How can a man of trust and honor morally decline to the point of becoming a traitor and heartless murderer? The story of Macbeth clearly illustrates Shakespeare’s effective portrayal of sinful human nature. The tragic eroding of Macbeth’s character can be blamed on three primary factors: the prophecies of the three witches, the evil influence of his wife Lady Macbeth, and his continual determination to keep the throne at all costs. The play begins with the appearance of the three witches; one of the major factors for the destruction of Macbeth. If it had not been for the witches’ prophesies, Macbeth might not have turned into the evil, power-lusting king he ended up to be. Because of these prophesies Macbeth begins to entertain the thought …show more content…
His ability to kill the king however, would have been limited had it not been for his wife. Macbeth continued to erode morally by murdering whoever would threaten him, even his closest friends. As a result of this sinful nature, Macbeth did not escape punishment. He lost one of the most important things; the peace of mind, especially when he became haunted by Banquo’s ghost. In the end, all those who trusted, honored, and praised him deserted him and finished by killing him after joining the camp of his enemies. Finally, Macbeth’s surrender to his uncontrolled passion for power led to his own tragic death and to his total transformation from being one of moral character to a heartless murderer. Although Macbeth’s decline evokes pity and compassion from the reader which makes him a tragic hero, passion without reason cannot be tolerated , because every man has a specific gift: the freedom of choice. Indeed, the prophecies of the three witches, Lady Macbeth’s wicked inspiration and encouragement, and Macbeth’s lustful passion to keep the throne altogether provided the perfect elements for the development and the end of the Shakespearean tragic play,
Macbeth’s very first soliloquy characterizes him as a person who is both loyal and honorable to his king; he knows that he must honor his king by fighting every battle like it would be his last, but his mind gradually begins to alter and generates a chain of betrayal. Macbeth was a great man in the commencement of the play, “Till he faced the slave; which ne’er shook hand, nor bade his farewell to him, till he unseamed him from the nave to th’chops, and fix 'd his head upon our battlements” (L. 9). After the three witches antagonize Macbeth, he changes even more from being the righteous soldier that he was, by saying to himself; “Let not the light see my black and deep desires: the eye wink at the hand yet lets tis should be which the eye fears, when it is done to see” (LL. 51-53). Nevertheless, many of the happenings in the play occur because of betrayal, whether it is betrayal regarding the main character or even betrayal of leaving people dear to you behind.
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.
Greed for power has always been evil and even made a saint turn into a demon. As the quote goes “All power tends to corrupt and an absolute power corrupts absolutely” (unquote), which is true not only in the fictitious stories but also in real life and Shakespeare, th9e greatest writer ever known, has always been in habit of making fictitious character come alive and Macbeth is no exception to the rule. The character of Macbeth has two sides, one which is wholesome while other been dubious. He symbolized great ambition but went overboard and in the process not only became corrupt but also became a killer. Macbeth reflects great strength but within he has his own weakness and thus good over took evil resulting in its downfall and finally his own death.
Although introduced as a thoroughly hardened, ambitious woman, Lady Macbeth’s seemingly unbreakable character shatters when she is consumed by the demon of guilt. The guilt of Lady Macbeth seems nonexistent when she persuades Macbeth to kill King Duncan, but the heinous acts she and her husband commit throughout the play strain her slowly. Eventually, the guilt Lady Macbeth harbors emerges from her subconscious and crumbles her. The downfall of Lady Macbeth reveals that even the toughest, strongest, and most powerful people can succumb to guilt. At the commencement of William Shakespeare’s
Macbeth committed sinful acts of betrayal that over all hurt his allies. As Macbeth’s ambitions take him over the ideas of Heaven and Hell grows weaker within him. Macbeth’s trust in everyone disappears and he starts to betray all of them including Banquo. While other characters create bonds of trust with each other, creating powerful alliances, Macbeth makes
Temptation leads Macbeth to murder, and murder leads him to problems. At this point, Macbeth’s mind is clouded, and his thirst for the throne blinds him. With this tunnel-vision, Macbeth can only focus on securing his position, ignoring his morals along the way. • Good vs Evil: A situational archetype that is found throughout
Macbeth’s ambition is one of the most prominent things that drive Macbeth in the play and truly becomes evident when he hears of the Witches prophecies. When the witches stop talking, he demands to know more. “Stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more” (I, III, 73-74). This portrays his excessive curiosity on the subject as well as his craving for more desirable prophecies. This ambitious nature and craving for power is also demonstrated only moments after hearing the witches, when he starts formulating a plan to kill Duncan in order to make the third prophecy come true.
In Summary, desire’s can blind loyalty. MacBeth and Lady MacBeth have proved this point and payed dearly for it with their lives. This theme was expressed and expanded upon throughout the entire play, from the weird sisters prophecy, to the final battle when MacBeth was killed, he was blinded by his desires and he paid for it. This play has shown how people can let what they want become more important than the people they are supposed to have sworn allegiance
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.
At the beginning of William Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ the protagonist Macbeth is described as ‘brave’, ‘noble’ and ‘honourable’, however Lady Macbeth’s and Macbeths desire for power consumes them. Macbeth’s ambition overrides his conscience and transformed his greatest strength into his greatest weakness. Macbeth’s inability to resist temptations that led him to be greedy for power, Macbeth’s easily manipulative nature which allowed his mind to be swayed, Macbeth having no self control and his excessive pride was what allowed him to renew his previously honourable and celebrated title into one of an evil ‘tyrant’. Macbeth is led by the prophecies of the witches after they foretell he will become the Thane of Cawdor. Not only the witches, but also his wife easily manipulate Macbeth as she attacks his manhood in order to provoke him to act on his desires.
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.
In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, Shakespeare introduces us to a man on a mission to assassinate the reigning king of Scotland, King Duncan. Through King Duncan, Shakespeare reveals Macbeth’s crude and unfiltered nature while capturing every second of Macbeth’s sadistic plan. With the use of paradox, internal character struggles, and the idea of fate, Shakespeare provides insight on what madness Macbeth created and the effect his madness has on other characters. Through the use of paradox in the play, minor details guide the path of the story to the very end.
A story of tragedy is not uncommon with William Shakespeare and his works of prose. In his plays, death and despair is more likely than honor and prosperity. This is an included facet to Macbeth as well, having sinister themes of greed, manipulation, and brutality. Macbeth, by the infamous playwright, Shakespeare, presents us with multiple aspects factoring into whether the main character controls his actions that lead to the tragic events.
As human beings, there are occasions where we choose between right or wrong. Certainly, It can materialize into effect on how other people judge you based on their glimpse of moral senses. In the play Macbeth, William Shakespeare displayed a dark and erroneous side of humankind. The three preeminent characters accordingly demonstrate identical attributes of greediness. For instance, Banquo who appears to be noble fails to resist his desires, and in relation to Lady Macbeth, she overrules herself with greed to a fate of anguish, and thus, Macbeth becomes engulfed with greed that leads to horrendous deeds.