It seems that most people believe that Macbeth is the real villain of the play, after firstly killing the King but then Banquo and Macduff’s family but through Macbeth’s own ambition and desire for power, Lady Macbeth was able to manipulate and evoke weaknesses in Macbeth’s character to cause his respectable needs as a loyal solider, to turn into evil motivations. In the course of the play Macbeth’s mind changes from thinking logically to thinking unreasonably and acting impulsively on every thought that comes to his mind. The ideas that Lady Macbeth had and the prophesies from the witches came together to lead Macbeth into the conflicted character he become, going from a loyal, respected soldier into a tragic flawed hero. Before Macbeth’s character shifted into villainy he was a loyal and respected thane. His desire for power grew throughout the play and begins when he first encoumis, then they hail him the thane of Cawdor, which he didn’t yet know of, to him soon would be his next, second title.
After a protracted discussion of the topic of who is to blame for the demise of Macbeth, the blame has come to rest upon the Three Witches. Within the play Macbeth, the Witches have done numerous things to cause the demise of Macbeth; influenced him through prophecies and apparitions, spurred his killing spree and manipulated him. From the outset, the Witches show Macbeth prophecies which lead to his downfall. These prophecies are the root of Macbeth’s misfortunes and evil doings, push Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to act upon their evil thoughts, and alter Macbeth from a loyal soldier to a traitor. First and foremost, the Witches were the root of Macbeth’s misfortunes and evil doings.
During this encounter, the withes praise Macbeth naming him three titles, Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and King of Scotland. All three titles hold great honor leaving Macbeth yearning for the positions. By the witch sisters declaring Macbeth will possess these titles plants the thought in Macbeths mind which turns into greed; he would not let anything stand in his way to obtain these titles no matter the consequences. The greed Macbeth has come to have becomes apparent after the witches praising when he begs, “Stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more” (Act l, Scene III pg 307). Greed is the sin that causes Macbeth to commit murder; killing Duncan to secure the crown for his taking.
The prophecies told to Macbeth by the Witches were one of the factors that contributed to the degeneration of his character. The prophecies made by the witches aroused Macbeth's curiosity of how he could become King of Scotland. As the play progresses, Macbeth slowly relies more and more on the witches prophecies. The influence of Macbeth's wife, Lady Macbeth also contributes to his degeneration of character. Lady Macbeth plays an important role in this play as she provides a scheme for Macbeth to assassinate King Duncan.
“More is thy due than more than all can pay” (1.4.21). King Duncan says this to show how he is grateful of Macbeth for wining the war. As events unfold, Macbeth shows his true character when he kills Duncan to become king. This shows he has a false appearance because Duncan thought the two were friends and Macbeth would not kill a relative. Towards the end of the play Macbeth gets caught up in a killing spree by hiring people to murder Banquo and his son, and by having everybody in Macduff’s castle killed: The castle of Macduff I will surprise, Seize upon fife: give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate
That all changes when he returns home after telling his wife what had happened. She says “ Make thick my blood/ Stop up th’access and passage to remorse” (1.5 33-34) Lady Macbeth is the one who encourages Macbeth to become King. Now that they both believe that Macbeth is going to become king, there is nothing that will get in their way. Soon after, Macbeth decides that one of the only ways that he is going to become king, is to kill the current king, Duncan. He realized that the plan might not be reasonable and he started to second guess himself.
No one to blame but Macbeth Decisions can be impacted by a number of factors; but in the end we have to be the ones to take responsibility for our actions. This is demonstrated when we see Macbeth transform from a brave soldier to a power-hungry murderer, feared by all his subjects. Macbeth is the one to blame for his own descent into cruelty and murder because he let his ambition, arrogance and greed take over his mind. While some may claim that Macbeth is to blame for his actions, others argue that it is the force of the supernatural that leads to his demise. Early on the witches reveal prophecies to Macbeth suggesting his rise to power.
Macbeth, written by Shakespeare, is a play that underlines the story of a great warrior whose thoughts were corrupted by three witches and a manipulating wife. Macbeth was a man full of greatness and was praised even by the king. However, a situation occurred, initiating a change in Macbeth’s perspective toward the king. His mind was corrupted by the three witches, stating that Macbeth shall become the new king of Scotland. This statement, supported with ambitious desires and a thirst for power, the Scottish thane planned to kill the king to become one.
If ill, why hath it given me earnest of success commencing in a truth? I am thane of Cawdor 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? Present fears are less than horrible imaginings”. (Iiii 143-151) This is where the witches premonitions start to get into his mind about becoming king and get him to think about killing the king. Lady Macbeth was the second and strongest push against Macbeth.
Witches come and reveal to him a prophecy of his future, which makes him want it straight away. Lady Macbeth keeps pushing for Macbeth to do whatever it takes to get what the weird sisters have predicted will happen, and finally goes ahead with it. Macbeth kills numerous people to have his prophecy fulfilled and is now the complete opposite person of who he was at the beginning of the play, but it is hard to blame Macbeth for his own demise because of these other factors because they play a role in boosting his actions Macbeth wasn’t an ambitious character until he met the witches. Macbeth is the most “worthiest cousin” of the Kind and is a “brave” soldier serving under him. He is established as a good character in the play and it is apparent that he had no real ambitions until he met the witches.