Who and what causes Macbeths demise? – discuss
In the play ‘Macbeth’ written by William Shakespeare the tragic demise of the lead character Macbeth occurs due to his own overconfidence, ambition and impatiens, with some help of some other characters. Throughout the play Macbeth is influenced by his wife Lady Macbeth in an attempt to become king and queen. The three witches are also an influence on Macbeth because of the simple fact of telling him the three prophecies. These are the three main characters instigating and causing Macbeth’s demise.
Lady Macbeth is the first to instigate the demise of her husband Macbeth. Lady Macbeth had the ability to influence Macbeth’s judgment and decision making and she used that ability to make him do things that could potentially create great opportunities in her future, like becoming queen. In her quest to become queen she persuades Macbeth to murder Duncan, and although Macbeth had doubts she continued to challenge him to commit the act “But screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we'll not fail.” She stated. Macbeth committed the crime, even with all his doubt giving his wife much pleasure considering the thought of her becoming the queen, this making her one of the most power hungry characters in the play as a whole. This event also shows how her manipulative ways was the start of Macbeth’s demise because of the simple observation that if she had not of convinced him to murder Duncan then he never would have done so. Although Lady Macbeth was the one to start Macbeth’s demise she was not the only one to contribute to the downfall.
Although Lady Macbeth was the start of Macbeth’s downfall it was continued by the input of the three witches. At the start of the play in act 1 the witches stated the three prophecies to Macbeth “"All hail Macbeth; Thane of Glamis" "All hail Macbeth; Thane of Cawdor" "All hail Macbeth; To be King