Who Was To Blame For Macbeth's Downfall

Anyone who reads Shakespeare’s Macbeth can see that Macbeth was an evil man. It is not so clear though to see what caused this man to go from a hero to a monster in only a few short acts. Many would argue that the curses of the witches, or the prompting from his wife was the motivation behind the murders. However, after analyzing the acceleration of the deterioration of Macbeth’s morality, it is evident that Macbeth’s inner desires were to blame for his actions. To begin, Macbeth spoke of murder immediately following his first encounter with the witches. The witches did not curse Macbeth, but just called him the king and foretold that Banquo’s children would follow after him. It was all Macbeth’s idea to become king through murder. He stated, “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, shakes so my single state of man” (I, iii, 140-141) in his aside after talking to the witches. This tells the reader that he must have been

The murder of Duncan was highly encouraged by his wife, so one could argue that she was partially to blame for it. However, the murder of Banquo, Macduff’s family, and Young Siward were all Macbeth’s doing. His wife knew nothing of these murders before they were committed, as Macbeth chose to keep them secret. He even murdered Macduff’s family despite the apparitions telling him not to fear. The second apparition spoke, “For none of woman born shall harm Macbeth” (IV, i, 80-81). Macbeth responded to this with, “But yet I’ll make assurance double sure...Thou shalt not live” (IV, i, 83-84). Up until this point, Macbeth had received the words and visions from the witches as truth. A change was seen now though as his evil desires caused him to make excuses for murder. Even when told that he had nothing to worry about, Macbeth had become so entangled in his own dark desires that nobody could change