Macbeth is Responsible for His Own Destruction

In accordance with the Aristotelian tragedy, the hamartia of the character Macbeth is undeniably through his own flaw. William Shakespeare, in his play Macbeth, historically portrays the nobility of the protagonist and his gradual descent into an ambitious fiend whose disregard for the great chain of being cost him his honour, wife and status. Through his interference with fate, succumbing to the voice of his wife rather than reason and ambition are the catalysts for his fall from grace.

An interference with fate and destiny is sure to cause chaos. Macbeth’s greatness as a soldier is met with surprise when he is greeted as, ‘thane of Cawdor,’ which he receives with much pleasure. However, he notes that the witches first prophesy, ‘All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!’ has in fact been realised which Banquo also sees as he exclaims, ‘what ,the devil speaks, ‘ alluding to the witches’ prophesy. The seed of doubt is planted here as he begins to take the prophesies seriously. The final prophesy, ‘thou shalt be king hereafter,’ foreshadows Macbeth’s slow downfall as he becomes ambitious. According to the cultural beliefs of the Elizabethan times, a violation of the historic set-up of the chain of being is sure to lead to one’s death. While the blame for Macbeth’s downfall is through his own demise, it is also evident that Lady Macbeth’s desire to be queen also contributed to Macbeth’s hamartia.

The letter that Macbeth sends to his wife is full of his victories but mainly about the witches who, ‘met (him) in the day of success,’ making their predictions and when he wanted to know more, they, ‘made themselves air, into which they vanished.’ Lady Macbeth is now fuelled with ambition as she plots regicide being info...

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...tches foreshadow this particular event. In Elizabethan times, the introduction of the English idea of witches and witchcraft brought a renewed belief of the supernatural including the powers and beliefs of witches and witchcraft. Witches were recognised as very knowledgeable and people believed they knew everything and when it was going to happen. So as a result, in Macbeth set in Elizabethan times, Macbeth was easily influenced by the witches’ prophecies. He truly believed these prophecies because it was the norm in the times he was in. He had to believe it because it was true. Moreover, we can say that Macbeth belief in the prophecies and is helpless as it acted as his fate and destiny and he truly believed in it.

In conclusion, Macbeth is ultimately responsible for his own demise because he is allowing the witches and Lady Macbeth to plot his fate and destiny.