The Downfall of Macbeth

To what extent is Macbeth responsible for his own downfall?

Macbeth, one of the many great stories written by William Shakespeare. Set in Scotland during the Elizabethan times. Is the tragic tale of how one mans greed and ambition brought him to his own downfall and eventually his death. The downfall of Macbeth wasn’t entirely his own fault even though he did play a huge part in it other people helped set it in motion such as his wife, lady Macbeth and the three witches. In this essay I shall discuss who was truly responsible for the breakdown of Macbeth and how much of the blame should be put upon him. Lady Macbeth and her manipulative ways are one of the reasons for the downfall of Macbeth also her desire to attain power through him was what truly sets the downfall off. Lady Macbeth uses many ways such as persuasion, manipulation and belittlement in to making Macbeth commit the first murder. Lady Macbeth thinks that she has to take control of the situation of Duncan’s murder in order to succeed as she knows that Macbeth is too much of a coward to do it by himself. “Yet do I fear thy nature it is too full o’ the milk of human kindness”, this was written in the letter sent to Lady Macbeths from Macbeth, it tells us that even Macbeth himself doesn’t believe he is capable of murdering Duncan. Even though Macbeth has the ambition and wants to be powerful he knows in himself that he doesn’t have the guts to do it. Lady Macbeth also knows it which is why she gives him the push he needs to commit the murder even though he knows it is wrong he allows Lady Macbeth to persuade him to do it. When Macbeth finally sees senses in that killing Duncan is wrong he tells Lady Macbeth, “We will proceed no further in this business”. Lady Macbeth doesn’t like the idea that he has changed his mind, so she begins to verbally attack him. “When you durst do it, then you were a man; and to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man” here Lady Macbeth belittles Macbeth by questioning his manhood and then saying that he would be a much greater man if he were to go through with the deed. With Lady Macbeth questioning him like that Macbeth allows himself to be swayed by his wife in to going through with Duncan’s murder and ultimately choosing to follow a dark path of death and destruction which was one of the first stages to the downfall and was simply shown to him by Lady Macbeth.