Who Was Responsible For Macbeth's Downfall

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In Shakespeare’s play ‘Macbeth’, there are relationships that exist between the characters, and in many cases, these relationships influence the direction in which the play drives. The three witches in the play, and their prophecies serve an important role for the downfall of Macbeth, although they are not the catalyst to all of his crimes, and certainly not the most powerful characters in the play, considering he was not forced to carry out the crimes that he committed. The witches in ‘Macbeth’ are only partially responsible for Macbeth's downfall, because they simply influence his fate, rather than control it. The witches provided the main character, Macbeth, with incentive and motivation to be King; yet he was the one that thought out…show more content…
Most crucially, they encourage the evil values that Macbeth possessed towards his rivals, with their prophecies. The witches seem to have some control over the destinies of the characters in the play; yet, they also desire to manipulate Macbeth into committing immoral and evil acts by convincing him that the prophecies were true. Without these prophecies, Macbeth would not have had the initial temptation to advance his position in life. It can be seen in Act I Scene 3, in which almost immediately after the witches hailed Macbeth as the ‘Thane of Cawdor’ and ‘King’, and then disappeared, Ross and Angus met with Macbeth and hailed him as "the Thane of Cawdor". This certainly convinced Macbeth of the truth of the prophecies and led him to believe deeply in them. In addition, the witches’ appearances in Act 4 Scene 1, and their spells, that made apparitions appear, can be seen as attempts by the witches to persuade Macbeth not to give up and to resist the attacks by Malcolm's…show more content…
Macbeth chose to kill Duncan, the servants, Banquo, and Macduff's family, and chose to fight to his death. Macbeth was not forced to do so; he took each step on the path to his destruction by choice. It is not long before Macbeth's own ruthlessness began to disturb him, greatly. He suffered from troubled sleep, nightmares and loss of appetite, and he was going insane. After Macbeth grew more sinful and overpowered with greed, he did not make any real attempt to change, and therefore it is clear that the witches planned Macbeth’s downfall, but it was his own free will that lead him to it. Slowly Macbeth lost grasp of his sanity and self-control, was consumed with power, and let nothing stand in the way of his reign, because his reign is all that he had
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