Macbeth Downfall Essay, Research Paper

In Macbeth there were a few factors that contributed to the degeneration of the

Macbeth character. There were three factors that destroyed Macbeth. The main

force that was predominately responsible for the downfall of Macbeth was his

single flaw. Which was his own ambition. Even though his ambition brought him to

his height of power, it was also what led him to his downfall. During the play

Macbeth’s ambition brought him to achieve his goals but as the play evolves, it

forced him to face his fate. Macbeth had become so obsessed with becoming King,

and remaining powerful, that he became a completely different man. His ambition

led him to become greedy, violent, power hunger, and a murder. An example of his

new character occurred when he killed King Duncan. After the first murder,

killing seemed to be the only solution to keep his reign over the people of

Scotland. It was because of these killings and his overbearing ambition that

caused him to be overthrown and kill himself. Another force was the prophecies

which were told by the witches. If it had not been for the witches telling

Macbeth that he was going to be Thane of Cawdor, Thane of Glanis, and King of

Scotland, he would still be is ordinary self. After the witches shared these

prophecies with Macbeth he started thinking of ways he could become king. The

other influential factor that destroyed Macbeth was his wife Lady Macbeth. In

the play Lady Macbeth was going to kill King Duncan, but she just could not do

it. Although she then provided a scheme which caused Macbeth to kill King

Duncan. After the first murder, Macbeth seemed to come to the solution that

killing was the way. Therefore Lady Macbeth was the one who introduced the

concept of murder to Macbeth, which was another reason why Macbeth was

destroyed.