macbeth.

Macbeth

English Units ½ Shakespeare essay: Macbeth

Topic: “The instruments of darkness brought about Macbeth’s downfall.” Do you agree?

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth demonstrates the ultimate downfall of a tragic hero manipulated by evil. The forces of evil, namely witches, initiate Macbeth’s downfall, seducing him with the concept of power, firing up his ambition to become king. However, despite their obvious involvement, Macbeth delves deeper into the darker side of his nature on his own, seeking evil and wading further into his imagined river of blood. His downfall was brought about by the instruments of darkness – they planted the idea of Macbeth’s rising power in his head and their influence saw him fall from a noble man to a tyrant of a ruler but regardless of this it was his own conscious choice that ultimately led to his fall from grace.

The three witches who introduce the play immediately strike the audience as representatives of evil, instantly establishing Macbeth as their ‘victim’, one whom they have chosen to involve in their plans. In the first act, Macbeth is shown to be a noble, cousin to the king, a valiant and worthy man: “Brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name”, just as the witches are shown to be malicious, evil creatures, recounting their cruel dealings. In his meeting them, the suggestion of his royalty is quickly seeded – their words provoke him and set in motion his demise. In the forth act, he is shown to have walked even further down the path of corruption to the point that he no longer shows the qualities of a good man in his seeking of the witches themselves – seeking the instruments of darkness, and thus embracing evil. Their original meeting with him sparked his ambition, and it is of his own accord and conscious choice that he seeks them out – it is no influence of theirs that leads him to meet with them a second time. Consequently, without the interference of the witches, Macbeth would not have begun his unforgivable massacre but his own corrupted nature takes him further than the initial prompting of the witches. In originally finding Macbeth and prophesising his ascension to power, the witches take partial responsibility in Macbeth’s downfall as they began the entire process of Macbeth’s rise and fall.

After the initial suggestion of Macbeth’s royalty, however, comes the encouragement of Lady Macbeth. Her involvement leads Macbeth to the murder of Duncan, his cousin and king, his first steps into his ultimate downfall.