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. After hearing from the prophecy from the Weird Sisters, Macbeth realizes his potential to become king of Scotland. His ambition and wife drive him to take action and kill King Duncan. “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself and falls on the other— (1.7.25-28)” Although Macbeth handled the murdered the of King Duncan very well, he did leave some holes in which people could figure out that he did kill Macbeth. For example he kills the guards which causes Macduff and the other …show more content…
Macbeth! Macbeth! beware Macduff; Beware the thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough.” Macbeth goes out of his way in an attempt to change fate and orders the murder of Macduff’s entire family. “He has kill'd me, mother: Run away, I pray you!” This drives Macduff to take revenge by killing Macbeth fulfilling the prophecy and ending Macbeth’s life. If Macbeth did not have so much ambition, he would not have visited the witches or even try to kill Macduff’s family. These two events demonstrate how Macbeth’s great ambition resulted in his downfall. Macbeth could’ve saved himself if he did not kill Banquo and Macduff’s family. Killing Duncan was the right decision, however killing Banquo was unnecessary and killing Macduff’s family was cruel therefore leading to Macduff completely hating Macbeth. This hatred leads Macduff to kill Macbeth. Overall, Macbeth could have totally avoided this conflict if he was not such a power-hungry tyrant and could have lived a peaceful life if he just allowed for fate to continue its
Thinking before acting leads to greater wisdom and better outcomes while acting before thinking yields regret. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, many characters are murdered as a method of solving existing problems. Throughout the play, it is noticeable that these deaths can all be related back to two malevolent beings. These characters in their horrific minds are to blame for the deaths of innocent people. Macbeth, in his willingness to commit severe crimes for personal benefit, and the witches, in their desire to toy with Macbeth through their ambiguous prophecies, are equally responsible for nearly all the murders in the play.
Betrayal is an act of intentional disloyalty and unfaithfulness. In the play Macbeth, Macbeth commits extreme felony and betrayal by murdering his king, who wholeheartedly trusted him, in order to take the crown. Similarly, Lord of the Flies demonstrates the act of betrayal through Jack, the novel’s antagonist. Jack angrily abandons Ralph and forms his own violent tribe, whose ultimate goal becomes killing Ralph. As shown through Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, and Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, betrayal leads to the consequential destruction of an individual rather than his/her desired success.
Macbeth! Beware Macduff.” (Macbeth 4.1.74) He succeeded in his plan and began to turn into a corrupt individual. His sense of morality decreased because of his several planned murderous acts and his mind became drenched in intense guilt.
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.
Blind Ambition and Greed The play “Macbeth”, by William Shakespeare illustrates many themes through the characters from the beginning to the end of the story. But the main central theme introduced is Ambition and Greed. As the play goes on we read how Macbeth permits his Ambition and Greed to dictate the outcomes and tragedy’s that occur to himself and others.
He told Lennox that he killed them because he couldn’t control his anger, and for this reason it made people think that he is trying to hide the evidence “O, yet I do repent me of my fury, That I did kill them.” (2.3.107-108). In the lit crit of Snider said “The fear of retribution in a new shape is generated out of his bad deed” (Snider). The quotes tell us that Macbeth is too afraid to confess and he is making himself more suspicious in front of people about killing king
Selfishness plays a vital role in the downfall of characters in literature. In William Shakespeare's tragedy, Macbeth, selfishness roots itself within the structure of the play and onto Macbeth. Macbeth is a Scottish general and after he had won a victorious battle, he receives a prophecy from three witches whom stated that Macbeth will become the King of Scotland. Macbeth becomes consumed with selfish ambition, and he immediately plots to murder King Duncan while he spent a night at Macbeth's manor. The morning after, Macbeth takes the throne for himself.
Macbeth had another chance to change his outcome. his wife was consumed with the idea that he would become king, so much so that she pushed him to kill the current King. She said she couldn 't do it because King Duncan looked too much like her own father. Macbeth could have easily dismissed this and not listened to his mentally dwindling wife, “Come, thick night, and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, that my keen knife see not the wound it makes, nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, to cry ‘hold, hold!’” He followed the instructions of his wife and killed the king.
In the play Macbeth, Macbeth’s fate is what drives him to his decisions for both power and greed. This is portrayed when Macbeth when he kills Banquo and his son because his greed sees them as a threat to his throne, killing the king for power above all mortals, and his fate ultimately leading to his death and freeing time. Macbeth has done countless sins in order to keep his rightful position as king, though his greed for power has led to him killing his best friend Banquo because the witches have predicted that Banquo’s descendants will be king. “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none.”
Macbeth’s ambitions influence him to attain his desire for power. This ambition drives him to become reckless for the sake of reaching his goals. This recklessness leads to the murder of Duncan- the first in a line of murders Macbeth commits to reach his power. These murders represent Macbeth’s gradual loss of morality.
Macbeth’s ambition is what is causing him to intervene with his prophecy and pursue his goal (rather than leave it to chance). In a way, it is Macbeth’s own “black and deep desires” that make him kill in the first place as the witches never tell him to do so. Furthermore, apart from ambition, it is Macbeth’s own weak will and moral system that causes him to do the actions that result in his downfall. Macbeth’s weak will is undeniable and is illustrated before killing Duncan. “I have of spur/To prick the sides of my intent, but only/Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself/And falls on the other” (I, VII, 25-28).
Macbeth was working toward being the king of Scotland in the beginning after meeting the three wired sisters. And being told that he was king to be, so it inspired him to do anything that he had to to become king. It did not matter the circumstances he would do it. Even if that meant killing his best friend. He down was cause by him killing Macduff’s family.
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
Literature Essay (Stuart Judge): In the literary works that we studied this year: The Book Thief, Purple Hibiscus, Macbeth, Sonnet 101,Sonnet 154 , Kevin Pietersen The Autobiography and Dead Poets Society- all the works have the same central theme :”Words have had the power to transform, for better or worse”. The character’s lives have all been affected and transformed by the power of words that has a great effect on their development rather than other external factors that the characters face in their daily lives. This will be shown by analysing how words lead these characters to achieve success and as well as to their demise.
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.