It was Lady Macbeth who had planned King Duncan’s murder and the framing of the guards because Macbeth was too worried about the consequences. However, the greed for power corrupted and changed Macbeth. “Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, Till thou applaud the deed.” (Act 3: II, line 50-51) Macbeth consoled Lady Macbeth about the necessity of the terrible things planned. The desire for power drove Macbeth to planning a second murder so he could feel secure. “I am in blood stepped in so far, that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er.” (Act 3: IV, line 167-169) After committing the murders of Duncan and Banquo, Macbeth had decided that he had already gone so far to get
Is Macbeth Responsible For His Downfall? Who is responsible for the downfall of Macbeth? He is manipulated by the witches, encouraged by his wife, but ultimately he chooses to act. His first conference with the witches, Macbeth’s ambition was planted and his mind was overwhelmed with thoughts of murder and betrayal. It fair to say, in addition, that if his betrayal caused this extensive pain that clouded him after he murders Duncan, Banquo and the Macduff’s that it wasn’t a case of fate and was his own doing.
Macbeth is not merely portrayed as a butcher because at the beginning of the play he has a motive for killing King Duncan, a butcher would kill someone without reason. A butcher can be seen as someone who is heartless and has no self control, but Macbeth does not fit into these conventions as he is in love with Lady Macbeth and he tries to persuade himself not to kill the King, he is just easily influenced by others. Macbeth has reasons for his actions rather than just killing someone for the sake of it, so therefore i would argue that he is not seen as a butcher. His ‘vaulting ambition’ is what drove Macbeth to kill the King; he wanted more than he already had. Macbeth can’t be fully blamed for all of the murders as he didn’t personally commit the crimes he got other people to do them for him.
However, Macbeth’s indecision on whether he should kill Duncan or not shows us that ruthless aggression does not come that easily to them. When the witches predict that he shall be king, Macbeth does not think he should do anything to make the prophecy come true “If Chance will have me king, why Chance may crown me without my stir”. However when Duncan announces that his son, Malcolm, will become the next king, Macbeth soon realises that he must kill Duncan if he is to become king. “The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step on which I must fall down, or else oerleap for in my way it lies.
After the first part of the prophecy comes true, Macbeth starts to seek the kingship. After King Duncan names his son Malcolm as heir to the throne, Macbeth starts to think that he must take action. On the subject of killing King Duncan, Macbeth is unsure about what to do. As he tries to reason with himself, he thinks, “He’s here in double trust: First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, strong both against the deed; then, as his host, who should against his murderer shut the door, not bear the knife myself.” (I. 7.
Throughout the play Lady Macbeth is the driving influence behind Macbeth and the immoral path that he chose to follow. To put it simply Lady Macbeth started the rot and persuaded the hesitant and indecisive Macbeth to “be a man” and do the deed of killing Duncan. Macbeth initially decided to “proceed no further” in the matter of killing Duncan because he had been kind to him of late bestowing the position of Thane of Cawdor on him. She responds to this by saying that if he can lose his ambition so readily, his love for her must also be changeable. Then she insults his masculinity and questions his courage.
The tragedy “Macbeth” unfolds after three witches predict that Macbeth will become King of Scotland. In order to explore his inner conflict, the dramatist uses imagery, characterisation, soliloquies and dramatic irony. Throughout Act One Scene Seven, Macbeth is struggling to cope with his conflict. Macbeth was initially described as heroic and a kind man, but with various forces manipulating him, Lady Macbeth calls him a coward. “When you durst do it, then you were a man.” She is saying that, when you were thinking of killing King Duncan, he was a man and a brave soldier, but after Macbeth demands he will not continue with the plan, he would be a coward, hence she is taunting his manhood.
With the witches’ prophecies mulling over in his mind, and knowing that he was not the successor of the throne, he knew he had to take matters into his own hands. With the support and persuasion of Lady Macbeth, he kills King Duncan and gains his kingship. When Banquo makes his vow to find out who killed Duncan, Macbeth knew he had to silence him. After Macbeth is named king, he seeks out hired murderers to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance. Macbeth does this because he is afraid that Banquo will get in the way of his new title and Fleance, because he is prophesied to be king.
It could be that he has damaged himself so that he is unable to feel empathy for others - or that the evil is innate. Macbeth displays some very evil characteristics - selfishness, coldness, obsession and cold-blooded murder. Shakespeare explores the degree to which he alone is responsible, and how far others contribute to Macbeth is perhaps Shakespeare's greatest exploration of the problem of evil. Evil is positioned both within and without. The witches are objective figures but Macbeth's first utterance in act 1, scene 3 suggests that he shares a similar thought with the witches.
If it wasn't for the influences of the people surrounding him, he would have lived happily as Thane of Cawdor, an honourable title in itself. The downfall of Macbeth was ignited by the actions by those around him, mainly the witches and his wife Lady Macbeth, and eventually, his ambitions took over. Macbeth never had the intention of killing his king, but was ultimately persuaded that it was the correct thing to do. The three witches planted the seed of ambition within Maceth. They were the driving force behind Banquo and King Duncan's killing.