Macbeth Is Responsible For His Own Downfall Essay

Macbeth by William Shakespeare is a well known tale about a man whose own ambition drives him to become the murderer of anyone in his way. Following an ominous prophecy by three witches, Macbeth allows power to blind his moral character and stops at nothing to rise to the top as King of Scotland. As his plans unfold, they soon fall apart and he answers for his crime by facing extreme consequences. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth is responsible for his own downfall.
The first telltale sign that Macbeth is responsible for his own actions is his obvious guilt, before and after he murdered Duncan. “Guilt can mean both responsibility for a crime and the state of mind produced by committing one” (Nelson). Even before Macbeth murders …show more content…
Macbeth tried to act skeptical like Banquo, even though he was really hopeful about the prophecy. He pretended to be nonchalant about the whole situation, but in his head he already started to come up with some plans on how to make the prophecy come true and accept the fact that he might have to commit some crimes to make it happen. Macbeth’s unwillingness to talk about his thoughts and possible plans with someone he considered a friend proved that he knew what he was doing was wrong. If he knew what he was doing was wrong, then he is also at fault for those …show more content…
Although the responsibility of Macbeth’s downfall is not plainly stated as either Macbeth or the witches’ fault, it seems fair to say that the text does not place the blame entirely with either party (Snyder). Arguments can also be made that it’s not Macbeth’s fault at all, but the fault of Lady Macbeth or even the weird sisters. As a counterargument to anyone who believes that it could be the fault of the weird sisters, why didn’t Banquo also turn into a murderous fiend? While Macbeth starts to dream of the possibilities of the witches’ prophecy (2.1.7-9,1920), Banquo tactfully stays out of any plot that could possibly make the prophecy for himself come true (Cohen). Though Banquo does not have the same prophecy for himself as Macbeth did, he is still told that his children will be kings (1.3.69). As a counterargument to claiming that Lady Macbeth could be at fault for Macbeth’s downfall, she only encouraged her husband to murder once. She basically tells her husband that if he cannot go through with the act, then he is not really a man, “when you durst do it, then you were a man” (1.7.49). After that, Lady Macbeth herself is too consumed with guilt to tell her husband to commit another murder. Her guilt also drives her to insanity, causing her to sleep walk in Act V. Lady Macbeth’s insanity is what ultimately results in her suicide, which is really caused by the