Macbeth Essay, Research Paper

Everyone who is mortal has at least one flaw. Some are more serious than

others. For example, some people have addictions to gambling, while

other people can’t remember to put the milk away after they use it.

After a while though, a person’s flaws come back to haunt them. The

tragedy MacBeth is no exception to this. In it, many of the character’s

die. And the reason is that they have a flaw, that would eventually lead

to their downfall. Not every character is deserving of his fate though.

Some characters have a minor flaw, which shouldn’t lead to their death.

But other’s have a major flaw, which is would eventually lead them to

their death anyway. The first Thane of Cawdor, is killed by MacBeth for

trying to lead a revolution against England. His fatal flaw was that he

was according to Ross, “a disloyal traitor”. The thane of Cawdor was

greedy, and wanted the throne of England for himself, and as a result

was murdered. But his murder wasn’t really disheartening, because the

Thane of Cawdor, deserved his fate. He was leading a battle, in which

many lost their lives, for the sake of greed, and deserved to die

because of his flaw. Duncan was the King of England, and was murdered by

MacBeth. He was murdered, because in order for MacBeth to fulfill his

plan and become king, Duncan would have to die. Duncan’s fatal flaw was

that he was too trusting. For example, he thought that none of his

friends could really be enemies. If Duncan was more careful about his

safety at MacBeth’s castle, he may have had a chance to survive. But

Duncan’s flaw, wasn’t something so horrible that he should die. Most

people need to trust each other more, and just because one person did,

he shouldn’t have to die. MacBeth’s former best friend, Banquo was also

killed by MacBeth. Banquo was killed, because he knew too much about the

murder of Duncan. But that was not his fatal flaw. Banquo’s fatal flaw

was that although he knew that MacBeth killed Duncan, he really didn’t

do anything about it. There were many opportunities where Banquo could

tell someone such as MacDuff what he thought about the murders. But

Banquo didn’t deserve death, just because he didn’t act quickly in

telling someone that MacBeth killed Duncan. Banquo knew that if he said

anything, no one would believe him, and he would be executed. Lady

MacBeth is MacBeth’s wife. She is his coconspirator in killing Duncan.

Although she helps MacBeth get the courage to commit the murder, she

isn’t willing to do it herself. She uses the excuse that Duncan looked

too much like her father. Unlike MacBeth though, it is harder for Lady

MacBeth to live with the fact that she helped cause the murder of the

king. And in the end, it makes her so crazy that she commits suicide.

Whether or not Lady MacBeth deserved her fate is a tricky question.

Although she did encourage MacBeth to murder Duncan, she feels regret

for her action. Also, she realized what she did was wrong. But in my

opinion, she realized it a little too late, and Duncan was still dead so

she did deserve her fate. MacBeth was the focus of the entire play, and

that’s why it was named after him. All of the problems start when he

murder’s Duncan. He commits the murder because of his fatal flaw, he is

too ambitious. If he wasn’t so ambitious and determined to be king, then

he would never have killed Duncan. And if MacBeth didn’t kill Duncan

none of the other characters would die. MacBeth deserved his fate more

than any other characters in the play. He did many things wrong. First

he killed Duncan, then he killed Banquo. After that, MacBeth killed

MacDuff’s family. And worst of all, MacBeth disturbed the balance of

nature. Also, MacBeth didn’t feel any remorse until he was faced with

death. If MacBeth just waited for his time, he would have been king, and

have had a chance to enjoy it. Every character that died in MacBeth had

one fatal flaw. The first Thane of Cawdor was a traitor. Duncan was too

trusting. Banquo didn’t do anything about the knowledge he had. Lady

MacBeth helped plot the murder of Duncan. And MacBeth, destroyed the

natural order and harmony of nature. But not all of the characters who

died deserved to die because of their flaws. Duncan shouldn’t have been

punished for trusting someone, and Banquo would have said something, but

was waiting for the right time or some physical evidence. But if MacBeth

hadn’t been so ambitious, none of the problems that occurred would have.