Then she insults his masculinity and questions his courage. Her talent for persuasiveness and deception starts a chain of destructive events and she definitely contributed to the conversion of Macbeth from well respected soldier to a repugnant, bloody tyrant. Lady Macbeth is undoubtedly a woman “of direst cruelty” and had largely a negative impact on Macbeth. At the start of the play Macbeth had the potential for greatness but because of Lady Macbeth influence this potential remained unfulfilled. If he continued on the ethical path he was on he very well may have rose in rank importance without his stir.
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.
People do not want to admit when they are defeated, just like Macbeth in this scene. The subject matter in Macbeth seems to be the desire to be great at any expense, and the panicky world that one can create for them when they try to achieve greatness at all costs. Denial is present as well as a lack of regard for anyone but Macbeth and his desires. Wives and sons are killed just to avoid something that is not certain. Only at the end do the witches’ predictions come true with the defeat of Macbeth.
They very much encourage him in his accomplishments and awake his desires. They give Macbeth a false sense of hope with their prophecies of truths. They are the ones who cement the actual idea of killing Duncan into Macbeth's mind. But if it were only the witches prophecies, then Macbeth surely would not have murdered the king. “When you durst to do it, then you were a man,” (Macbeth, Act One Scene 7) When you reason things out by yourself you have a habit of knowing what is right and what is wrong, a conscience.
Macbeth is the real villain and Lady Macbeth is just a partner in crime, egging him on because of her desire to be Queen. Macbeth was loyal to his King and was an excellent soldier. However his wife, Lady Macbeth could see a better future for Macbeth as King after Macbeth tells her about the witches and their prophesies in a letter. Despite these conflicting ideas, it was Macbeth himself who decided to murder Duncan and the others. 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.
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.
Lady Macbeth was one Shakespeare’s most courageous female characters. She convinced her husband to cruelly kill Duncan and urged him to be strong in the murder’s aftermath. Fortunately she was eventually scarred by the effect of Macbeth’s animosity towards her. In each case, ambition—helped, of course, by the hurtful predictions of the witches that’s what drove the couple to extreme insanity. The problem, the play suggests, is that once someone decides to use violence to further their quest for power, it is difficult to stop them.
This shows me that Macbeth is becoming a more vengeful person foreshadowing more bad deeds “We are yet but young in deed”. The survival of Fleance also adds significance to the play in a dramatic fashion. Fleance’s survival plays a trivial role on Macbeth’s future as king because of the prophecies of the witches. The fact that Fleance is still alive brings fear and sleepless nights to Macbeth. This makes us readers to believe that Fleance will revenge the death of his father in the future.
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 such Macbeth is morally vulnerable to them. The ways in which Shakespeare’s language gives us the imagery that the witches are so evil is when it quotes the oxymoron: “Fair is foul, and foul is fair.” This quote is important because it introduces the idea of deception which will be picked up in the imagery further through the play. Macbeth from the beggining of Act 1, scene 2, is always associated with blood. At first this is a positive view of imagery as it quotes: “Bellona’s bridegroom.” We get the impression that Macbeth is a “Noble hero,” other quotes such as: “ For brave Macbeth, he deserves that name” or “ O, valiant cousin, worthy gentleman,” show us that Macbeth is presented as a man that is one in a million. Further through the play however the image of blood is used to soak “ Devilish Macbeth,” a quote such as: “Untitl’d tyrant, bloody-sceptr’d” show this.