Macbeths downfall is due to one thing and one thing only. Ambition. However, he did not act alone. The fire of his desire for power were fed not only by his own hunger, but also by his wife and the three witches. There are some that may blame those very witches that Macbeth encounters as he and Banquo make their way home from the battlefield.
One of them being his fatalism described the witches. The witches informed Macbeth’s of him becoming Thane and afterwards the King; however, Banquo’s son was prophesized to become the king after Macbeth. Macbeth feared that part of the prophecy and it was an additional explanation for his downfall. He became paranoid and he reacted only how a threatened individual would: by eliminating the threat. His paranoia reached the point to where he was mentally unstable.
One of the main messages he is trying to deliver to us is to always weigh what you achieve to what the consequences will be. This especially holds true for Macbeth, as when first contemplating if he should kill Duncan, not once did he think of how he could be punished. Also, when Macbeth first hears the witch’s prophecy of him being a king, he jumps directly to the idea of murder. This kind of thinking is exhibited in Macbeth’s monologue in scene 5 act 5, where he discus’s the uselessness of living, and this attitude towards life made him go mad. This also points to how unintelligent Macbeth really was.
/ Or have we eaten on the insane root/ that takes the reason prisoner? (1.2.84-86)” This shows that he is not sure if he is delusional and seeing things. While Macbeth believes the witches are real and wish to know more about his prophecy. He said to the witches, “Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more. (1.3.71)” Banquo also doubts the intension of the witches, he believes that evil always tells one part of the truth in order to earn one’s trust and lead him to destruction.
The first scene of Macbeth strikes the keynote of the play. The deserted and mysterious location, the wild storm, the appearance of the witches, all help to prepare the audience for a drama in which a human soul succumbs to the supernatural suggestions of evil and ranges itself along with the witches on the devil's side. In the opening scene of the play, thunder and lightning occur when the three infamous witches show up. This suggests that the three devilish creatures bring stormy weather with them, which causes disorder in the atmosphere. Already there is an implication of supernatural powers and evilness from the witches’ behalf, since they have the power to create storms and other gloomy atmospheric disturbances.
Thesis: Shakespeare did not have Macbeth kill Banquo with his own hands, even though he did with Duncan and the guards, to show that Macbeth is starting to learn how to use his kingly power to his advantage, but does have a guilty conscience on his hands. Evidence/Commentary: “Both you know Banquo was your enemy” (III.i.115-116), Macbeth’s convincing argument to get the murderers to kill Banquo for him, was a tactic he learned from his wife. After his wife had manipulated Macbeth into killing King Duncan, Macbeth used that same manipulation to his murderers. In both situations the arguments made were that deep down, they all truly wanted and knew if it was not for a certain person in their way, they would live a better life. Shakespeare starts to develop a more in depth personality to Macbeth, and showing how much his character has grown since the beginning of the play.
The witches god doesn't like this which causes the the witches to betray Macbeth, “Spiteful and wrathful, who (as others do) Loves for his own ends, not for you. But make amends now: get you gone, And at the pit of Acheron Meet me i'th morning: get you gone, Will come to know his destiny. Your vessels and your spells provide, Your charms and everything beside” (III. v. 12-19). The witches god is saying that why are they putting up with Macbeth and that he only cares for himself.
Macbeth desire to be king causes him to believe the witches for their prophesies have come true before. He is unable to see the witches as the most dangerous characters in the play. Without the witches playing upon Macbeth’s ambitions, it is doubtful that Macbeth would have committed the murders. The witches play the part of the instigators, and help Macbeth to continue his acts of violence. Even though they are able to see that his acts will lead him to his downfall, they continue to let him kill others.
In part of the play, Macbeth even admits to his ambition, "I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself, and falls on the other." As a result, many decisions were influenced negatively. His choice to kill the king was made too quickly, and had begun the snowballing effect of killing innocent people. After the witches had told Macbeth the four apparitions, he felt as though Banquo needed to be killed, since he was in the way of Macbeths becoming king. Other Characters in the play greatly influenced Macbeth.
He steers his course by the tiller of an immediate past and by the stars of an immediate future. It's this synchronizing of nature and fortune that soothsayers study, and that the witches in Macbeth know something about. We call it fate, which over-simplifies it. He pits himself no merely against the threat of hell but also against the enmity of "Fate" (as represented in the prophecies of the Weird Sisters): come, Fate, into the list, And champion me to th' utterance. He brags to his wife: But let the frame of tings disjoint, both the worlds suffer, Ere we will eat our meal in fear [.