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.
After the three witches inform Macbeth that he will be king, Lady Macbeth finds out and wants Macbeth to kill King Duncan. “Shall sun that morrow see! Your face,my thane, is as a book where men may read strange matters. (1.5.60-63). At first, Macbeth does not want to do it, but Lady Macbeth persuades him to do it by telling him that he isn’t a man if does not do as she says.
At the beginning of this book, Macbeth was introduced to us as a warrior and a friend of King Duncan. Soon after Macbeth murders King Duncan, people start getting the news that he has been murdered. Banquo, Lady Macbeth, and Macbeth are the only ones who know of Macbeth’s actions. Although they are the only ones who know about it, it does not take long for people to start getting suspicious. Macbeth begins to become very paranoid and decides that no one can know about this other than himself and Lady Macbeth. With that being
…show more content…
In act four, Macduff takes a journey to England to convince Malcom to return to Scotland with help from English forces to dethrone the evil Macbeth and restore the peace and safety once again to the citizens of Scotland. When Macbeth finds out that Malcom fled his castle to Malcom, who is in England, Macbeth orders a messenger to kill Macduff’s wife and son. “Bless you, fair dame! I am not to you known, Though in your state of honour I am perfect, I doubt some danger does approach you nearly”
Lady Macbeth had urged her husband to stop being good and loyal, to put emotions aside and kill Duncan in order to seize the throne, but she herself could not follow her own advice. At first, she tries to convince herself about what must be done, and in act 1, scene 5, asks, “ Come, thick night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, That my keen knife see not the wound it makes” She was entirely willing to commit the act herself, and even Macbeth was surprised to see her resolve, stating, “ Bring forth men-children only, For thy undaunted mettle should compose Nothing but males.” In act 1, scene 7, she says that, “We fail?... we’ll not fail.” She seems strong, and convinced that nothing they will do will go wrong, but her character’s strength seems to dwindle in act 2, scene 2, where she makes a bold claim, “ Had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had done ’t.”
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.
Near the end of the play, Macbeth begins to forget the brave and valiant soldier he was as he tells Macduff that he will "not fight with thee" (Act5:8:22) when he is realises that Macduff was foretold to be the one to slay him. His own arrogance then comes into play as he says that he "will not yield" (Act5:8:27) because he refuses to become the laughingstock of the common people. This also shows the reversal
Lady Macbeth is power hungry for the throne and she will do anything to achieve her goal. Her pleasure of having the thought of killing Duncan is revealed. These murderous thoughts that run through her mind shows how desperate she is to acquire power. Although it is the beginning of the play, her dark ambitions sets a dark tone for her character in the play. This coincidentally adds to the assurance of Macbeth’s prophecy which is that Macbeth will become king, but King Duncan is still alive.
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.
Once Macduff gets face to face with Macbeth, Macbeth’s world and hope falls apart and is shown when he says, “I will not yield, To kiss the ground before young Malcolm’s feet, And to be baited with the rabble’s curse.” ( v. viii 27-29) Macbeth knowing he will be killed and faces the facts, he surrenders
Lady Macbeth very carefully selects specific manipulative words to persuade Macbeth into deceiving his peers and murdering Duncan. She displays a succinct plan on how the nights actions shall be carried out. Her first step is to convince Macbeth that the way he presents himself is how people will view him. Lady Macbeth achieves this by stating “Your face, my thane, is as a book as where men/ May read strange matters” (1.6). Lady Macbeth is saying that what Macbeth is expressing through the way he looks and acts is taken to be weird and abnormal.
At the end of the play, Macbeth’s ambition caused him to lose Lady Macbeth to suicide and to no longer have moral sense. Ambition led to Macbeth’s downfall because Lady Macbeth and the witches caused him to make brainless decisions that caused his collapse. Macbeth’s ambition led to his downfall because of Lady Macbeth's ambition. Lady Macbeth had
Macbeth shows his downfall when the English army comes to his castle and an English soldier starts to call him a “tyrant”(5.2.12). This demonstrates Macbeth's downfall because everyone used to think that he was a good strong leader and that he could do anything. When everyone realized that it was Macbeth who killed king Duncan and the others, they were disappointed in him. His downfall ended up leading to his punishment. In the play everyone finds out that that Macbeth killed Duncan and the others, Macduff brings an army to attack Macbeth at his castle.
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.
“Looks like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it”(Shakespeare 1.7) this truly defines Lady Macbeth and describes her being someone that acts one way in certain situations and then in a contrary manner in others and also shows her manipulative personality and exploits her victims. Lady Macbeth is sharp at convincing and uses people for her need which she does throughout the play. In the play, The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth is ultimately responsible for Macbeth’s undoing because her ambition supported his greed and provoked his downfall. Lady Macbeth with her demanding and forceful comments triggered Macbeth 's weakness which leads Macbeth to agree on the murder.
This good side of Macbeth eventually deteriorates, however, as he fights for power and kingship by killing not only King Duncan, but many others. He ends up as a much hated king who is eventually killed. The character of Macbeth shifts from a favourable, loyal person to one that is destructive and consumed by power. This idea is analysed by Shakespeare by the way of his power in his marriage, how he involved himself with the witches, and how willing he was to do things. The first way that Macbeth’s change was shown in the play is how strong he was inside of his relationship with Lady Macbeth.
The downfall in the life of Macbeth is all his own fault despite the influence from Lady Macbeth and the three witches. As shown at the start of the play, Macbeth is a courageous warrior who won the battle for Scotland. With the impact of the three witches, Macbeth was fallen into deep, dark thoughts. Macbeth led himself to the downfall of his life. He was the hero, who fought in the war between Scotland and Norwegians and gain victory but eventually turned into a tragic hero.
Macbeth” is a tragedy written by Shakespeare. The story is played somewhere between 1600 and was performed for King James 1.It is a tragedy about a man’s fall. It could be suggested that macbeth is responsible for the death of king Duncan. According to my point of view, Macbeth didn’t killed Duncan , banquo and macduff 's family because he wanted to be evil because he met the witches .He did everything because of ambition, jealousy , lust for power and because he was power hungry from the beginning.
King Duncan’s sons Malcom and Donalbain foresee the danger that Macbeth poses on their lives and they flee to England where they train an army to attack Macbeth at Dunsinane. When Macduff receives news that Macbeth has ordered for his family to be killed he is enraged with