/ And oftentimes, to win us to out harm, / The instruments of darkness tell us truths,/ Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s/ In deepest consequence” (I.iii.121). Macbeth ignores Banquo’s idea, and instead further investigates the concept that he may one day be King. He considers whether the crown will fall into his hands, or if he will have to complete a dark deep in order to obtain it. The witches successfully plant the destructive idea into Macbeth’s head. Macbeth has a huge character flaw.
This small act awakened the greed that Macbeth had always possessed but never acknowledged. Macbeth afterwards felt he deserved to be crowded king and would stop at nothing to fulfil this dream. This is the first sign that Macbeth’s character is losing control of reality. Furthermore, after honourably receiving the title of Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth, being a greedy character, was not satisfied. With the success of the first prophecy, Macbeth recall’s the second prophecy that he “shalt be king hereafter!” (I, iii, 54).
Ambition’s Impact “Absolute power corrupts absolutely”(John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton) . However, for some men, the idea of having power at all or entitlement to something is enough to turn them from being great men to power crazed cowards. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a man’s ambition leads him to abandon all morals in a vain bid for the throne of Scotland. Through Lady Macbeth, Malcolm, and Macbeth, Shakespeare exemplifies that unchecked ambition can lead to madness, controlled motivation can lead to success, and being power hungry leads to unnecessary violence towards others. One cannot blame the actions of the main character, Macbeth, solely on Macbeth.
“Thou hast it now—King, Cawdor, Glamis, all / As the Wëird Women promised, and I fear / Thou played’st most foully for ‘t. Yet it was said / It should not stand in thy posterity, / But that myself should be the root and father / Of many kings.” (81) Though he knew that something was up, he chose to ignore this instinct for his own personal gain, because, as it was promised, he should bear many Kings of the future. This proved an unwise choice, as the deceitful Macbeth had him murdered by hired hit men to make sure him or his offspring would not attempt to kill him. “O treachery! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly!
Macbeth’s Character Macbeth is superstitious and curious about the witches. ‘stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more…speak, I charge you’ this shows that already the idea of becoming king is in Macbeths mind, and is feeding his ever-growing ambition. The imperatives in the quote show that he already thinks that he is superior to others as he is very imposing and demanding, this would also mean that he is self-centered and will do anything for the benefit of himself and his own success. Macbeth is superstitious and ambitious but doubtful of himself and the witches. ‘why do you dress me in borrowed robes?’ this quote shows that Macbeth is superstitious as it tells the audience that he has believed the prophecies they have told him.
In William Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’, there were numerous factors that accumulated to lead up to the tragedies that occurred. The Weird Sisters were not catalysts for these tragedies, as they only acted as a mirror to reflect and reveal man’s true nature and flaws. A Shakespearean tragedy is when character flaws become so dominant that they lead up to a number of tragic events, and eventually the downfall of the characters themselves. This was demonstrated in the play when, after being foretold by the Weird Sisters that he would soon be King, Macbeth’s true nature began to surface. His desire for power eventually overpowered his morality and caused him to perform a series of violent murderous acts.
It doesn't take long for Macbeth to make the connection that his time in the throne will be short, and that perhaps Banquo will be looking to supplant him just like he with Duncan. Macbeth seems to disregard his Fate, not fully comprehending that it is virtually impossible to change your fate once it had been decided, but to avoid any chances he has Banquo killed. Macbeth has now started to become irrational; ordering the death of his best friend, who he only, at the time, suspected would potentially kill him to allow his son to takes the throne. He is restless and terrified, he says’ O full of scorpions is my mind dear wife’ implying how as his dishonesty took him to the throne, his kingship will be blighted. He seems to also become scared of what he is now capable of, as he is repeatedly reminded of the deed that had then taken place.
Macbeth’s’ tragic character flaw is his ambition. His greed for power leaves him in an unsatisfactory situation. Macbeth wanting to be king, wanting everyone to worship him and staying as king forever is all because of his ambitious character and is what leads him to his downfall and thus death. Due to Macbeth’s ambition to want more than he already has, he finds himself wanting to fulfill the witches’ last prophecy without fully understanding what their motives are. Macbeth says to himself, “If good, why do I yield to that suggestion/ Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair/ And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,/ Against the use of nature?” (1.3.135-138).
Moaraj will be proving that his superstition was the cause of Macbeth’s lust for power, and I will be proving that his greed was the main cause for the terrible deeds that had transpired. Women were not considered the same level in society (Elizabethan order) as men and were objects of the men would not have had much of an influence on men. Macbeth used Lady Macbeth for her innocence and he kept her out of his plans to murder Banquo and to murder Macduff’s family. This shows that Macbeth acted out
Power behind the Power William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth is the story of a man who once was a hero but after he met The Weird Sisters he changed and everything that he was fighting for starting to go down. His name was Macbeth. The first apparitions made Macbeth greedy and gave him a necessity to do anything that was in his hands to become king. After Macbeth became king, they influenced him into thinking that he was invincible. This let him make for himself a safe security which would come back to haunt him, and at the end destroy him.