Macbeth’s Downfall — Essay Example

Right after King Duncan’s death, it is ironical how Macbeth’s downfall began yet it was supposed to be his fulfillment to becoming a king. The blame for his downfall is attributed to three people: the witches, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth himself. The witches placed the idea of becoming a king in his head, while Lady Macbeth manipulated her husband, and Macbeth himself is to blame for putting his greedy ambitions before his conscience.

Lady Macbeth’s success in convincing her husband into killing King Duncan is a major reason for Macbeth’s downfall. When King Duncan visited their home, Macbeth felt remorseful after the accolades accorded to him, and thus decided to put off the idea of killing the king. However, Lady Macbeth insulted Macbeth’s manhood by saying, “and to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man,” which made him to further their initial plans.

Macbeth is also to blame for the tragedy of the play because without him being so ambitious and narrow sighted the play would not have turned out as it did. Macbeth was having concerns for killing Duncan and at once point even says “Proceed no further in this business” but his ambition gets the better of him.

On the other hand, without the witches’ idea, Macbeth would not have contemplated killing King Duncan, and thus he would not have had a downfall. Their evil intentions were present from the very beginning, whereby they had plans to influence Macbeth’s life. However, Macbeth had a mind of his own, and thus the decision he made to kill the king were his own.

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William, and Roma Gill. Macbeth. Oxford University Press, 2009, p. v, vii. Accessible at https://bit.ly/1uQft2e