For every crime in the world, there is usually at least one person solely responsible for the action of the crime. In the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth is told he is going to become king by three witches. He is not told how or when but the witches prophesy that Macbeth will be king. In addition to the witches, Macbeth is also influenced by Lady Macbeth, Macbeth’s wife, to not wait to become king but to take it into his own hands. However, despite strong influence, the person most responsible for Macbeth's decline is Macbeth himself. Despite being pressured by greed, paranoia, and Lady Macbeth, Macbeth decides his own fate, but could have opted not to kill the king and to have waited instead. Macbeth was know as one of the most noble and loyal knights, until he is impacted and transformed into a corrupted and immoral human being. Not only is he responsible for his own actions but the three witches and Lady Macbeth are in fault as well. The three witches have an important role in the play as a whole, but an even more important role in Macbeth’s decline. They are the ones who planted the simple but impactful idea into Macbeth’s head. They told him …show more content…
Emasculating Macbeth, Lady Macbeth convinces him to prove his manhood and his heroic side. Lady Macbeth is the second person who is the most responsible for Macbeth’s decline. She persuaded him to kill Duncan when he wasn’t going to. She said to him, “Wouldst thou have that / Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, / And live a coward in thine own esteem, / Letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would”, / Like the poor cat i’th’adage?” (pg 20, lines 41-45). Pressuring Macbeth, and calling him a coward and emasculating him, causes him to change his mind about not killing Duncan and choosing to kill him to prove to Lady Macbeth that he is a man. Driven by paranoia, Macbeth himself makes the decision to kill
...ophecies and the active role of Lady Macbeth, Macbeth cannot be considered solely responsible for his wrongdoing and ultimate tragic end. Although it was his tragic flaw that ultimately destroys him, Macbeth is deceived, tricked, and persuaded throughout the play into believing and doing a variety of things that would lead to this destruction. Because the witches spark Macbeth’s interest through the hopeful prophecies of his future, his natural reaction is to have more curiosity and to want to fulfill the prophecies by any means. Lady Macbeth’s blunt advice to just perform the action without thought is what numbs Macbeth to realizing how his ambition is affecting him. Finally, Macbeth does eventually face his death due to his tragic flaw, but his downfall involved many others who should also claim some responsibility regarding this downfall and Macbeth’s tragic end.
Guilt is an inevitable and cognitive emotion. In biblical context, people initially felt guilty since the first humans had committed wrongdoings. Since then, guilt has become the prevailing emotion when one realizes the severity of one’s actions [Merriam Webster][1]. Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, conveys the impact that guilt plays on people’s lives. The characters in Macbeth were no strangers to spiritual conviction and guilt since the influence of Christianity was evident in the play. Subsequent to the regicide of King Duncan, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s guilt haunted them throughout the play. As the plot progresses, their guilt changes and they both respond differently to it. In Macbeth, both the principal character and his wife reject the idea of biblical guilt, but it differs in the fact that Macbeth allowed his guilt to transform his reality, while Lady Macbeth allowed her guilt to turn her insane.
Macbeth, a tragic play by William Shakespeare, involves the downfall of a military hero, Macbeth. Our hero, however, is not to blame for his own fate – the downfall of Macbeth is the result of the actions by those around him.
Macbeth’s ambition blinds him from seeing the destructive path, ruling as a tyrant rather than a noble king. Also, his easily impressionable nature causes him to rather listen to the words of Lady Macbeth and the three witches. These hamartia go on to play a major role in Macbeth’s demise. The power and the influence of the Lady Macbeth has greatly led Macbeth to murder king Duncan by her questioning his manhood, saying “When you durst do it, then you were a man./And to be more than what you were, you would/Be so much more the man” (1.7.49-51). Lady Macbeth then taunts and manipulates Macbeth to commit the murder and fails to acquiesce to his wishes showing reversed traditional gender roles, which is against the natural order. Shakespeare positions the audience to believe that her powers will only be fleeting, since she disrupted the natural order. Furthermore, the deceptive words of the witches stating “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter” (1.3.51), acts as a driving force for Macbeth to murder King Duncan with Lady Macbeth’s influence. This positions the audience to see Macbeth’s death as the epitome of ineffective as a ruler, as his own choices were ultimately the cause for his destructions. In true tragic hero manner, Macbeth is killed due to his hamartia - a
The three witches essentially lay out the foundation of the plot of the play in the prophecy that they present to Macbeth. Before their meeting with him, they already know how the Scottish civil war is progressing and how it will conclude. Becau...
Many argue that it is Macbeth’s fault because he makes his own decisions and could have stopped his wife from getting to him. On the other hand, many state that the Witches were to blame because they got his hopes up and told him that he will be king. This triggered Macbeths mind and made it sort of his job to get what he wanted. Nonetheless, Lady Macbeth was the one that put the greedy and selfish thoughts into his head. She encouraged him to kill, and brainwashed him into doing these terrible actions. For these reasons, it becomes obvious that she is the one to blame and is at
Everyone is influenced by other people, including leaders or authority, to make the wrong decisions at some point in their lives. In the play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is responsible for the evil doings of Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is responsible for this by using his love for her to persuade him into killing King Duncan. Because Macbeth loved and trusted his wife, he was vulnerable to her opinions and suggestions. We also know that she is responsible for these heartless things because she has so much guilt that she commits suicide. Macbeth would never have done any of those horrible things if it were not for the murder of King Duncan, which was forced on by Lady Macbeth.
There were many wrongs committed in "MacBeth." But who should bear the major responsibility for these actions? The witches' prophesising? Lady MacBeth's scheming and persuasion? Or should MacBeth himself be held responsible? No doubt the witches and lady MacBeth influenced MacBeth in the course of action he took in his rise to power, but ultimately he must bear the major responsibility for his fate.
After Lady Macbeth reads his letter and Macbeth arrives home, she is excited about becoming queen. She asks Macbeth when King Duncan is to be arriving and tells Macbeth to leave the plan up to her, his only job being that he has to look innocent and hide their true intentions. Macbeth seems to be stunned and nervous, telling his wife that they will talk later when she begins to tell him of her plan. In the seventh scene, at the castle, Macbeth speaks of the intense guilt he is feeling even before he is to kill Duncan; “… this even-handed justice/ Commends the ingredients of our poisoned/ Chalice to our own lips…” (1. 7. 10-12) (Shakespeare), “… He’s here in double trust…” (1. 7. 12) (Shakespeare), “… Besides, this Duncan/ Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been/ So clear in his great office…” (1. 7. 17-19)(Shakespeare) all express Macbeth’s discomfort with murdering Duncan to steal the throne. Not only does he convey these emotions during this monologue, but he does so when Lady Macbeth enters the room, saying “We will proceed no further in this business./ He hath honored me of late, and I have bought/ Golden opinions from all sorts of people…” (1. 7. 32-34) (Shakespeare). To respond to this, Lady Macbeth does what she does best: emasculating her husband. She first articulates her questioning of his manhood after she reads Macbeth’s letter in the first act when she says “Yet do I fear thy nature;/ It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness…” (1. 5. 2-3) (Shakespeare), which contrasts with the heroic description the dying Captain gives of Macbeth in the opening scene. After Macbeth tells his wife that he is calling off the plan to kill King Duncan, she
Not much further in the play, we see that Macbeth decides not to murder Duncan but rather, carry on serving as his Thane. However, Lady Macbeth starts her persuasion again, but this time she questions his manhood, saying "When you durst do it, then you were a man: And to be more then what you were you would be so much more the man." (1.7.49-51). Had she not challenged his manhood and his love for her, he would not have usurped the throne and she would not have become a Queen. Not only did she get him to think about the murder, she even knew what to say after he had started thinking about the murder.
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.
Throughout the play and leading up to her eventual suicide, Lady Macbeth slowly weakens. Yet, in the beginning of the play, she acts as if she is unstoppable. When Macbeth has his doubts and fears about murdering the loyal Duncan, Lady Macbeth chastises him, calling him everything from a coward to a helpless baby (I. vii. 39-49, 53-67). She even offers to do it herself, possibly to make Macbeth feel that he's even more cowardly because a woman is offering to do "his" job. This pushes Macbeth to kill, though these are the actions that will eventually lead to both of their demises later in the play. Macbeth tries to convince Lady Macbeth, as well as himself, that she is wrong: 3 Prithee, peace. I dare do all that may become a man. Who dares more is none. (I. vii. 50-52) However, Macbeth does not seem to fully convince her, because he is still mocked by his wife. Whether he failed to convince himself or to convince his Lady is irrelevant; he went through with the murder anyhow.
...liam Shakespeare: Macbeth, the three witches are used as prophets that convey Macbeth's future fate directly to him. Macbeth detects these prophecies not as absolute truths but as predictions that might come true depending on if he thinks they are good or not. For instance at the beginning when the witches declare that they will meet again with each other "When the battle's lost and won". Also when the three witches meet Macbeth and Banquo, they greet Macbeth as three titles. Finally, when The three witches appear to him again they provide three more prophecies that ring actual truth to what is going to happen. The use of these characters in foreshadowing adds to the "tragedy" of the tragedy. Macbeth was foreshadowed or prophesied to commit these acts and die and he knew some and still failed to see them. This adds to the brilliance of Shakespeare's tragedy, Macbeth.
The witches are a very important part to this play. The witches are the real trigger to Macbeths deep and hidden desires. The presence of the witches raises the battle between good an evil. The three witches are also known as the three weird sisters and are referred to that throughout the play. They help set the theme of the play and they influence not only Macbeth’s life but some other characters throughout the play.
In Shakespeare’s tragic play Macbeth, Shakespeare creates the ruthless character Macbeth, who is willing to go beyond any measure in order to attain the power of being king, including murder, deceit, betrayal and overpowering the chain of being. Macbeth was first tempted by the idea of kingship when three witches presented him with their portent of Macbeth becoming the next King of Scotland. Ebullient, Macbeth, immediately informed his wife of the news and they both pondered the thought of having the power to rule all of Scotland. Lady Macbeth, a power seeker herself, promptly schemed a plan to kill King Duncan in order for her and her husband to rule, displaying her ready ambition for power. Macbeth’s thirst for power ate away at his conscience