What Is Macbeth's Downfall
In tragic plays, the male characters are often complex; brave, courageous, noble, proud and ambitious but with major personality flaws. It is with these moral failings such as cowardice, weakness or greed the characters are forced to push harder to seek power and control and pursue a determination without keeping their behaviors in check. In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, the Scottish General Macbeth, also known as the Thane of Cawdor, is a valiant and courageous soldier who desires to become the King of Scotland. Despite the motivations and efforts of others to influence his behavior, Macbeth schemes to improve his position of power. He begins winding a web of decisions that drive him to commit the most atrocious deeds. As the play unfolds,
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Instead of listening to his conscience, which urges him to consider other options while he is heading down the path of destruction prepared to kill King Duncan’s two guards, he continues towards the king’s room, after hallucinating about a dagger in his hand. Macbeth ignores his own feelings of remorse when he hears himself say, “Is this a dagger which I see before me,/ the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee./ I have thee not, and yet I see thee still” (2.1.40-42). Macbeth’s soliloquy demonstrates to his readers that his state of mind is irrational. The dagger is symbolic of the conflict he is feeling. He is torn between the guilt of killing Duncan and the opportunity that lies ahead of him when the king is dead. In his mind, Macbeth is obsessed with the witches’ premonitions that predict he will be crowned king. He heeds their prophecies without question when they say, “All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!” (1.3.53) because he wants to believe they have supernatural powers that will give him the confidence to make the right choices. As General leading the king’s army, Macbeth was Duncan’s relative entrusted to make good decisions and was loyal to the royal throne. However, when the witches predict his future, his insecurities and ambition drive him to make choices that ultimately destroy
Instead of listening to his conscience, which urges him to consider other options while he is heading down the path of destruction prepared to kill King Duncan’s two guards, he continues towards the king’s room, after hallucinating about a dagger in his hand. Macbeth ignores his own feelings of remorse when he hears himself say, “Is this a dagger which I see before me,/ the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee./ I have thee not, and yet I see thee still” (2.1.40-42). Macbeth’s soliloquy demonstrates to his readers that his state of mind is irrational. The dagger is symbolic of the conflict he is feeling. He is torn between the guilt of killing Duncan and the opportunity that lies ahead of him when the king is dead. In his mind, Macbeth is obsessed with the witches’ premonitions that predict he will be crowned king. He heeds their prophecies without question when they say, “All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!” (1.3.53) because he wants to believe they have supernatural powers that will give him the confidence to make the right choices. As General leading the king’s army, Macbeth was Duncan’s relative entrusted to make good decisions and was loyal to the royal throne. However, when the witches predict his future, his insecurities and ambition drive him to make choices that ultimately destroy