Throughout the play "Macbeth" by William Shakespeare, a variety of events occur that lead to Macbeth's downfall in the end. However, all the events that occurred in Macbeth's life were due to the choices he had made by free will and not solely because of the witches prophecy. Despite only being fated to become the new king, he took it upon himself to kill King Duncan and get the crown. His over ambition and believing in the witches prophecy while making his own decisions led to his downfall in the end.
In the beginning of the play from Act 1, Macbeth was given the prophecy to become king by the three witches. The witches say "All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!/ All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!/ All hail, Macbeth,
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To make sure that Macbeth have no chance to lose his crown from Banquo and his descendants, he decides to have two murderers kill Banquo and Fleance while they are away while Macbeth is at the banquet. He continues to believe in the witches prophecy and from his own choice, decides to kill Banquo. This can be seen with the quote from Macbeth "For Banquo's issue have I filed my mind;/ For them the gracious Duncan have I murder'd;/ Put rancours in the vessel of my peace/Only for them..."(3.1.69-77). In the quote, Macbeth is requesting for faith to help him as he i through all the events that has happened at this point was due to his ambition and by his own choice. The death of Banquo caused by Macbeth had made tensions rise further and was not prophised by the witches but occurred due to Macbeths fear of Banquos descendants becoming king. His over-ambition was also discussed by the three witches and Hecate with them essentially tricking him with the prophecies. In the play, Hecate says "He shall spurn fate,/ scorn death,/ and bear his hopes 'bove wisdom, grace, and fear./ And you all know, security/ Is mortals' chiefest enemy." (3.5 30-34). From the quote, we perceive that Macbeth thinks that he is able to control his destiny by killing King Duncan and Banquo to become and stay a king. From this, Macbeth's ambition and over-confidence with his choices cause his
Throughout the play, Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth continuously makes bad choices and the consequences of these decisions catch up to Macbeth and result in his mental deterioration, however with Macbeth’s almost infant feel for ambition this makes him susceptible to manipulation, which then grows into an insatiable appetite for power. The acts of this, with the manipulation from outsiders, causes his blind ambition, his false sense of security and then finally his guilt, which all contribute to his derangement. Some will argue that all the choices made by Macbeth were continuously his own, that he had these opportunities as a man to put his foot down and say no, and be able to draw the line where things should come to an end, the fault of a mental deterioration was not there, that from the beginning Macbeth was an evil man who had a twisted way of achieving things. Macbeth’s ambition is to remain king for as long as possible, and he will kill anybody who stops this from happening. Macbeth feels as if he was given a childless rule, and that his legacy will not continue on in fear his rule will be taken away by someone outside his family.
In the play, Macbeth was responsible for his downfall and let his greed take over. He was always ambitious, but ended up abandoning his loyalty from King Duncan, the King of Scotland and slowly changed him from a trustworthy, brave and loyal soldier to a merciless tyrant. Lady Macbeth and the three witches are responsible for Macbeth’s downfall. The prophecies changed Macbeth for the worst and is willing to remove any threats that stand in his way. Macbeth, although a loyal warrior, had always possessed ambitious motives that finally turned him into a murderer.
Guilt surrounds Macbeth for the second time when he sends out the murderers to kill Banquo, his old friend. Macbeth had no other choice but to get rid of Banquo. Banquo had witnessed the three witches and the prophecies. One prophecy was that his son would become king one day "To make them kings, the seeds of Banquo kings"(Act3 scene1 line70). In order for Macbeth to be safe is to kill Banquo. Banquo may assume what had happened and tell the people of Scotland. "For Banquo’s issue have I filed my mind; for them the gracious Duncan have I murdered; Put rancors in the vessel of my peace only for them, and mine eternal jewel".
Macbeth, “A matchless soldier, kinsman to the king, wins the king’s battles and the king’s praise” however, “prompted by inner ambitions and external urgings”, he takes rash decisions conclusively ending in his atrophy of his title, power, and position (Bernad 49). Several factors contribute to the downfall of Macbeth, which produce a contagion effect; and ultimately end with his demise. The weird sisters disclose his prophecies which enlighten him about Duncan’s throne; Lady Macbeth abets Macbeth to realize his deep desires and come to the conclusion to murder Duncan; and Macbeth, the most significant contributor, makes his deep desires come to reality. In Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the weird sisters and Lady Macbeth are important contributors to Macbeth 's downfall, however, they are not mostly responsible. Unlike, the weird sisters and Lady Macbeth, Macbeth is the most prominent contributor to his downfall; whose actions, decisions, and state of mind lead to his ruination.
After defeating Macdonwald, Macbeth’s courageousness caught the eye of the king. When hearing of Macbeth’s valiant win the king responded saying, “O valiant cousin! Worthy gentlemen!” (1.2, 24). Here King Duncan displays just how brave and noble Macbeth was as Macbeth risked his life for the benefit of the kingdom and showed his true desire for Scotland. On their return from battle, Macbeth and Banquo stumble across the three witches who exhibit both off their prophecies. The witches tell Macbeth, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of/ Cawdor! - All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king/ hereafter.”(1.3, 50-51). Macbeth becomes very intrigued by his possible future and begins to let the immoral desire of power that his prophecy promised, roam free in his head. When returning to the kingdom after Macbeth’s and Banquo’s encounter with the three weird sisters Macbeth is shocked to hear he has been pronounced Thane of Cawdor. When
Fate vs. Free Will is a huge theme in Macbeth. Many people argue over whether or not Macbeth has power over the witches and Lady Macbeth. He freely chooses to kill Duncan and also kill every other character that died. The three evil sisters did affect his decision making, but not at all told him what to do. Therefore, free will overpowers fate in this play. Some may say that Macbeth took control of his fate, but that is the same thing as having free will. As the reader can see, Macbeth is not an independent individual. He needs to learn how to say no when someone tells him to do something. All of Macbeth’s decisions and actions are the result of free will. Sometimes it is not advantageous to have free will because the decisions made during that time can come back and haunt someone.
Later in the play Banquo starts to have a bad feeling about Macbeth. "Thou hast it now: King, Cowdor, Glamis, all,/ as the weird women promised, and I fear/ thou play'dst most foully for `t." III i 1-3, this is a quote from Banquo explaining how he feels about Macbeth's predictions coming true. Macbeth realizes this about Banquo and he starts to have feelings about killing Banquo. This isn't the only reason he feels this way, the witches had also made predictions for Banquo. "Thou shall get kings, though thou be none." I iii 67, Macbeth doesn't want any of Banquo's family to rule Scotland; he wants his own family to continue to rule. Macbeth hires two murderers to kill Banquo and his on Fleance. The murderers end up killing Banquo, but Fleance gets away.
The first part of this tragedy takes place as Macbeth is on his way home from war and is visited by three witches during his journey. The three witches said ¨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!¨ (Shakespeare,32). After the witches told him these things he acted
Macbeth is captured by his wild ambition at the opening of the play when he and Banqou meet the three witches. The witches tell Macbeth that he is the Thane of Cawdor, and later will be king. They tell Banquo that his sons will be kings. Instantly Macbeth started to fantasize how he is going to be king. He understood that in order for him to become king he has to kill Duncan. “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical”(Act 1 Sc. 3, p.23). He was pondering about the assassination until the moment that he could no longer control his emotions. “To prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which overleaps itself and falls on the other-“(Act 1 Sc. 7, p.41). Because of his “vaulting ambition” he killed Duncan.
Although there are supernatural forces at work on Macbeth, Macbeth holds responsibility for his demise due to the actions he willingly decides to take which are rooted from his own ambition, fear, and ignorance.
Macbeth’s visions and the prophecies of the witches cause Macbeth to make poor decisions, which lead him to his eventual downfall. Macbeth started off as a noble, virtuous man, he was loyal to the king and was well respected by the other noblemen. The prophecies and hallucinations corrupted Macbeth’s intentions and as a result, Macbeth became power hungry and overzealous. A combination of Macbeth’s ambition and paranoia lead to many senseless murders.
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?
Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, is the tragic tale of the character Macbeth, a virtuous man, corrupted by power and greed. This tragedy could be explained two very different ways. One explanation is that the tragic hero, Macbeth, is led down an inescapable road of doom by fate. A second explanation is that there is no "outside" force working against Macbeth, which therefore makes him responsible for his own actions and inevitable downfall. The text of the play seems to imply that Macbeth is indeed responsible for his own actions, actions provoked by an unwillingness to listen to his own conscience, the three witches, and his own ambition.
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?
Macbeth suppressed his feelings, however, until he heard the three witches' first prophecy. "All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter", were the witch's words. When Macbeth heard this, his desperate need for the crown revealed itself because he realized it was possible to take the throne. When Macbeth's yearning to be king could not be overcome, he did not let anything stand in his way of being crowned, even if that meant he had to commit murder. The Three Witches ignited Macbeth's desire to be king with their prophecy.