Macbeth's Weakest Link

Author Thomas Reid coined the phrase, “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link” in his publication Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man in 1786. In his essay, he explained how the achievement or failure of a group can be traced back to performance of the weakest link. That person will be the most underrated member of the group, as they have the ability to either make or break the current situation, such as in defending a fortress. This example can be demonstrated with defending the coral reefs in the documentary The Blue Planet, where reef crabs are able to successfully defend the fortress from predatory attacks, while an example of the weakest linking failing to defend the fortress can be found in the literary classic Macbeth by William Shakespeare, as King Duncan was murdered, and the entire fortress went into a state of chaos that included the murder of numerous innocent civilians. Without the crabs
The sole purpose for why both Macbeth’s went insane was due to murdering King Duncan. If the guards stayed awake to protect the king and fight against the couple, or at the very least stand by and the door to ensure that nobody tried to enter, then the massacres would have been ended, or at the very least delayed. As the weakest link, the success of their job defending the fortress is what determined the actions of the community. Once the King was murdered, the community was in disarray due to the lack of structure when the fortress was destroyed. Macbeth was able to fulfill the three witches’ prophecy earlier than expected by taking out the weakest link. The structure of the community began to crumble as their new king became a murderous tyrant who became obsessed with the idea of maintaining his power by any means possible, no matter if they go against his