Influences That Lead to Macbeth's Downfall in William Shakespeare's Macbeth

Influences That Lead to Macbeth's Downfall in William Shakespeare's Macbeth

Macbeth is a play written by the famous playwright, William

Shakespeare. The play was started around 1603 but was only finished in

1606. The play is a tragedy and is one of the darkest of Shakespeare's

plays ever written. The play was originally written for King James I

when he came to the throne of England after Elizabeth had died.

Banquo, one of the characters in the play, is based upon one of the

Kings ancestors. The play is set in ancient Scotland where witches

roam the land and war is in the air as Norway try to invade Scotland.

Witches are a big part in this play, especially as in Elizabethan

time, when the play was written, the belief in witchcraft was vast.

Many people were drowned and burnt because they were thought to be

witches. Any earthquake, hurricane or unexplainable happenings were

blamed on witches. Males act out all of the characters in Macbeth, as

all actors in Shakespeare's time were male.

The play begins with three witches who would have possibly changed

from stones into human form. They would be wearing old cloth rags and

appear old and crooked with a few warts. The witches speak, in short

sentences and riddles like, "…foul is fair as fair is foul…" They all

huddle together and immediately involve Macbeth, "There to meet with

Macbeth!" This involvement of Macbeth with witches so early on in the

play invokes the idea that Macbeth might be evil. This contrast

between Evil and Macbeth is echoed in the next scene where there is a

big bloody battle and a valiant and courageous Macbeth battles his way

through an flood of soldiers, the Nor...

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...te the imagery he wants,

for instance when Macbeth says:

"Light thickens, and the crow makes wing to th'rocky wood"

This gives the image of night seeping through the day and a crow

making flight to a spooky, bare, dead looking wood.

Shakespeare uses a lot a writing devices in this play such as

soliloquies, "If it were done…" and metaphors "…daggers in men's

smiles."

In Elizabethan times its is believed that there is a pathway through

life, Macbeth tried to change this path and so his life was damned

anyway and his downfall was bound to happen. The main influences on

Macbeth came from the witches, for their prophecies, Lady Macbeth, for

persuading Macbeth to kill, Banquo and Macduff, for not standing out

and stopping him, and King Duncan for making the first of the witches

prophecies come true.