Gavin Rice Mrs. Cartwright English 20-1 April 3rd, 2023 The Deadly Sins of Macbeth’s Downfall Sin: An offense of thought, word, or act of immortality or harmfulness, ultimately bringing about one’s doom. William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a play about sin and its deadly consequences, narrating the tale of a tragic fall from grace due to the unrighteous actions that have been committed. Set in medieval Scotland, the story follows the noble Macbeth, an easily manipulated general who fights for the good of the country and the success of his ruler and friend, King Duncan. Seeded by the words of a prophecy, the idea of self-achievement becomes a priority to him in an evil turning of his morals, fueling multiple misdeeds that secure him as the new …show more content…
Macbeth’s envy towards others throughout the story is one of the main sins that lead to his eventual downfall in this tragedy. A driving example of this in the story is Macbeth’s desire for the Scottish throne and royal family to fulfill the prophecies set for him. After the three witches predict his future kingship: “All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter” (1.3.53), the once loyal Macbeth sets his ambitions on a higher position than that he is in as his inner jealousy of King Duncan and his royal sons grows. “The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step on which I must fall down, or else o’er-leap” (1.4.55-56). However, once he gains the throne by committing treason and obtains all that he once wished for, Macbeth still holds envy towards others, wishing that he held positions of others rather than his own. Taking King Duncan’s position through murder plants another seed of envy in him, as he begins to feel insecurity over the situation he has unrightfully placed himself in and realizes what could be done against him rather than the previous ruler now. “In restless ecstasy, Duncan is in his grave, after life’s fitful fever he sleeps well, treason has done his worst: nor steel, nor poison, malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing, can touch him further! (3.2.24-28). Additionally, Macbeth has jealousy of Banquo once holding royalty, feeling his position is empty and of lesser …show more content…
Pride is a double-edged sword that is held by all, capable of bringing about success and strength in an individual, but can opposedly bring about overconfidence and destruction. One of Macbeth’s major flaws is that he holds excessive pride in himself for his dignity and past successes. Not knowing the issues that it is building, Macbeth’s sin of hubris stays strong throughout the story until his last moments in battle, being a main reason for his downfall. The first instance of this in the story is in Macbeth’s overpraised and honored character at the beginning. His once-healthy pride grows dark as he learns from the witches that he is to become the future king and be held above all others, believing that he is unquestionably the most worthy to be the ruler of Scotland due to his pride. “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me” (1.3.154-155). After taking the throne through murder to gain undeserved kingship, Macbeth again displays his arrogant dignity in killing his friend. In Banquo’s obvious superiority to Macbeth both morally and mentally, Macbeth orders to have him killed in fear of his greatness and honor possibly being overshadowed by another. “Whose being I do fear, and under him my genius is rebuked, as it is said” (3.1.59-60). Later in the story, as Macbeth is nearing his doom for his traitorous actions, Macbeth’s dignity of himself is the final act that leads
Macbeth by Shakespeare takes place in medieval Scotland during a war with Norway where Macbeth, a war hero, is approached by some witches that give him a prophecy of his future as king. Despite his confusion, Macbeth is enticed by their words and begins his plan to bring the prophecy to reality. Throughout the play, Macbeth’s actions are controlled by the emotions of greed, fear, and jealousy. "Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed. " - Mahatma Gandhi.
Macbeth we see him use ambition as a motif to show how when unchecked it can lead to moral decay. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth seek the throne and all of its power which leads to their destruction. In Act 1 Scene 7 Macbeth comes to terms with the fact that killing Duncan is simply a move for power with no moral backings, “ I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself And falls on th’ other-”. Although Macbeth begins to realize that he is committing murders and destroying lives for power there is nothing stopping him. Unfortunately Lady Macbeth was overcome with the guilt of what she had done that she took her own life.
Macbeth Essay The play Macbeth by Shakespeare is about the journey of a man named Macbeth doing whatever he can to get power. Throughout the play Macbeth does ruthless things just to get closer to becoming king. Macbeth starts out as a kind man who fought for his king and was loyal.
His greed leads him to commit sins such as murdering the well-liked King. All in all, Macbeth’s ambitious actions drive him to destruction through his
In the story, Macbeth becomes nervous that Banquo will over power him. “But to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature Reigns that which would be feared. ' Tis much he dares, And to that dauntless temper of his mind To act in safety. There is none but he Whose being I do fear.”
Lauralee Swartz Brandie Trent AP Literature March 15, 2023 Shakesphere is a hard writer to understand, but once you get the hang of things, you will realize everything has a connection as you read further into this essay. I will be helping the readers understand two main allusions Shakespeare gives us. In the beginning, Macbeth has Banquo killed to be out of his way of the throne.
As human beings, people always want to achieve more and more, to be above everyone else, or what we call greed, and it is a natural part of who human beings are. But this doesn’t mean people should put themselves above anyone else to achieve what they want which is the case for Macbeth throughout the play. Macbeth got the prophecy of being the future king and thought about the idea of killing King Duncan to achieve the goal: “ My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical” (Act l, Scene lll, Line 141). Macbeth had just witnessed another one of the prophecies come true and he instantly thought about a cruel and selfish way to obtain the last prophecy. The prophecy may have come true if Macbeth didn’t try anything but his greed got the better of him and he ultimately followed through with it, bringing other people down to obtain his goal.
Macbeth was a good and loyal warrior for king Duncan but after he heard the witches predictions, it changed the person inside him. This play is from one of the best writer of all time William Shakespeare. The play is “The Tragedy of Macbeth". It's a summary about how Macbeth became king in the eleventh century and after he took the throne.
Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, is a rather bloody and demiseful tale. Although the characters of the play all have different emotions the main theme is based on greed and suffrage of one’s actions. The main character, Macbeth, is ridden with guilt and greed, while Lady MacBeth is very controlling and demanding. Macbeth's curiosity led to a great demise for both him and Lady Macbeth. Throughout the play, Macbeth’s actions are being controlled by the emotions of curiosity, guilt, and fear.
In Macbeth’s soliloquy, he talks about Banquo’s “hath of wisdom” and how Banquo acts safely(58). This illustrates that Macbeth is afraid of what Banquo might do. This illustrates Macbeth’s ambition because he is not going to give up until he finds what he is looking for if he gets suspicious with Macbeth. This makes Macbeth very scared of Banquo because if Banquo finds out that Macbeth killed Duncan, Macbeth’s life is going to be hell and Banquo is immediately going to tell everybody in Scotland. Macbeth fears Banquo so much that he will “champion his utterance” and will battle anybody to keep his crown(77).
Everyone has flaws, but how they dictate a person’s life is up to them and this is shown in Shakespeare ’s play Macbeth. Macbeth is one of these characters whose flaws damage him in many ways. Throughout the story, the reader can see the changes in Macbeth’s emotions and actions. He went from hero to tyrant, from honor to tyranny, and from ambition to greed.
By following the “duty” of his gender role society set for him, he commits atrocious acts (murder) and slowly falls to insanity as he is consumed by the paranoia of being killed for his crown. Macbeth shows the reason for his actions was because his pride and his masculinity were worth more than his conscience; to Macbeth, death is better than sacrificing his pride. Since how masculinity is defined and his role as a man is chosen by society, Macbeth's actions are merely an unfortunate result of the expectations society set for him. Given Macbeth’s situation, any man who viewed their honour and masculinity as first priority would have done the same; to them, letting go of their masculinity is akin to
Being that Banquo seemed suspicious of Macbeth subsequently the night of the king 's death. Apprehensive of his throne Macbeth would do anything in his power to prevent even the slightest chance for anyone to take the throne from him.
“There is none but he whose being I do fear: and, under him, my genius is rebuked; as, it is said, Mark Antony 's was by Caesar” (III.i.57-60). Macbeth is angry about being under any of Duncan 's sons when it comes to who becomes the next king. Macbeth is being selfish and greedy, which he proves when he kills Duncan to take his place as king. Macbeth thinks about his line of succession, and thinks to himself “ No son of mine succeeding,if’t
macbeth’s ambition for the crown and his wishes to keep it get the better of him, and he kills a loyal friend because the witches tell him Banquo’s children will be his successors. Macbeth’s intolerance of Banquo and his actions following makes him a bad leader whose misfortune and mistakes just keep snowballing after Banquo’s death. To contrast this Confouis writes, “If a prince can govern his kingdom with tolerance and decency, what difficulty will he have? If he