To what extent does Shakespeare present Macbeth as the reason behind Macbeth’s downfall?
It is clear that Macbeth is responsible for his own actions which ultimately led to his downfall; mentally and in society. His mild intentions strongly encouraged by Lady Macbeth led to inevitable consequences which one may find difficult to bare and forget. His wife, Lady Macbeth was a courageous, fearless woman willing to do what necessary to fulfill her burning ambition, even if it means manipulating ones close to do what she desires. It is definitely debatable that Macbeth’s actions were greatly influenced by Lady Macbeth’s persuasive and belittling words which made Macbeth feel as though he had to prove himself to the love of his life; his weakness.
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Macbeth simply gets deceived by her forceful words. She is dominant over her husband and effortlessly persuades Macbeth to go forward with decisive plan. Her dominance and control can be conveyed by “hie thee hither that I may pour my spirits in thine ear”, here she is calling for Macbeth to hurry home so she can pour her poison in his ears so he follows her orders with his eyes closed. The phrase “pour my spirits” is linked with poison; to contaminate his mind with her heinous objective. The word “pour” reinforces this idea of poison as she intends it as a liquid which take over his mind and slowly ‘kill’ anything which would keep Macbeth from executing the plan his wife has conjured. Moreover, his wife is clearly telling him exactly what to do: time, place, who, what, how. This is so she can take control and she does fully take control eventually. Lady Macbeth tells him how to look and how to control his expressions to not come forward as suspicious of the deed. “Look like the innocent flower, but the serpent under’t”. She is subtly commanding, to appeal as a noble host but be the criminal behind the mask. This is how she manipulates her husband and ultimately takes
Who is responsible for Macbeth’s downfall, the witches, or Macbeth? Who is responsible for the scorpions in Macbeth’s mind, the savage killing of several people in cold blood, the conception near the end of the play that Macbeth grasps of nihilism, and Macbeth getting so shielded in the prophecies that he can barely see straight? Is it Macbeth... or the witches? The play by William Shakespeare, Macbeth, has many motifs and famous quotes. However, it raises a lot of questions.
Macbeth is the Shakespearean play that features the triumphant uprise and the inevitable downfall of its main character. In this play, Macbeth’s downfall can be considered to be the loss of his moral integrity and this is achieved by ambition, despite this, Lady Macbeth and the witches work through his ambition, furthering to assist his inevitable ruin. Ambition alone is the most significant factor that led to Macbeth’s downfall. The witches are only able to influence his actions through Macbeth’s pre-existing and the three witches see that Macbeth has ambition and uses it to control his action. Ambition alone is displayed throughout the play to be the most significant cause for Macbeth’s downfall.
Like all of Shakespeare’s other plays, “Macbeth’s” protagonist Macbeth is incredibly successful but suffers from one fatal flaw, his great ambition. His ambition will be the cause of his great success but ultimately also of his downfall. The man’s ambition drives him to seize every opportunity to promote his own agenda. His ambition hurts him the most when he decides to kill King Duncan and Macduff.
So although Macbeth was killed by rebels, Lady Macbeth has ultimate responsibility for his death. Lady Macbeth is responsible for killing her husband because she pressured him into the killing of others, which ended up getting him killed. As soon as Lady Macbeth found out she was becoming wife to the Thane of Cawdor, all she wanted was more power. Lady Macbeth applied pressure on Macbeth In Act 1 Scene 7 Lines 38-41 by saying, “. .
Lady Macbeth uses the tactic of belittling him about his manhood. Implying that he is not a man unless he does what she asks. She offers him to ease the burden of this crime. Not only does Lady Macbeth and the witches have an impact on Macbeth, he also is the last one to accept his poor choices he will make to lead him to the failure he
Shakespeare engineered a most impressionable character in Macbeth who easily succumbs to the extensive magnitude of opposing constraints. This character is Macbeth, who is the protagonist in the play and husband to a conniving wife, who in the end is the sole cause for Macbeth 's undoing. Conflicting forces in the play compel internal conflicts within Macbeth to thrive on his contentment and sanity as he his torn asunder between devotion, aspiration, morality and his very own being. He has developed a great sense of loyalty from being a brave soldier; however, his ambition soon challenges this allegiance. As his sincerity begins to deteriorate, his own sanity starts to disintegrate until the point where he cannot differentiate between reality
William Shakespeare portrayed the character Lady Macbeth to be extremely ruthless, malicious and manipulative. Thus, being the reason she could easily convince Macbeth to do her will, yet still put on such a convincing performance in front of those who knew nothing of her and her husband’s actions. Lady Macbeth shows her complexity constantly throughout the story when she shares her view-point on masculinity by demasculinizing her own husband, when she strategically plans the murder of the King Duncan, and finally when she finally goes crazy because of the guilt she possesses for not only her own actions but also turning her own husband into a
From honored soldier to murderous tyrant, Macbeth killed his way into power. He was informed of his “destiny” and stopped at nothing to achieve it. He had multiple chances to rethink his actions. He didn 't however, he kept on his march to power leaving only himself to blame. Macbeth is the only one to blame for his actions and ultimately, his death.
Often times, people go through rises and downfalls in their lives that they themselves are responsible for. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, both main characters, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, himself, are responsible for the downfall of Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is responsible for the tragedy because she convinces and manipulates Macbeth into doing the deed. However, Shakespeare accomplishes in showing that Macbeth is more responsible for his own downfall than Lady Macbeth because he listens to the witches and follows his ambition rather than his conscience. To begin, Lady Macbeth is responsible for the tragedy because she convinces and manipulates Macbeth into doing the deed by insulting him when he changes his mind.
In act one scene 7, Macbeth doubts if he should kill the king; however, his wife, Lady Macbeth, manipulates him into proceeding. It might be difficult for Macbeth, the renowned warrior, to hear his wife accusing him of cowardice. Therefore, under Lady Macbeth’s influence, as she questions his manhood, he commences the murder in order to prove to her that he is not a “coward.” This is important to note because his soliloquy shows his determination to proceed.
What is ambition? Ambition is the determination to achieve one’s goals. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare the protagonist, Macbeth, possesses ambition, which led to his downfall. In the play Macbeth’s ambition is driven by prophecies from witches and his wife’s aspiration. Ambition caused Macbeth to commit multiple homicides and after those wrongdoings Macbeth is left with nothing.
Macbeth started off as a valiant and courageous soldier, who would do anything for the king. By the end of the play, Macbeth was a tyrant and a horrible leader who killed those who trusted him to maintain the throne. It takes many factors to take a strong man and transform him into an evil monster. Macbeth’s downfall was caused by the deception and temptation of the witches and their prophecies, Lady Macbeth’s greed and aspirations for her husband to be king, and Macbeth’s own greed, jealousy and ambition.
Macbeth is responsible for his destruction because in life we make our own decisions however he was heavily influenced by the three witches and Lady Macbeth. The witches foretell Macbeth becoming king and Lady Macbeth persuades him to kill the king, which backfires on her. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth can be compared to Ahab and Jezebel in the Bible in that they both got selfish and went after things that would catch up with them and cost them their lives. Macbeth is ultimately responsible for the decisions he made but he was first influenced by the three witches visiting him telling him he would be king.
It is clear that it was Macbeth’s fault for his downfall because of he, himself chose the wrong path. He had the choice of avoiding people but, he did not even after feeling guilty of what he did. Macbeth’s downfall in life cannot be blamed on anyone else, but
The Tragedy of Macbeth- Downfall Throughout the Macbeth play, Macbeth himself is a very dynamic character. Macbeth changes more than any other character in the play. With Macbeth being such a dynamic character, it causes him to have a tremendous downfall as a person. The three main causes of his downfall is his wife’s persuasion to kill the king, trying to cover up his actions, and having people killed just to try to keep his role as the king.