Who’s to blame for Macbeth’s Downfall What does free will mean? In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the main character, Macbeth has a burning desire to become king and control Scotland, after three witches tell him a prophecy. Macbeth believes them and resolves to take matters into his own hands in order to ensure his reign. However, his greed and paranoia overwhelm him, creating many enemies such as MacDuff. Thus Macbeth causes his own death. Macbeth is not a helpless victim of fate, he actively made decisions that only benefited him. Macbeth was entirely aware that if he had done nothing fate would have taken care of it. Instead, he took action, believing that was the only way to the crown. At first, Macbeth was suspicious about the three weird sisters and if anything they say could be true. He writes off the prophecy until Ross bursts in and tells Macbeth that he has been named the Thane of Cawdor. After that, he begins to believe that he is entitled to the throne and that the prophecies may come true. “The Prince of Cumberland! that is a step. On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap, For in my way it lies. …show more content…
He goes back to the witches seeking their counsel on how he can continue to become king. The witches brew a potion that creates apparitions. The first apparition is a floating helmet which tells Macbeth, “Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! beware Macduff; Beware the Thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough” (#). Macbeth knows that MacDuff is out to get him because he did not attend Macbeth’s coronation dinner. However, Macbeth can’t get that out of his head and sends the murders after MacDuff to make sure he is not a threat anymore. However, the murder comes up empty handed and instead of letting it go Macbeth orders the death of MacDuff’s wife and children. Since Macbeth made an executive decision to kill innocent people he is responsible for any repercussions that may follow in this case his
Free will is defined as the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate. It is the ability to act at one’s own discretion. What this means is that there is no set destiny; only a person’s own decisions can impact the outcome of their life. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, free will plays a very substantial and powerful role. In 11th century Scotland, three witches give a prophecy to Macbeth, a general in King Duncan’s army, that he will one day become King himself. They also give a prophecy to Macbeth’s best friend, Banquo, telling him that his descendants will be Kings. Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, hatch a plan to commit regicide in order to speed up the process. After their father is found dead, the King’s sons flee to England and Ireland and unknowingly casting the blame upon them. Macbeth is crowned King, and the prophecy has been fulfilled. Macbeth’s reign as King is one of violence and destruction, and he is overcome with guilt. He kills a lord named Macduff’s family because he finds out he has gone to England to help one of the sons. Macduff comes back to Scotland and slays Macbeth, and King Duncan’s eldest son becomes King. Some might argue that Macbeth was a victim of fate and circumstance, but it was of his own free will that he decided to murder King Duncan, and go on a reign of terror as King. Shakespeare’s Macbeth establishes that one’s free will can impact their decision-making abilities, ambition and paranoia. Free will is a concept that not everyone accepts, but something that Macbeth takes head on.
Thirdly, feelings of paranoia and guilt cause Macbeth characters to make damaging choices. When Macbeth asks the witches to reveal the truth of their prophecies to him, they summon horrible apparitions, each of which offers a prediction to allay Macbeth’s fears. First, a floating head warns him to beware Macduff. Macbeth says that he has already guessed as much. Later when Lennox enters and tells Macbeth that Macduff has fled to England. Macbeth in reply says, “The castle of Macduff I will surprise; / Seize upon Fife; give to th'edge o'th'sword / His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls / That trace him in his line.” (4.1.149-152). As Macbeth descends to madness he becomes obsessed with eliminating any threats to his power. Macbeth orders the murderers to kill Macduff's family and eliminate any threat to him. Ironically, this is the moment that Macbeth seals his own fate, by murdering Macduff's family he ensures Macduff's retaliation against him, which ultimately leads
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.
Factors Contributing to Macbeth's Downfall in William Shakespeare's Macbeth In William Shakespeare's famous play Macbeth, there are many reasons for Macbeth's gradual downfall. Numerous factors contributed to Macbeth's ruin, such as his own character flaws and his demanding wife, Lady Macbeth. The Three Witches, however, caused Macbeth the most trouble. First, the sisters stirred up his dormant ambitions to be king.
Duncan. She wanted Macbeth to take the rank of king as much as he did.
First of all, Macbeth never had to listen to the witches and the prophecies and he never had to tell Lady Macbeth of the things he heard and his ideas. Secondly, Macbeth had himself convinced that he should not kill the king and after Lady Macbeth questioned his manhood and gave him guilt he gave in. He never had to give in to Lady Macbeth’s peer pressure. In the end of the story when the witches once again gave him prophecies he believed that he was invincible which left himself vulnerable to Macduff. “I bear a charme’d life, which must not yield to one of woman born” (lines 12-13) After stating the prophecies Macduff claims that he was torn from his mother's womb which left Macbeth vulnerable which led to his death. Macbeth had the ability to not do any of the killing, but in the end Macbeth was responsible for the decisions he made.
Whether or not the concept of fate is legitimate is regularly debated by many people. Some believe that the events of one’s life are predetermined by a supernatural power, out of human control. Others believe that free will allows us to create our own fate, and that one’s decisions determine how the events of one’s life play out. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, both fate and free will are predominant themes in the play. The ever-present supernatural aspect of the play can create an interesting debate over whether or not Macbeth’s downfall could have played out differently, or even been avoided completely. The witches’ prophecies had an impact on Macbeth’s actions, however, it is ultimately free-will that causes his downfall.
Macbeth was a brave and worthy soldier who turned himself evil to reach his goal. It all started when the witches enter into his life and gave him three prophecies. He had the potential for greatness but, he ruined it. Macbeth is responsible for his downfall, because he gave attention to the witches, made evil choices, and murdered innocent people trying to cover his tracks.
Macbeth learns that MacDuff knows too much and that he is in danger because MacDuff may reveal that Macbeth murdered Duncan and placed the blame on the guards. When Macbeth realizes this, he calls two murderers to “give to the edge o’ the sword / His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls / That trace him in his line” (4.1.151-153). He orders that MacDuff’s family be assassinated even though MacDuff was the one that knew the truth about Duncan’s death. Macbeth did not want MacDuff to have any lineage or family ties remaining in case the first apparition came true, and MacDuff’s family would end up royal. Lady MacDuff is killed in her castle and before she dies, she clarifies, “I have done no harm. But I remember now / I am in this earthly world, where to do harm / Is often laudable, to do good sometime / Accounted dangerous folly” (4.2.70-73). She has not done anything bad to anyone, but she is still killed due to her marriage to MacDuff. Her title of Lady MacDuff led to her death being demanded by Macbeth. In contempt of her lack of wrongdoing, the murderers stole her life away from her she was associated with a
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.
The dog ate my homework. The devil made me do it. He forced me to eat that apple. These commonly made excuses that people have been uttering since the dawn of time. A recurring excuse among the pages of Macbeth is the question on whether or not he had a choice in his fate. Fate is the universal principle or ultimate agency by which the order of things is presumably prescribed (Dictionary.com). Macbeth relies on his fate to determine his next step in life and is easily influenced by those around him. Macbeth relies on the prophecies of three sister witches to unfold the course of his own fate. Even the choices that Macbeth made were predetermined by the circumstances around him. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, fate plays an important role in the
We all have a conscious, some call it the soul while others say it is just our brain but either way it is described on Dictionary.com as “The inner sense of what is right or wrong in ones conduct or motives” Or in other words your conscious tells you if what you are doing is right or if it is wrong. Macbeth has a conscious; however by the end of the play he no longer can hear it. Dr. Jeff Ronne depict in his article Free Will that “Your thought and actions are a product of your prior existence and observation”. He is basically saying that how a person lives for a small amount of time can and will become how that person is all the time. This is what has happened to Macbeth, he stopped listening to his conscious and gradually over time he changes to where he can no longer hear it and this causes him to develop into a monster. He becomes a monster when he tells his wife “The very firstling of my heart shall be the firstling of my hand” (Act 4 Scene 1 lines 147, 148). This tells us a lot about Macbeth’s mental state. The first dreadful thought his heart comes up with is what his hands will do. This tells us that it is his heart that has turned evil. Another idea it tells us is that he no longer believes he can be saved so he is just going to continue killing people. Showing us that his conscious no longer exists and if it does it is so distant in his heart he no longer
The words of shakespeare has always been known to be quite convoluted. With very intricate wording that, if read only once, may cause a massive headache. Though out of his 10 tragedies macbeth is one of which to pay mind to. Not only for the wording, but because of its interesting story. Along with the fault of King Duncan's “true” murderer.fault of the death of duncan lies in the hands of lady macbeth and macbeth himself. Lady macbeth, who insisted on macbeth killing king Duncan, and her husband Macbeth. Who seemingly is strong-willed and brave enough, is weak minded to her belittling and committed the act of murdering duncan.
and scheme to go and meet him. This shows that it is important for the
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?