Preview

Macbeths Faults

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
871 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Macbeths Faults
The Rise and Fall of Alexander the Great Macbeth

One of Shakespeare’s most hailed plays, Macbeth, is a narrative that centers on a gentleman that goes by the name of Macbeth and his story of going from a normal man to King in only a short amount of time. He achieves this through sheer self-indulgence, as he could have remained a noble, but elected to destroy everyone in his path to becoming King. Macbeth loves becoming King, but is constantly craving more and more control, with the play eventually ending in his much-anticipated demise. However, what occurs with Macbeth in the way of his homicidal and immoral actions is not exclusively his liability, as the culpability is also Lady Macbeth’s as well. To begin with, Macbeth is blameworthy, to a certain extent; one cannot dispute that fact. Macbeth evidently does desire countless things and by that, he is extraordinarily greedy. His greed is seen throughout the book, especially towards the end of the book, as when he says, “Hide your fires! / Let not light see my black and deep desires!” (I.IV.58) Macbeth is a king that rules with an iron fist of sorts; he greatly desires supremacy and authority, which, in due course, lead to his death. His ever-growing yearning for power is also seen in the seemingly senseless killings of Duncan (and his guards), Banquo, and Macduff’s children and wife. These impulsive deaths, however, are the fault of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, and cannot be blamed on fate or the Witches. The Witches merely make suggestions about Macbeth 's road to kingship; they did not make spells that would make all of their predictions true. These interpretations led, but did not force, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth to kill Duncan and secure his title of “Thane of Cawdor”. Later on, Macbeth chooses to kill Banquo; this again was not the fault of the witches. Thus, the witches cannot be blamed.
However, in his life preceding his attempts at becoming King, Macbeth was quite unlike this fiend that he had

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    William Shakespeare’s tragic play ‘Macbeth’ depicts a tale of a honourable Thane and his unethical raise to sovereignty, to his untimely destruction and death. Lady Macbeth’s ambition and greed was instrumental in her husband, Macbeth’s moral downfall, however it was not the only factor that contributed to the outcome. Macbeth himself and the deception and manipulation presented to him by ‘wired sisters’ drove Macbeth to his own downfall. It was the witch meddlesome prophecies that lead Macbeth down the destructive and murderous path and that fuelled Lady Macbeth’s ambition and greed. Macbeth must also be held responsible for his own actions that created…

    • 741 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Shakespeare’s masterpiece of a play, ‘Macbeth’, carefully depicts that Macbeth’s character was not ruined by fate but rather by damaging errors in his personality. Macbeth’s dangerous quality of ambition brings about his downfall as well as his treachery against his king, his tyranny and also his imaginativeness that eventually lures him into the murder. Although Shakespeare suggests that Macbeth’s decisions were greatly influenced by other characters in his text, it was Macbeth that ultimately decided to listen to these influences due to the many faults in his character.…

    • 88 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is evident that Macbeth did not go about this crime on his own accord –there is an element of corruption from the witches and his wife. However he must have had an existence of desire for the throne to follow the plan through. Initially the witches informed him that he ‘shalt be king hereafter’. Macbeth then…

    • 1122 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Renowned play, “Macbeth” written by William Shakespeare in 1606, is one of the most prestigious dramas to date. Valiant and truthful soldier, Macbeth experiences dire changes of evil, in order to gain his thriftless ambition for king. His immoral change might have been influenced by Lady Macbeth and the witches’ prophecies suggesting Macbeth is a tragic hero who had no intent of abhorrent deeds. Once honourable Macbeth pledges glory to his king and gained honour through valiant accomplishments. Fear strikes him as his mind starts to deteriorate into utter chaos by his treacherous actions. His self-conscious mind transforms him into a superstitious villain who suffers in despair as he implicates regret.…

    • 349 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    William Shakespeare produced the tragedy Macbeth in roughly 1606. The protagonist, Macbeth, is rivalled with several challenges throughout his journey to achieve the title as the King of Scotland. He acknowledges these challenges with immoral actions, as advised by his wife, Lady Macbeth. Through his responses, Macbeth’s character flaws are revealed, such as his deteriorating moral judgment, corrupted sanity and his most fatal flaw of all, ambition. Macbeth’s mental health and moral judgment attribute to his character flaws, promoting the concept that human nature consists of both positive and negative aspects.…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Leah

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The setting began in Scotland. Scotland is in chaos. The personal servants of the gracious and noble King Duncan had brutally murdered him. The king’s two sons Malcolm, the prince of Cumberland and his brother Donalbain, have both fled. Everyone suspects the sons of ordering their childhood friends, the servants to murder their righteous father the king; however, what no one knew was the real culprit Macbeth who is the main character in the play. He became king shortly after Duncan’s death. Now that Macbeth is king his true colors began to show. From after Macbeth unrightfully became king, Macbeth was known as a brutal and evil maniac. But even though Macbeth had lost his noble reputation it still seemed as though “evil” had triumphed because Macbeth became king.…

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    did tempt him with the idea of becoming king, and Lady Macbeth helped him with…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth's Downfall

    • 1024 Words
    • 5 Pages

    As the story opens Macbeth is seen to be a noble fellow of Scotland, but after meeting three witches his great image begins to fade. The witches are introduced in the story as Macbeth and his good friend Banquo are walking through the woods. While meeting these three witches he hears their prophecies; the most important one saying he will become King. The third witch says, “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!” (Shakespeare 1.3.52). The glimpses of the future the witches have shown awaken many thoughts of greatness for Macbeth. To be a King is something any man would think twice about. After the second prophecy,” All hail Macbeth Thane of Cawdor!” comes true, Macbeth becomes fueled to make this prophecy about him becoming King come true (Shakespeare 1.3.50). One critic says “Macbeth is a victim of external circumstances; he falls into a trap set by the witches, who tempt him with prophecies that stimulate his excessive pride and ambition” (Shanley). This might be true but overall this tragedy is due to Macbeth and only Macbeth.…

    • 1024 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    macbeths flaw

    • 697 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Macbeth's vaulting ambition, though it is what brings him to his height of power, it is also what leads him to his downfall. Vaulting Ambition is one of Macbeth's flaws; it disables him to achieve his utmost goals and forces him to face his fate. Without this ambition, though, Macbeth never would have been able to achieve his power as King of Scotland or have been able to carry out his evil deeds. In these instances, ambition helped Macbeth do what he wanted to do. But, consequently, Macbeth's ambition has another face and is what leads him to his tragic downfall. Had he not been so enveloped with becoming King and remaining powerful, he would not have continued to kill innocent people in order to keep his position. It was because of these killings and his overbearing attitude that caused him to be overthrown and killed himself. Macbeth, at the beginning of the play seems to be a very noble person.…

    • 697 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Macbeths Downfall

    • 1691 Words
    • 7 Pages

    In the beginning of the play Macbeth, Macbeth is a successful and noble Thane of Glamis. The witches tell Macbeth prophecies that guide him to his downfall, but in the end it was his own selfish decisions that caused his demise. The other person that is blamed for Macbeth’s destruction was his wife Lady Macbeth because she was able to manipulate and control his self-esteem by playing with his courage and bravery. However, Macbeth was only guided by his wife; he chose to play out his own outcome. Overall, Macbeth’s own ambitions, greed and self control were the main problems that caused his downfall. In the play these factors have some influence on Macbeth; however he is still responsible for his own destiny. The influences of the witches prophecies, and Lady Macbeths desires play a small part towards Macbeth’s demise; it is Macbeth’s selfish ambitions that are the main reasons which lead to his downfall and destruction.…

    • 1691 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth's Corruption

    • 1492 Words
    • 6 Pages

    As a common definition, a tyrant is a cruel and oppressive ruler, while, in ancient Greece, a tyrant is referred to as a ruler who seized power unconstitutionally or inherited such power. In the mind of Shakespeare, it is clear he believes that anyone who is a tyrant is also inherently corrupt; these individuals, as demonstrated in Macbeth, obtain control in an unjust way, quickly adapt to their role in a self-destructive manner, and receive their comeuppance in the end. Due to this, Shakespeare demonstrates the idea of how absolute power corrupts absolutely and all who exploit their power will be destroyed in the end through the use of motifs such as sleep and blood among the characters, his emphasis on Macbeth's diminishing sense of morality,…

    • 1492 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the story, Macbeth is ultimately responsible for the actions that lead to his fate .It could be argued that Macbeth is not totally to blame for his own destruction, allowing himself to be influenced by others. First, Macbeth ignores the voice of his own mind. He knows what he is doing is wrong even before he murders Duncan, but he allows Lady Macbeth and greed to cloud his judgment. Secondly, Macbeth willingly listens to the witches with no proff to believe if what they were saying was true. Macbeth could have dismissed the prophecies like Banquo did but instead he chose to believe in those miss-interpreted predictions, which ultimately lead to his own downfall.…

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth

    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages

    It could be argued that the witches are more responsible than Macbeth himself. Although Macbeth takes the action that leads to his downfall, he perhaps would not have done this if the witches had not told him that he would be king. In Act 1, Scene 3, the witches tell Macbeth that he is thane of Glamis, thane of Cawdor and that he "shalt be king hereafter". Immediately after hearing the witches prophecies that he will be king, Macbeth thinks that he must kill the current king in order for this to happen. I believe that before hearing the witch's prophecies, Macbeth had never even thought of killing King Duncan to become king himself.…

    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth: A Tragic Hero

    • 1109 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A sequence is a set of related things, but obviously some things are more relative than others. Let us say you had two circles and one oval, sure an oval could join the sequence since it is spherical with no sharp edges but the other circle is more related to the circle because they are identical. That is to say, when we talk about archetypes we can understand that some characters would be more relative to the archetype than other characters. Notably, this also occurs with tragic heroes, some are bound to fit the archetype more than others even if they still are both tragic heroes. Consequently, Macbeth and Braveheart’s William Wallace both demonstrate that they are flawed and noble; however, it is clear that Macbeth is a better example of a tragic hero due to the absence of defining characteristic events that were not taken place in Braveheart.…

    • 1109 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Macbeth Charachter Essay

    • 1037 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Macbeth’s ruthless seeking journey for power, urged on by his wife, becomes his tragic flaw which leads to his downfall in all ways. The tragic hero is used by Shakespeare to show how the tragedy lies in the greatness that could so easily have been Macbeth’s. Inevitably, his conversion in character all results in his ambition which causes him to act in such brutal ways. We note how an idealised individual such as Macbeth’s changes into a despised one.…

    • 1037 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays

Related Topics