How Is Macbeth Responsible

Would it be morally correct to commit a corrupt deed in the hopes of furthering oneself in life? In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, the main character is depicted as a courageous and fierce soldier that possess the ability to conquer any being that crosses his path during battle. However that does not necessarily label him as a good citizen, being the reason that he acquires many qualities that tarnishes the character and the way he behaves. Though he is a man of conscious and believes in the judgement of god he still acts upon and conducts himself in a poor manner. Nonetheless, the thought of killing Duncan horrified him. On the other hand if he had not been flawed with ambition the thought of committing such an immoral act would have never crossed …show more content…
A characteristic that drives one to do something that requires determination and hard work. Though it is admirable in certain lights, the context in which Macbeth chooses to express it is considered as immoral. Upon hearing the witches prophecy that foretells that he is going to be king, Macbeth says to himself “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, shakes so my single state of man that function is smothered in surmise, and nothing is but what is not.” (1. 3. 152 – 155). Though the thought of murdering Duncan in order to gain the title of the king saddens him it is clear that his ambition has already been in motion. The witches never prophesied what or how he was going to be king, the fact that his thoughts that resulted to murdering the king in order to become the kings shows how to him the end justifies the means. Meaning that he will do whatever it takes in order to reach the goal that he has set, regardless of what he has to get there is moral or immoral and in this context it is certainly immoral. Though Macbeth is a good man at heart, the witches’ prophecy may have woken up a murderous ambition that may possibly be hard to expel from his …show more content…
That plays into another bad trait that he possess, the ability to be easily manipulated played a huge part in the tarnishing of his character. Before Macbeth was about to commit the act of murdering Duncan he is plagued with self-doubt and worry, which cause him to consider how the king has been so kind to him, his loyalty to him and how he is contempt with the way his life is especially after Duncan names him thane of Cawdor, he also enjoys being known as a hero and being favored by the king. He questioned whether a man’s life should be taken away in order to further himself in life. Lady Macbeth soon enters and speaks to him saying “What beast was’t, then, that made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man; and to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man. Nor time nor place did then adhere, and yet you would make both. They have made themselves, and that their fitness now” (1.7.53-61). She manipulates Macbeth into changing his mind by implying how cowardly he is behaving when she said that he would be much more of a man if he was to demonstrate this act of manhood. Lady Macbeth also uses his words as a weapon against him, she questioned why he was going back on his words and told him that if he said he was going to do something then he should do it. That caused him change his opinion on the matter and do as Lady Macbeth had