Who Is To Blame In Macbeth

A heavily contested topic regarding William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth is the debate of who is responsible for the events that take place. The audience is divided among three main arguments on who is at fault: Lady Macbeth with her seductive manipulation, the witches with their deceitful prophecy, and Macbeth himself with his greed and impatience. These three claims, however, are in no way correct simply on their own; they work in sync to unfold classic tale of Macbeth’s downfall.

Lady Macbeth encompasses all of Macbeth’s traits of ambition and determination, but she is also dark and twisted in her intentions, which Macbeth lacks. Using her lady-like prowess, she serves as a catalyst that encourages her husband to perform evil actions. After

Macbeth, after getting knighted as the Thane of Cawdor, realizes that the witches’ prophecy was indeed correct, and begins to wonder how and when he will gain the throne. Anxiety consumes him, and his curiosity leads him to carve out his own future instead of letting time do its deed. The witches expected this of Macbeth and purposely manipulated him. Their true intentions are displayed when they say “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (1.1.12). Although the prophecies they tell Macbeth are true, they come along with a second meaning that is overlooked. A perfect example of this double-meaning is the apparitions. The second apparition says “Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn/The pow’r of man, for none of woman born/Shall harm Macbeth” (4.1.101-103). Macbeth understands this as no one being able to harm him, because technically everyone is of woman born, but the witches purposefully did not mention Macduff being born of c-section. This leads Macbeth to think he will stay king forever, and sits back with no knowledge of the turmoil that was on its way. The final apparition says “Be lion-mettled, proud, and take no care/Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are./Macbeth shall never vanquished be until/Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill/Shall come against him” (4.1.112-116).

After hearing the witches and getting the idea of becoming king planted in his mind, greed overtakes him. He starts to want power, and will do anything it takes to get it. This greed and lack of patience makes him kill Duncan and Banquo, which inevitably led to his demise. The greed is not shown at the start of the play. It starts after the dagger soliloquy. This was the start of the changes that occurred to Macbeth’s character. From this point forward, his character begins to diminish, becoming more and more evil as time goes