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.
As the play continues, with the foreseeing witches and the deceptive lady Macbeth, he quickly turns from a courageous strong hearted man, to a tyrant king who is willing to commit the unthinkable to withhold his royal status. In Macbeth, the prophecies foretold by the three witches about future events enflame our protagonist, driving him to make treacherous decisions that impact severely on his downfall. He is immediately taken in as the witches reveal the royal titles. Eager to unlock the secrets of these prophecies, Macbeth questions the witches, demanding them to speak. "And often to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths."
He is a man of noble stature, which means he is no ordinary man, but a man with an outstanding quality and greatness about him.. At first, Macbeth is celebrated as a brave man and is rewarded with a new title from the king. He is rewarded with the title of being the Thane of Cawdor, which the three witches in the play predicted. The witches are calculations, which helps drive Macbeth’s ambition and transform him into a murderer. The view of Macbeth as a brave man is ruined when we see how Lady Macbeth, his wife, easily manipulates him. He is soon overwhelmed with ambition and self-doubt.
It is his option to take the witches words as having any substance. Macbeth can assume that the prophecies becoming reality is merely coincidental, but his superstition and curiosity in the Weird Sisters is basis for all his actionsafter his first visit with the hideous hags, Glamis, and Thane of Cowdor: the greatest is behind. The two truths are told… Upon hearing that the king has pronounced him Thane of Cawdor,
Macbeth responds, in brief, as a loyal thane to the Scottish king, but the prospect unnerves him. * The audience could see Macbeth’s ambition leading him to cursed thoughts which has been greatly *enforced and twisted* by the* malicious* witches. *The caution from the first apparition causes Macbeth to start a bloody massacre across England, killing families of people who may threaten his position. After this point in the play, we see *that *Macbeth* has* turn*ed* into a ruthless tyrant* in the hope of avoiding fate*, so desensitized to humanity that even the suicide of his wife *could not arouse grief from him. * All he could muster was* “She should have died hereafter”.
Through analysis of Macbeth’s choices in the play, it is evident that his ruthless ambition, blind trust in the witches, cowardice towards his wife’s demands and overconfidence were the key faults that led to his demise. One of the reasons Macbeth meets his untimely tragic defeat is due to his ruthless ambition. From the moment Macbeth hears the witches’ prophecy and the first of them is realized (becoming Thane of Cawdor), Macbeth begins to seek out future ambitions: becoming the King. His personal ambition, fortified by his wife’s drive for power makes him blind to the man he was before he met the witches and before he became Thane of Cawdor. When Macbeth debates with himself regarding the pros and cons of killing Duncan he states: “I go, and it is done.
Lord Acton once said, “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” In William Shakespeare's Macbeth, it tells the story of noble, honorable, and ambitious man named Macbeth, who when giving power, lives out this quote. Through the greatness and power promised in the predictions of three witches, the destiny of the ambitious Macbeth turned into a nightmare. The result of the ambition leads to the deepest corruption. The expanding lust for power and the increased influence of others is all a result of ambition that leads to more corruption, as well as the guilt from the events taken place to fulfill this ambition caused him to loose his sanity, leading to greater corruption. When put into a position of such power and leadership, lust can easily consume even the wisest of men.
In Act 1 Scene 7 Macbeth says, “I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself And falls on th’other” In this soliloquy, Macbeth admits that his only reason for committing murder is ambition. The ambition presented him with negative characteristics such as greed, intolerance, ruthlessness and an unhealthy drive for power. In addition, it blocked out his respect for others and his compassion. Earlier in his soliloquy, Macbeth also uses foreshadowing as he declares, “Bloody instructions which, being taught, return To plague th’inventor” Here, Macbeth explained his deeds will eventually come back to haunt him. Earlier in the soliloquy ,he uses dark imagery, in phrases such as “Deep damnation” a “Poisoned Chalice” and “Bloody Instructions”.
The Anglo-Irish feminist, intellectual, and writer Mary Wollstonecraft has stated that, “No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks.” This is evident in Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth”. The evil that occurs in this play begins when the witches deliver Macbeth his prophecy. The evil deeds dominate over the happiness that Macbeth may have been searching for in hopes of fulfilling his prophecy. Many themes in “Macbeth” deal with the consequences that followed the terrible acts he performed. Three major themes Shakespeare exposed are: greed for power can corrupt human behaviour; feelings of guilt can burden the human mind and cause mental breakdowns; receiving a position that is undeserved would cause the human mind to feel uncomfortable.
Ambition is a common downfall for those who seek power. In literature, authors use characters to demonstrate the harmful effects of ambition. Shakespeare, in his play Macbeth, develops the character of Macbeth, who changes from a good-hearted person to evil because of his corrupting power and unchecked ambition. In Act I, Macbeth debates with himself on whether or not to kill Duncan. He considers that, even if Duncan’s murder could be completed without any negative consequences, like getting caught, he still would have to live with guilt.