Who Was Responsible For Macbeth's Downfall

Macbeth Essay

Sometimes in society people make mistakes and we have no one in the end to blame but ourselves. Maybe one has told themselves they will start working on a project, but continue to put it off. Maybe someone has told themselves that they will start their diet, but continue eating unhealthy foods. This occurs quite often in society, in more cases than one, such as procrastinating, interrupting, or other bad habits. One can confirm that it is only that one person to blame for their actions. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the protagonist Macbeth kills King Duncan out of selfishness to become king. I firmly believe that the person responsible for Macbeth’s downfall at the end of the tragedy is Macbeth himself, because he is overly

ambitious, and was too willing to believe the witches.
My first reason that Macbeth is responsible for his own downfall is that he is overly ambitious. Macbeth was the kind of person to be very noble and loyal to people, in this case, King Duncan. But Macbeth then became corrupt and filled with hubris that out of selfishness, he kills his king. We know that Macbeth wants to become king because he truly desires it, as he says: “Stars hide your fires,/Let not light see my deep desires”(1.4.57-58). In this quote, Macbeth is by alone and utters this to himself, and the audience now knows that he wants to be king, and will do anything to achieve that title.
Fitting hand-in-hand with his overly ambitiousness, he is also very eager to know whatever the witches have to say to him.

Macbeth is too willing to believe in the witches, and this causes his downfall at the end of the play. He believes their every word and has a large amount of respect for the witches. When Macbeth speaks with the witches, or the Weird Sisters, he urges them to tell him more information when he hears something that draws his attention. “Stay, you imperfect speakers. Tell me more”(1.3.73). This quote can tell the readers that Macbeth is very eager and perhaps very willing to believe the witches. Macbeth also somewhat forces the witches to tell him the fourth apparition, or prophecy, because he is desperate to know that he is undefeatable. “I will be satisfied. Deny me this, and an eternal curse fall on you! Let me know(4.1.119-20)! This quote from the play demonstrates quite perfectly that Macbeth is so willing to know what the witches have to say, that he makes them say the prophecy that he does not want to hear. In a sense, Macbeth actually made his own prophecy come true because he wanted to hear it so bad, because he finds out that Banquo’s children will then become king. “Horrible sight! Now I see ‘tis true”(4.1.137). Macbeth went from bitter that he could not hear the prophecy, to hearing the prophecy, not liking it, and getting upset about it. If only he had not been so selfish to want to know what it was, then the fourth apparition would not have

been said, and it probably would not have come true.
William Shakespeare influences his audience, or in this case, readers, to turn all of Macbeth’s evil doings back on him. Although some villains have reasonings to do their actions because of impact of other people, in Macbeth’s situation, it is all him who is at fault. It is true that in society, we like to blame other people for our own faults so we, as selfish people, do not have to take the consequences for our actions, at the end of the day, it is our own self to blame. One may assume it was Lady Macbeth’s fault for Macbeth’s downfall for encouraging him to kill King Duncan by doubting his manliness. Or it could be the Weird Sisters’ faults, who put the thought of being king in his mind in the first place. But if one backs up and sees the bigger picture, it is truly Macbeth that is responsible for his death.