The Downfall of Macbeth

Macbeth is a tragic hero who causes suffering by committing murder and distress, exemplifying the negative effects of a bloodthirsty desire for power. Lady Macbeth torments her husband Macbeth in going through with the evil deed of murder which leads her to be the villain. Macbeth begins in this play as a loyal, trustworthy warrior who sees himself later as king. When the witches confront Macbeth about the prophecy of him becoming king, his aspiration is distressed by his physical audacity and self ambiguity. The witches Prophecy upon Macbeth cause him to feel restless and have thoughts about if it is destined for him to become king.

He does this because he is too malcontent with how he is currently living and is allured by the thought of what Duncan has: power. After the witches tell Macbeth his prophecy, and Lady Macbeth plots Duncan’s murder, Macbeth contemplates the reason he is killing Duncan. He realizes this would most likely be an egregious mistake, as he says, “...Not bear the knife myself. Besides, Duncan / Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been / So clear in his great office, that his virtues / Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against / The deep damnation of his taking-off” (1,7,16-20). This being said, not only does he understand the consequences of killing Du... ... middle of paper ... ...ing himself.

The witches' predictions sent Macbeth into his own world where he could not be stopped on his way to becoming king. The brave hero from in Act I has metamorphosised in to someone or something that is completely villainous. Although Lady Macbeth at times in the play provided the spark that caused Macbeth to commit murder, and although she may be villainous, Macbeth is ultimately far more villainous. He will do anything and will stop at nothing to preserve the crown in his head and is entirely driven by his greed and ambition. Macbeth’s rise and fall from power in the play, Macbeth relates very closely to the quotation, “Power corrupts.

Senseless violence and inner rage cause the King of Scotland to murder Macduff's children and wife. The predictions of the witches are only temptations. The weird sisters never tell Macbeth what to do with these suggestions. He is initially curious and disbelieving about these deceptive hags, but he takes their forecasts literally. The witches only make predictions about the future kingship of Macbeth: "All hail, Macbeth!

But what they don’t know is that this is the start of the bloody massacre that will change who they are and how they think forever. Macbeth has multiple hallucinations and his paranoia leads him to hire murderers to kill Macduff’s family out of anger and spite. Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and gets to the point of madness when she kills herself at the end of the play. This demonstrates that our actions can be affected by human nature and our thoughts can be easily corrupted by temptation. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is showed as a noble Scottish General in King Duncan’s army.

While Macbeth kills Duncan and becomes king, she fails to realize her husband’s obsession with power exceeds her. Her role in the play fades; in the end, she suffers from sleepwalking and insanity. As for Macbeth, he transforms from a honourable and respectable man to a monster as a result of his thirst for power. Not only does he betray Duncan’s trust, but he also hires murderers to kill Banquo as well as and innocent people like Macduff’s wife and son. Like Lady Macbeth, Macbeth’s ambition results in his demise when he is killed by Macduff when they finally meet in a battle.

Can a strong and loyal general change into a weak and detached character? Macbeth’s ambition warped him into becoming a cold-blooded killer, emotionally numbed by the acts he commits. In the beginning of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, three witches deliver a prophecy to Macbeth and Banquo that Macbeth will one day be king. Macbeth becomes bewildered and staggered by the prophecies announced by the witches, however, his awe does not delay his action. Macbeth is a resilient general who killed for loyalty that transformed into a blood covered guilty king who kills to gain his position.

After the successful murder of Duncan, Macbeth entered a life of evil. Ambition was also clearly stated when he thought of killing his friend Banquo to protect the kingship. The witches’ predictions sent Macbeth into his own world where he could not be deterred from becoming king. Macbeth displays his cowardice by avoiding Lady Macbeth’s initial plan to murder King Duncan. By overcoming his personal matters to plot the death of the king, Macbeth only displays that women are manipulative, and often have their way with men.

This all revolves around the idea of the unnatural influencing Macbeth and causes much of the tragedy within the play to occur. Lady Macbeth wishes to throw out her morality for the sake of gaining a title. With the help of invisible sprits, she wants to make herself able to commit a terrible act of murder to make her dreams of the royal life come true, without having reservations or remorse. She approaches Macbeth with her intent to kill King Duncan. Macbeth, although wanting th... ... middle of paper ... ...s insanity and madness which he has brought upon himself from the witches prophecy, his ambition was so overpowering that it took control of his mind and focused only on success and power which eventually led him to insanity.

In the play, the central protagonist Macbeth, is confronted with the supernatural and the prophesy of becoming king. He cannot help but want this position, as this flaw also includes his weakness through over ambition. It is generally said that those possessing a flaw will die. The first Thane of Cawdor was a traitor, Duncan was too trusting, Banquo did not act on the knowledge he had about Macbeth’s murders, Lady Macbeth helped plot the murder of Duncan, and Macbeth destroyed the natural order and harmony of the time. All of these deaths are a result of Macbeth’s over ambition to become king, fuelled by the prophecies of the evil witches.