Is Macbeth To Blame For His Downfall Analysis

In the play, Macbeth is responsible for the decisions that lead to his downfall. However, we understand that Macbeth is not entirely to blame because his destruction was in some ways caused by his weakness to be easily influenced by others. The false prophecies of the Witches and the persuasiveness of Lady Macbeth blocked Macbeth's own judgment. Duncan's murder is also a factor to consider as it became a point where Macbeth believed that there was no turning back because he had already destroyed his sanity. In Act 1 Scene 3, for the first time, the world of witches and the world of men have been brought together. One of the witches describes how she will "give thee a wind" in order to punish a sailor because his wife would not give her some of the chestnuts she was eating. This shows how spiteful the witches are and how they can do a lot of harm. However, it is made clear that the sailor's "bark cannot be lost" (bark representing the sailor's ship) indicating that there are limitations to the witches' powers because the witch isn't powerful enough to sink the ship, the witches can only create …show more content…
Banquo's words "Can the devil speak true?" echo the theme of appearance and reality because he instinctively knows that the witches are twisting the truth in order to lure Macbeth away from his conscience. By making a reference to the "devil", Banquo clearly believes that the witches are evil. However, Macbeth blinded by what is and isn't reality doesn't acknowledge Banquo's warning. Banquo is portrayed here by Shakespeare as being the wiser and in some respects, the omniscient character because he is able to see beyond the witches' trickery and