In Shakespeare's play Macbeth, despite influences of the three witches and Lady Macbeth, Lord Macbeth is ultimately responsible for his own downfall. He is a tragic hero who destroys himself by his own self-ambitions, over confidence and actions against fate. Macbeth is ultimately responsible because he is too self-ambitious, planning a murder to get what he wants. When Macbeth first encounters the witches they give him three prophecies, one of which revealing that he will become King of Scotland. Macbeth becomes motivated to do what is necessary to achieve this title. “Why hath it given me earnest of success, commencing in a truth? I am thane of Cawdor: If good why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my hair and make …show more content…
Macbeth meets the witches a second time, demanding his future. Feeding off Macbeth’s pride, the witches make three apparitions that make him overconfident. Seeing the third apparition Macbeth feels that nothing will stop him until Great Birnam Wood moves toward Dunsinane. Later on he feels deceived by the witches, as his overconfidence leads to irony. “I pull in resolution, and begin to doubt the equivocation of fiend that lies like truth: ‘Fear not, till Birnam wood do come to Dunsinane”; and now a wood comes toward Dunsinane” (5. 5. 47-51). This shows how his confidence has failed. Yet another example Macbeth’s conceitedness is when he misinterprets the second apparition. A bloody baby states that no man born of woman shall kill Macbeth. “Then live, Macduff. What need I fear of thee?” (4. 1. 89). This is Macbeth’s cocky response, he is so confident that no one can kill him, though this results in his ironic death. In Macduff and Macbeths final conflict, Macduff reveals that he was born through caesarian section, therefore not technically born by woman. This once again shows how Macbeth’s pride is diminished, as he finally realizes that he misinterpreted the witches’ words and acted over
Let me ask just one question, have you ever heard anyone say something, that deep down it is known that, that is not right? Of course, everyone has been in that circumstance. Just because someone ‘tells’ you to do something does not mean that the deed gets done, right? If someone ‘told’ me to murder a lot of people, I’m not going to do it. The same follows for Macbeth. In the novel Macbeth written by William Shakespeare the main character, Macbeth, is told that he will become King. The only logical way to become king (in his own mind) is to kill the existing one, King Duncan. Lady Macbeth, Macbeth’s wife, has no uncertainty at all, in fact she wants him to become king more than he does, and tells him to murder Duncan to obtain this position. As one can see Macbeth not only knows what he is doing, but he knows what he is doing is wrong.
Shakespeare created a character in Macbeth who is strongly influenced in his decision making throughout the drama of The Tragedy of Macbeth. This drama is a Tragedy, hence the title, and has a hero, in Macbeth, who has a downfall. Readers become aware of the aspects that lead up to this predicament. Macbeth’s downfall was contributed equally from Lady Macbeth, the three weird sisters, and Macbeth’s ambition.
Ambition is Macbeth’s primary flaw that causes the valiant soldier, who would die for the king, to murder his way to control the throne. Now, others could argue that the Witches are more responsible for Macbeth's downfall because they spoke prophetically to Macbeth and wanted to see the outcome of Macbeth’s endeavor to take the throne for their own amusement. The Witches did not commit the heinous crimes, Macbeth committed acts of treason and murder. The Witches did not tell Macbeth that he would need to murder King Duncan to become king, nor did they tell him to kill Banquo. Macbeth is the main character who is responsible for his downfall, because when Macbeth is first introduced in Act 1, he is a brave and honorable soldier, who is also the Thane of Glamis. He is labeled by King Duncan as “brave Macbeth,”: “For brave Macbeth- well he deserves that name…” Before Macbeth met the Witches, he served the king with complete devotion. After the meeting the Witches, he begins to contemplate becoming King of Scotland. However, his ambition is not satisfied, when he finds out that Malcolm, King Duncan’s son is heir to his throne. Macbeth speaks of his ambition in Act 1, sc.7 line 25, “Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on th’ other” (Shakespeare). Ambition leads him to murder King Duncan, start committing heinous crimes, and continue his path
The great Shakespearean tragedy Macbeth is a tale about a Scottish Thane, Macbeth, who, seemingly according to a prophecy of witches, becomes Thane of Cawdor, and King. And because Macbeth has gained his throne through deceit and treacherous ways, he loses it. The blame for the downfall of Macbeth lies with Macbeth himself, Lady Macbeth and the witches.
Macbeth, the main character in William Shakespeare's tragedy, Macbeth was not secure in his manhood. This insecurity led to the downfall of Macbeth because he felt the need to prove himself to Lady Macbeth. After he proved himself by killing Duncan, Macbeth became desensitized to killing.
When the witches told Macbeth that no man born of a woman could harm him, he would not be defeated until the forest came to his castle, and that his only threat was Macduff, Macbeth felt very secure about his kingship. Little did Macbeth know, that all of these foretellings would bring about his demise. Macduff was born out of a dead woman, so he was the only one who could hurt Macbeth. When Malcolm's army attacked Macbeth's castle, they camouflaged themselves with trees, thus giving the appearance of the forest coming to the castle. Finally, Macduff was the only thing that Macbeth had to worry about, because he was not born of a woman, and could kill Macbeth. Macbeth completely disregarded the Witches' prophecies because he thought of them as rubbish. Had the three witches told Macbeth the real truth that they ticked him out of believing, Macbeth would not have gotten so cocky as a result of his security.
... woman, this made him feel invincible. But unfortunately for Macbeth, they did not tell him Macduff was not born from a woman but yet he was taken out of the womb from an emergency c section, which allows him to complete the murder of Macbeth.
Firstly, he defeats his enemies. Next he is praised by the other soldiers and King Duncan appoints him as the Thane. For example, if a person desires for a manager title, the person will work hard to earn it, and it is possible that other workers will see this and boost the chief individual’s desire. It is from here that the person might think they deserve the title and look for more power. Similarly, Macbeth must have thought somewhere in his mind to be king. In the book Witches’ Caldron: a study of motive in Shakespeare’s Macbeth Dr. K.C. Mathur says that although the witches did prophesy he would be king and even boosted his desire “They did not create the thought of murder of King Duncan. It was Macbeth’s own latent ambition embodying his power drive and seeking affirmation that invites the witches.” (Witches Caldron, 6) Dr. Mathur also says “Macbeth had acquired this status and it is not surprising that he thinks of achieving higher status by being aggressive and domineering. It is this psychological impulse that is projected in his ambition for the crown and not any criminal instinct or latent evil.” (6) There was a negative environment of witches and the association of Lady Macbeth around Macbeth which influenced him to murder. The environment creates a huge part in the play and if he had a good environment it is possible that he would have remained loyal to King
I do agree that the conflict was individual versus self as Macbeth struggled with his decision to kill the king. However, when Lady Macbeth came into the picture the conflict changed from individual versus self to individual versus individual. As Lady Macbeth tries to convince Macbeth to kill the king by demeaning him as a man. Do you feel that Macbeth would of made this decision to kill the king on his own, or do you feel that Lady Macbeth made his decision for him? I also question how does this conflict relate to today? Today this conflict is present in many ways as people may not kill the other person to get what they want, but they may get them fired from their job so they can excel.
Here is where Macbeth messes up. He believes all men are born of women. However a c-section is not considered to be natural back then. A c-section also meant that the child was not born of women because it did not come from the womb. Macbeth then proceeds to battle with Macduff. There in the battle he learns that Macduff is not born of woman and yet he still continues to fight. Soon Macbeth falls to Macduff. Macbeth could have retreated, however he let his pride, who and paranoia get the best of
A tragic hero is said to be doomed from his beginning. A victim of his own ambition and moral weakness, Macbeth decline from a kind, respectable warrior, to a murdering, lying, fiend. It is his obsessive and literal belief in the prophecies that impaired him. The tragedy of Macbeth is of the kind of man he could have been and almost was, but fell short because he overlooked the contradictions in his character and made the fatal mistake of giving in to his ambition.
Macbeth’s strong ambition is to become king of Scotland. After the war, Macbeth and Banquo both walked and came into contact with : witches. The witches told prophecies that Macbeth will “Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!” and then “shalt be the king hereafter” (I.iii.48-50). The witch’s prophecies were the first step into motivating Macbeth to be in power of Scotland. Macbeth’s promotion to Thane of Cawdor, made him believe the fact that the prophecies from the witches of the future are true. Macbeth soon wanted to have more power and so he wanted the stars not to “light” his “black and deep desires” (I.iv.50-51). Macbeth had evil and negative ambitions to become in power of Scotland and thus did not want anyone to know that he was going to have plans to kill the innocent king and his closest friends. While Macbeth was deciding whether to kill or not to kill Duncan, he states that the only thing motivating him is “ambition” which makes “people rush ahead of themselves toward disaster” (I.iii.25-28). Macbeth's plan of killing king Duncan was his strong desire because he would succeed into power. He was willing to do anything just to be in power and thus decided to kill his gracious king Duncan and his closest friend Banquo. His ambition of power led him to commit such a terrible and cruel action. Macbeth's blinding ambition led him to take a
...e murdered. When king Duncan thanks Macbeth for his heroic service in the battle he replies “Your highness a king cares for his people as a father cares for his children and the people represent the loyal children to the father (I, iv, 23-25). Later in the scene, Lady Macbeth shames her husband so he can continue with the plan of killing Duncan. To shame Macbeth, she calls him a coward, questions his manhood, and tells him that he should be as tough as she is, (1.7.54-59). The second apparition is a bloody child which shows Macbeth "The power of man, for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth" (4.1.81). This shows that no man can harm Macbeth because everyman is born of a women except Macduff. He says that Macduff was born untimely and was ripped out of his womb . This was abnormal because being ripped out of your mothers womb is being born.
The witches told him that only a man not born of mother could defeat him. They said beware of Macduff and the last apparition was that “Macbeth shall never vanquished be until/ Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill/ Shall come against him.” (4.1.92-94) He’s not worried at all when he hears troops are coming to attack because he can’t be vanquished. Then a messenger comes telling him “I looked toward Birnam, and anon, methought,/ The wood began to move.” (5.5.34-35) At first Macbeth thinks he joking but as he looks out the window he realizes that the witches had tricked him. Even though Macbeth knows that it will be the end for him he still has ambition and courage and He fights till the very end.
The deliberately ambiguous apparitions play on Macbeth’s hubris and they make him feel so overconfident that he feels invincible and unstoppable. In his castle, Macbeth jokes that he will never fail “till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane” (V.iii.2) thinking that the apparition literally means that the forest will pick itself up and move to Dunsinane which he thinks is impossible despite all the supernatural events he has experienced. However, the forest does not move by itself but it does move to Dunsinane because of Malcolm’s ingenious strategy. As Malcolm approaches Macbeth’s castle with the English forces, he orders each soldier to cut off the branches of the trees of Birnam Wood to use as camouflage. This greatly contributes to Macbeth’s downfall since he was nowhere near ready for an invasion of the English forces. However, because of his hubris, he is still confident that he is unstoppable as he believes no one “borne a woman” (V.iii.6) can harm him. Unbeknown to him, Macduff was born through a caesarean section and thus not “borne” so much as “taken” from a woman. This lack of access to the entire truth sees Macbeth eventually