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Maria Cortez

Figueroa

Senior English

19 February 2019

Macbeth’s Downfall

No one ever has the right to choose if someone deserves an early death, even if the person

committing the crime benefits from it. In The Tragedy of Macbeth, Macbeth is a person who is

power hungry and easily influenced by other people that surround him. He wanted Duncan’s

kingdom and willing to do anything for it. That causes him to start acting crazy and hurting

people. Everything that happened to him is this story, Macbeth is to blame for it. People should

not have put their-selves first.

Having blind ambition was where Macbeth’s downfall first began. In the beginning of the

story, the witches tell Macbeth that the crown would soon be his and without any logical

explanation he chose to believe them. As the third witch says, “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be

kin hereafter.”(Shakespeare 1.3.52). Macbeth falls under their spell immediately after she made

this comment. He is showing because he goes and kills the king that night. All along Banquo

suspected Macbeth’s sneaky work so Macbeth kills him and later his son. He makes this decision

while talking to his wife after inviting Banquo for dinner. “Scarf up in the tender eye of pitful

day and with thy blood and invisible hand.” (Shakespeare 3.3.49-51). Macbeth was prepared to

kill anyone for the throne, even his trusty best friend who was the most loyal to him. His mindset

was set so improper, Macbeth should not have wanted to kill anyone that crosses his way for a
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kingdom. At this point, Macbeth’s determination to become king has only made him power

hungry.

Even before Macbeth commits these crimes he was already mentally unstable and easily

convinced. Lady Macbeth influenced Macbeth, leading him to kill King Duncan. She had the

whole thing planned for Macbeth already and he followed through with it cleanly. She insults

him and bring all this negativity calling him a coward and saying, “Art not without ambition, but

without the illness should attened it. What thou holily wouldst not play false. “(Shakespeare 2.5,

5-10) Lady Macbeth is just as power-hungry as her husband. Macebeth falls for her words. He

does not see her intentions. He is insane and thinks this is a good idea to get him to rise up. After

his crimes Macbeth starts going a little off the rails and begins to hallucinate different things

making him unstable. At a dinner with everyone there Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost and start

freaking out and causing a scene, “Prithee, see there! Behold! Look lo! How say you? Why, what

care I? If thou canst nod speak too. If charnel-houses and our graves must send.” (The Tragedy of

Macbeth Act 3 scene 4 68-71).The guilt he carries on his shoulders is starting to get to him a

person cannot run away from their own guilty concious. After some time that weight gets heavier

and heavier.

Everyone is responsible for the choices they make or the paths of life they choose to take.

Macbeth knew what he was doing when he chose to kill the king and when he killed Banquo. He

was under a lot of peer-pressure the words should not have gotten to his head. Lady Macbeth did

not put a knife or a gun to him forcing him to do it. Macbeth just fell into his own blind ambition

and could not handle the pressure so played the part of a psychopath perfectly. Being power-

hungry and being blind to ambition comes with a big price that only the person with those two

things can pay.

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Works Cited

Shakespeare, Wiliam. The Tragedy of Macbeth. 1603-1607

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