Who Was Responsible For Macbeth's Downfall

There are three people that could be held responsible for the downfall of Macbeth. First, there’s the Three Witches, then, there’s Lady Macbeth, and lastly, there is Macbeth himself. If I were to choose one person to be held responsible I would choose Macbeth. Sure, the others pushed him towards certain decisions he made, but in the end Macbeth is to blame. Macbeth did many things that contributed to his downfall. The first one being that he was the one who made all of his terrible decisions throughout the play. Macbeth killed many people and he was the one who decided to do so. This action leads him down a dark path throughout the play. After Macbeth kills Duncan he becomes overly-determined and power hungry. He takes whatever measures necessary

to get what he wants. And finally, another reason why Macbeth should be held responsible is because his attitude towards the end of the play. He becomes selfish and overly confident. These qualities he gains in the play do not benefit him and they make things much worse for him in the end. In this essay I will be explaining more in depth why I believe Macbeth is responsible for his downfall.
Macbeth is the one who decided to kill each of his victims in the play. Nobody forced him to kill anyone, he made the decisions on his own, which brings me to my first point. In the beginning of the play Macbeth did not want to kill Duncan. In Act 1, Scene 7, Macbeth actually claims why he doesn’t want to kill him, “He has two reasons to trust me while he’s here: First, I am his relative and his subject—and as both, I have strong reasons not to do the deed. Second, I am his host.” This quote clearly shows that Macbeth did not want to kill Duncan; however, he made the decision to do so anyways. Macbeth didn’t have to go through with the murder but he did, just like he went through with the murder of seven other people. Macbeth makes his own decisions. Other people such as Lady Macbeth may have pressured him to do certain things, but Macbeth didn’t have to listen to them. In addition to making these bad decisions, Macbeth also becomes overly determined and power-hungry, which I will be talking about in the next paragraph.
One big thing that caused Macbeth’s downfall was his tendency to be overly determined and power-hungry.

When Macbeth killed Duncan to get the throne, that wasn’t enough for him. Macbeth wanted even more power and he wasn’t going to let anyone stand in his way, including his good friend, Banquo. When Macbeth and Banquo met with the witches one of the prophecies they gave was that Banquo’s children were to become kings. At this time, Macbeth was the king. Therefore, Macbeth decided that he needed to kill Banquo so his prophecy wouldn’t come true. In Act 3, Scene 1, Macbeth realizes that if Banquo’s prophecy comes true, he will no longer have power. This quote from Macbeth shows that he was determined to hang on to power and was willing to kill his closest friend, “I have lost my peace of mind and gained trouble, just for them; and I have given my immortal soul to the devil, to make them kings—the offspring of Banquo, kings! Rather than have that happen, let the fate come to the field and fight me to the death.” When you read this quote you can see that Macbeth is power-hungry and determined. There are more things that led to Macbeth’s downfall; Macbeth was also over confident and selfish. I will explain how those qualities led to his downfall

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The last reason why Macbeth is responsible for his downfall is because of his selfish acts and over confidence towards the end of the play. Once Macbeth got what he wanted he didn’t have any regards towards the way people felt or the way he made them feel. When Lady Macbeth died Macbeth didn’t seem to care at all; he only seemed to care about what was going on with himself. This is what Macbeth said when Lady Macbeth died. “She should have died at another time. There would have been a better moment for such news.” Macbeth obviously didn’t care that Lady Macbeth died. This is just one example of how Macbeth let his selfish acts contribute to his downfall. Macbeth also didn’t listen to the many warnings he received about the soldiers marching towards his castle. He let the soldiers march right to his castle just because he thought he was invincible. He risked the lives of others just to prove he could not be stopped. He was too confident in the idea that the witches prophecies were true and that is what caused him to be killed.
Macbeth did some very bad things in this play. Clearly he is the one at fault. Macbeth was the one who chose to commit such vicious murders. He was not forced to commit them. He made the wrong decisions and that was his responsibility. He was too determined and power-hungry. Macbeth let the power get to his head and took any measures to keep the throne. Lastly, he was selfish and overly confident. His attitude caused him to make bad calls and that is what got him killed. These are the reasons why Macbeth is the one fault