Macbeth-Do Flaws Lead To Fate? Essay, Research Paper

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

For example, some people have addictions, while other people can’t remember to

put the milk away after they use it. After a while, a person’s flaws can come back to

haunt them. The tragedy Macbeth is no exception to the rule. In Macbeth, many of

the character’s die and the reason they die is because they have a flaw, a flaw that

would eventually lead to their downfall. However, not every character is deserving

of his or her fate. Some characters have a minor flaw which shouldn’t lead to their

death, but other’s have a major flaw, which eventually leads them to their death

anyway.

The first character, the Thane of Cawdor, is killed by MacBeth for trying to

lead a revolution against England. The Thane s fatal flaw was that according to Ross,

the Thane was a “most disloyal traitor.”

(I ,ii , 52)

The Thane of Cawdor was greedy, and wanted the throne of England for himself

and, as a result, he was murdered. The Thane s murder wasn’t really disheartening

because he deserved his fate. The Thane was leading a battle in which many lost

their lives for the sake of greed and because of his flaw, being a traitor, he deserved

to die.

Duncan was the King of England and he was murdered by MacBeth. Duncan

was murdered in order for MacBeth to fulfill his plan and become king. 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. However, Duncan’s flaw

wasn’t something so horrible that he should die over it. 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. This, however,

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 have told someone such as MacDuff what he thought about

the murders but he didn t. Banquo didn’t deserve death on the basis that 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 MacBeth s motivator in killing

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

isn’t willing to do it herself. She uses an excuse saying that Duncan had resembled

her father as he slept.

( II, ii, 13)

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, this guilt makes her so crazy

that she commits suicide. Whether or not Lady MacBeth deserved her fate is a tricky

question. While she did encourage MacBeth to murder Duncan, she showed regret

for her actions. Also, she realized what she did was wrong, it was just a little too late

and Duncan was still dead so one might say that 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 Macbeth murders Duncan. Macbeth 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 have died. MacBeth

deserved his fate more than any other characters in the play. Macbeth did many

things wrong in the play. First he killed Duncan, then he killed Banquo. After that,

MacBeth killed MacDuff’s family. Then, and worst of all, MacBeth disturbed the

balance of nature. Lastly, 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 he would

have had a chance to enjoy it.

Every character that died in MacBeth had one fatal flaw: The first, the 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 while being to

ambitios. However, 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. If MacBeth hadn’t been so ambitious, none of the problems that occurred

would have and not as many people would have had to die.