Macbeth: A tragedy of character

Macbeth is a tragedy in which the main character, Macbeth, is told by three witches that he will become king of Scotland. He then made the decision to kill the current king. Macbeth becomes king but has to kill more people so that he can keep his power. Eventually everyone, including his own army, turns on Macbeth. He is forced to meet his fate. It can be argued that Macbeth’s ambitious behavior is what causes his thirst for power and that the witches only play a collateral role in his inevitable downfall. Macbeth’s tragic flaw is his ambition. “The Prince of Cumberland! that is a step On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap, For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires: The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be, Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see” (1.4.4). In this quote, Macbeth realizes that it is not fate for him to be king after Duncan doesn’t name him his heir. He chooses to resort to murder to become king. This choice alone causes the effects that lead to his defeat.
Even though Macbeth does end up killing Duncan, he had started to question whether it was the right thing to do. Lady Macbeth persuades her husband to go through with his plan to Duncan by saying, “But screw your courage to the sticking-place, And we’ll not fail” (1.7.60). Macbeth allows his wife to manipulate him by questioning his masculinity. His ambitious attitude causes him to be persuaded easily, which is another character flaw. This also has a big role in determining his fate.
In the beginning of the play, the three witches greet Macbeth, “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!” (1.3.6) He had just been named Thane of Glaims in the battle he had just nobly won. Moments later Macbeth is named Thane of Cawdor. This drives Macbeth to think that he is fated to be the next king of Scotland. The witches play off Macbeth’s ambitious character and plant the idea of murder in his mind. It is the fatal tragic flaw of ambition that ultimately leads Macbeth to his demise. Macbeth makes a lot of horrible choices that undoubtedly determined his end. His ambitions lead him to become drunk with the idea of power. Ambition also lead to him being manipulated and persuaded to do what was necessary to get the crown. Everything that goes wrong can be traced back to Macbeth’s bad decisions. This great Shakespearean tragedy is completely a tragedy of character.