Preview

Downfall Of Macbeth Research Paper

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
647 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Downfall Of Macbeth Research Paper
Macbeth’s Downfall The tragedy of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare is considered a tragedy due to the downfall of the main character. His downfall causes many deaths throughout the play and causes dramatic events to take place which in the end leads to his death. Many major events take place in this characters life to lead up to his downfall and death. The downfall of Macbeth is due to his greed for power, witches’ self-fulfilling prophesies, and the pressure from Lady Macbeth. The greed for power is a major role in the downfall of Macbeth. Macbeth started out a brave warrior that would have given his life up for the king. The king honored that by making him Thane of Caldor which started him on this downfall to greed of power. This greed for power caused him to want more and more control, which eventually led to do anything even murder in order to rise to the highest position. Even after he became king it wasn’t enough, he had to make sure he held that position by killing everyone who posed a threat to his reign. Over time people start to see these terrible things that were going on, which caused the death of Lady Macbeth because the …show more content…
The witches and there self-fulfilling prophesies played with the mind of Macbeth planting the thought in his head that would lead to his downfall. By planting these prophecies in his head the witches tormented him by making him think that it was fate that he be king and rule over everyone, when in reality they just implanted the thought into his head. “All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis! All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor! All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter” (1.3.50-53). This quote shows us one of the ways the witches play with Macbeths mind by implanting the thought into his head. This causes him to take the actions needed in order to become king. Through there crafty speech is how they helped lead Macbeth to his

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    While Macbeth’s “vaulting ambition” plays the most vital role in the quick end to his newfound empire in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, exterior forces including Lady Macbeth and the persuasive acts performed by the witches both contribute to the eventual beheading of one of Scotland’s greatest warriors, Macbeth himself. Macbeth loses part of himself the moment he takes the life of a friend, uncle, and respected King, Duncan.…

    • 523 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    They persauded Macbeth to kill people only because they wanted to be benefited. they were selfish and not worrying that they would soon turn Macbeth into a crazed lunatic The witches delighted in chaos and toil. They did not tell Macbeth what to do but they simply showed him what can happen through their prophecies and the apparitions they showed to Macbeth. Macbeth could've been a perfect target for them to bring about this chaos. Macbeth is a strong soldier, he has killed enemies in war, and perhaps the witches knew his true nature("by the prickling of my thumb, something wicked this way comes..."). The extent of their influenced is demonstrated through their predictions, they are temptations and a form of flattery which Macbeth eventually gave into. On one hand, Lady Macbeth has the far greater influence because she is Macbeth's wife and they share a passionate relationship together. Just like the witches she flatters him, but this time it is a direct flattery and a direct temptation towards him. As far as Macbeth being changed into a diffrent person, he himself is responsible for his own actions. The final decision lies within him and this was demonstrated when he carried out the murder of King Duncan. Lady Macbeth acts as the catalyst for Macbeth. Macbeth realised that he would have to commit regicide (stars, hide your fires; let light not see my deep and black desires), but he was unwilling to do so. Lady Macbeth changes his mind by attacking his manhood, despite the brave acts he has commited as a soldier. She also flatters him shamelessly. The murder of Duncan sets Macbeth on the trail of evil, as he didn't consult his wife when he killed Banquo and Macduff's family. He didn't even care when she commited suicide. The witches represent the Three Fates in Greek Mythology. they connotate destiny, fate, etc. They delight and thrive in chaos and toil. In my opinion, the witches represent the primeval human emotions of hate and wickedness. They are all that is…

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Is lady Macbeth as bad and evil as people make her out to be? People thinks she's a bad person because her husband wanted to become king. By being the wife of Macbeth, she is almost required to follow and help Macbeth with everything he does.…

    • 291 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tragic flaw is defined as a personality flaw that makes the person commit a serious mistake so gravely that it can cause him/her death. A tragic flaw can also refer to a flawed judgment that a character has passed over a course of action, which is sadly irrevocable. In “Into the Wild”, Chris McCandless can be said to have committed a tragic flaw which has resulted in his death. By stubbornly clinging onto his ideal way to live, McCandless boldly leaves everything behind and ventures alone into the Alaska wilderness. Without being aware of what is to expect in Alaska and with very little preparation, McCandless simply died of starvation in a place where he presumed to be perfect. His death is ironic because instead of finding his paradise in Alaska, he finds his burial place.…

    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth’s greed comes mainly from his ambition to obtain power. He went from an honorable conqueror to an infamous traitor. Several people, such as Macduff’s family, Banquo, and King Duncan, were killed along the way of Macbeth’s lust for complete and utter control.…

    • 291 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are truly partners - united by what seemed to be like their conspiracy to kill our beloved King Duncan.…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "Bring Forth men-children only! For thy undaunted mettle should compose nothing but males."(I, vii, 73-75) Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most frightening and strong female characters. She is ambitious, lusts for power and will stop at nothing for it; she is truly evil. This is evident when she asks evil spirits to come unsex her, when she tries to manipulate Macbeth into committing a most sinful crime, and that she is actively part of the crime also.…

    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth is responsible for her own downfall due to her involvement with supernatural forces, her ambition and her guilty conscience.…

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ambition is the desire to achieve something for example the determination to achieve success. Ambition can clearly be seen as a corrupting force in the play ‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare. Macbeth is a brave and loyal Thane of King Duncan but after a chance meeting with the Three Witches becomes cruel and develops and insatiable thirst for power. On the other hand in the film ‘Gattaca’ directed by Andrew Niccol ambition is a chance for the main character Vincent to develop and overcome barriers in the way of his life goal.…

    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Is Macbeth A Tragic Hero

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A great play has to include many important features in order for it to be classified as a tragedy. For any great tragedy, there must be a tragic hero in the story. Fear and pity are created by and through the conflict. Every tragedy must also end in hope. William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a great tragedy deserving of much more praise.…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Research Paper On Macbeth

    • 699 Words
    • 3 Pages

    * Humans look forward to it from the moment they are woken up by the buzzing of their alarm clock each morning. Without it, we grow more and more agitated as time slowly passes by. Sleep is that which relieves us of the stress and exhaustion that each day brings about, and prepares us to start a new day. This has been true since the beginning of time, and is made evident in Shakespeare’s, Macbeth. Through out history, sleep has been that which keeps all lives in order. Through the loss of innocent sleep, Macbeth becomes unable to cope with the madness occurring in his life, this nightmare eventually leads to their ultimate demise.…

    • 699 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Macbeth Term Paper

    • 2808 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Macbeth is a story that demonstrates profound change in human character in times when a strong belief becomes the focal point or reason for existence. In extreme cases, as in the story of Macbeth, he becomes so in tuned in his beliefs that he went through remarkable changes both mentally and spiritually. Macbeth is a character who puts himself in a life or death situation and from this a whole new persona comes out of him. Macbeth is a prime example of a man that opts to will his way to power in the most daring and deceiving ways possible without any regard for his actions. Under dyer needs it is within human nature to adapt to surrounding and do what ever becomes necessary to continue on living. Throughout the story Macbeth adapted a new personality because of his thirst for the thrown, his undeniable disregard for others’ well being, and the immense pressure bestowed upon him by the people close to him.…

    • 2808 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The witches have changed how Macbeth thinks and until his death, he made decisions that the old Macbeth would never have considered. Macbeth acts irrational and spontaneous after the death of the King. The old Macbeth would have told his wife everything while the witches' Macbeth hid from his wife that he sent people to kill Banquo. The witches have influenced Macbeth to change his way of thinking and act irrationally. Macbeth became reliant of the witches' prophecy causing him to return to them to request more. He became dependent and used the prophecies to figure out what would happen to him. This led to his downfall, all because he became reliant on the witches' power. Macbeth turned into a power hungry king by the end of the play due to the witches' powers. They perceived him to believe that he could be a great ruler when they predicted that he would be Thane of Cawdor. Once he realized that their predictions were right, he started to believe that he was going to earn the title of king as they had prophesied. He turned power hungry in the pursuit to be king which ultimately led to his downfall. The witches influenced numerous characters throughout the play of…

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! Second witch All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! Third Witch All Hail, Macbeth,that shalt be king hereafter”(Shakespeare 50-53). The interpretation of that quote ideally tell us the witches are lying to Macbeth in getting him to believe he will actually be king.Macbeth came across the three witches and was given 5 prophecies which ideally set the trigger for his future. The witches are supernatural, and magical creatures that were creators of the evil spirits, and only mission is to get its followers to do wrong aby their rules . The witches being such supernatural creatures, and goddesses of the leader Hecate they cannot harm Macbeth physically as they please, so they get into his head by playing mind tricks on his future actions to make him suffer. Many people may also say they had power because they were another reason for his ambitions to pursue on killing the king. The witches easily hypnotize Macbeth into believing that evil is the correct route to gaining power. They first initially played with his head by telling Macbeth that he will become the Thane of Cawdor and then King of Scotland.This…

    • 1761 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth, despite influences of the witches and Lady Macbeth, is responsible for his downfall. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Macbeth is a tragic hero who destroys himself by his own wicked and selfish ambitions. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is portrayed as a courageous, noble hero of Scotland who has bravely won the war. As the story continues, Macbeth soon becomes a tyrant king who is willing to murder anyone who becomes a threat to his kingdom.…

    • 555 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics