The Tragic Downfall of Macbeth: A Study on Ambition and Evil

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In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth’s decision to murder King Duncan of Scotland brought about his tragic downfall. His callous act had subsequent consequences on his mental state, his personal kingdom, in addition to the wider worlds of nature and the kingdom of Scotland. Macbeth’s erratic personality is fueled by his manic obsession with power and it is enticed by Lady Macbeth’s constant urging and manipulation. His personality is also fueled by the Witches’s temptations and his own personal ambition that had laid dormant for years, prior to him meeting the ambiguous women. Evil is portrayed in various ways in Macbeth and it is presented through, nature, supernatural, and all other forces that are outside human control. Throughout the entirety …show more content…

“Macbeth’s capacious mind, despite its moral degeneration, remains at centerstage, showing the horrific consequences of a truly heroic spirit embracing evil” (Reid 1). Macbeth’s mind was the basis of the entire Elizabethan tragedy. Macbeth’s “moral degeneration” was fueled by his ascension to becoming the thane of Cawdor. A once honorable man becomes opportunistic, disloyal, and traitorous – thus beginning his reign of endostatism, which entails a certain degree of opportunism, and a readiness to cut corners and bend rules (Sadowski 1). With every crime and every murder, Macbeth is more physiologically removed from his victim’s deaths and his motivation becomes less personal and more political as he becomes more frantic to keep hold of his newly gained power. “We have scorched the snake not killed it...can touch him further” (3.1 15-28). His motivation and thirst for more power is never quenched, and he believes that he has “injured” the snake but he has not completely gotten rid of it. The snake represents anything and everything that has the potential to take the crown out of his grasp. Macbeth’s “black and deep desires” become scornful annihilative hated and the acts draw their cathartic energy not from regicide but from the heroic male’s reaction to the destruction of a beloved maiden and her child (Lainer

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