Witches, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth's Responsibility for Macbeth’s Downfall
Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth shows the downfall of a wrongfully
crowned king. But his downfall is not solely due to himself. There are
other characters in the play that are part of his downfall. If it
weren’t for them, the play would not work. They are part of a chain,
one leading to another. The play would not have ended in the same
manner, even if one of these characters hadn’t played their part. They
all affect each other and Macbeth’s tragic end is the outcome.
The first set of characters that affect Macbeth and begin the chain
are the witches. From the very first scene we can see that they want
Macbeth’s end to be a tragedy. In the first scene they intend to go,
“There to meet Macbeth”, which implies that the witches don’t just
happen to meet him. They want to go and meet him, they organise, plot
and scheme to go and meet him. This shows that it is important for the
witches to see Macbeth. The Victorians were very superstitious and
would believe that witches scheme and plot in malevolence ways. So the
image of the witches on stage would immediately spur the feeling of
evil and automatically set the atmosphere desired by Shakespeare. So
the audience would certainly suspect the witches’ intentions are
sinister.
Two scenes later when Macbeth and Banquo encounter the witches for the
first time on the heath, the witches don’t tell him anything directly.
All they do is greet him,
“1st Witch: All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!”
This is his current title.
“2nd Witch: All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!”
Which he doe...
... middle of paper ...
...ing declaration to
create the right reactions. Then the outcome of the reactions led to
his down fall.
But in the end I think that Macbeth is the one most greatly
responsible for his own downfall. I think that Shakespeare has
effectively displayed the events to show that it is ultimately
Macbeth’s responsibility. I think that this is what Shakespeare was
trying to depict in this tragic play. The witches and Lady Macbeth
both affect Macbeth and lead him to his end, but at any point in the
play, he could stop. He could say no, and the ending would be a whole
much more pleasant than how it ends. Ultimately he made his own
decisions and the outcome to these decisions led to his death. So I
think that although he is predisposed by other characters in the play
he is mainly conscientious for his own downfall.
wink at the hand! yet let that be, /" (I, iv, 57-59). Macbeth is vexed
serious if his wife was not more anxious than he was. She, more than her
In the play Macbeth, or more commonly referred to as the Cursed Scottish Play, the multitude of death and betrayal covers up or destroys the potential heroism of many characters, except for that of Macduff. His purity, courage, and sacrifice throughout the course of the play enable this hero to eventually orchestrate the fall of Macbeth.
In the play of “Macbeth”, Shakespeare gradually and effectively deepens our understanding of the themes and most importantly the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The main theme of Macbeth is ambition, and how it compels the main characters to pursue it. The antagonists of the play are the three witches, who symbolise the theme appearance and reality. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relation is an irony throughout the play, as most of their relation is based on greed and power. This is different from most of Shakespeare’s other plays, which are mostly based on romance and trust. There is also guilt that leads Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to the final consequences of the play. As the progresses, the constant changes in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are exposed.
The power of Lady Macbeth causes Macbeth to do things he doesnt want to do and when Macbeth can feel comfortable doing his own bad things that’s when it effects
A false statement or a statement intended to deceive someone is known as a lie. Of course, there are many different types of lies. There are those blatant lies that have no truth in them whatsoever, lies of omission, and half-truths.
Powerful in nature and curious to the eye, the witches in Macbeth were hooks of fascination. One never knew what would come next when it came to the witches. They possessed a dark authority and supremacy unlike any other and the temptation to ignore them was unfeasible. They brought with them gloomy days and evil thoughts. The witches could draw you in and begin to almost play with your mind if you let them. This is what ultimately led to the down fall of Macbeth. Collectively, the witches in Macbeth acted as a catalyst for all of Macbeth’s actions.
There is only one other person to blame for the bad things. Macbeth starts out seeming not like a person that could kill his ...
Lady Macbeth, one of the main characters in the play Macbeth, is an example of a character that throughout the course of the play has had a change of heart of some sorts. Lady Macbeth's conscience, which seems to have never appeared or mattered to her before, suddenly becomes an uncontrollable part of her psychological state of being.
The witches are the first characters we see in the play in Act one Scene one- A prologue of evil. They plan to meet Macbeth when the fighting has finished.
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth’s desire and ambition leads to her eventual downfall. When Lady Macbeth hears of Macbeth’s prophecy she dreams of the glory and high-standing that awaits being queen. She cannot withhold her ambitions and she is willing to manipulate fate to bring about Macbeth’s prophecy. She invokes evil spirits to be filled from head to toe with cruelty to do the evil actions necessary to make Macbeth king and to remove all remorse and pity for her action from her heart. She is initially able to be involved in the treacherous deeds that are needed to bring about the prophecy quickly, but as the play progresses the weight of the merciless deeds fill her with remorse. The remorse and pain she feels for her wicked ways cause Lady Macbeth to lose control of her life and wither away until the weight of her deeds causes her to die. Lady Macbeth’s wish is partially granted, her mind becomes evil and enables her to do horrific things, but her soul remains pure and unsure of her actions and her remorse for her wicked ways leads to her destruction.
While not the only contributing factor, Lady Macbeth does play a substantial role in the downfall of her husband. She is a like a catalyst for Macbeth and essentially pushes him to do what he would not have been able to do on his own. Macbeth himself highly ambitious and determined, but his wife is even more so. At first he refuses to kill Duncan but she persists and eventually gets him to do it. It is important to note here that Lady Macbeth pushes Macbeth forward by manipulating him. In this sense, she can be related to Cathy Ames from East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Also, being a woman, she is confined by the conventions of society which prevent her from doing much. At what point she even wishes that she were 'unsexed' so she could commit the murder herself. Because of this, she pours her ambition and desire for power into Macbeth. Again she accomplishes this through manipulation. For example, at one point when Macbeth is disagreeing with her idea of killing Duncan, she questions his manhood:
In Macbeth you could argue that Lady Macbeth and that Macbeth himself are partners in crime and are equal in the eyes of the other, however in the eyes of the audience Lady Macbeth is a useful tool just there to ensure that Macbeth kills Duncan and receives Kingship.
him by pointing out how easy it would be " When Duncan is asleep-"5. Macbeth
The witches’ prophecies tempt Macbeth to begin walking down the path of evil leading to his demise. They are the catalyst that