/But what is not.” (1.3.150-162) The following meeting with the witches also shows how much Macbeth is insecure, that he needs the help of the witch’s prophecies. What this shows is how conflicted and unsure Macbeth is what he is to do, and that, combined with his insatiable ambition is what ultimately leads him to his downfall.

When one looks at all of the information, it is clear that Macbeth could not have escaped his downfall. The burning ambition that raged within him made him make irrational and deadly decisions that lead to equally devastating consequences. The influence of Lady Macbeth also drove him to commit his first murder, something that was needed to start the chain of events that made Macbeth increasingly unstable. Those two factors combined with Macbeth’s major insecurities and doubts are what doomed him from the start.

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