What is the one dominant force that leads to Macbeth’s Downfall?
Uploaded by mikiedaman on Jun 15, 2002
In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare there are many forces that lead to the downfall of the lead character, Macbeth. The most dominant one, prophecy is introduced at the very beginning. If it were not for prophecy, none of what happened would have occurred. Any other forces that may have had a secondary role in leading Macbeth down were brought to life or nursed with the hearing of the prophecy. The prophecy is always on Macbeth’s mind during the entire play. He even returns to the witches when he needs comfort. In the end, the prophecy is what is to blame for his death. Proof will be given from the play and also from other sources as to why this is true.
Though there are many different forces pushing Macbeth towards his downfall and the events that lead up to it, all of them are influenced by either the prophecy at the beginning (Act I, Scene iii, L: 48-50) or the second prophecies later (Act IV, Scene i, L: 71-124). For example, although Macbeth had previously thought of claming the throne, the witches’ prophecy gave him the push he needed to kill Duncan. If it were not for the prophecy, he would not have told his wife about the prophecy and therefore she would not be able to convince him to kill Duncan. Also, it was the prophecy that Banquo’s children would be kings that caused Macbeth to hire the murderers to kill Banquo and Fleance (Act III, Scene i, L: 115-127). This murder was even entirely Macbeth’s doing, with no help from Lady Macbeth or anyone else. Many sources say that Lady Macbeth was the reason for Macbeth’s downfall and while she did have a hand in the first murder the second and third were entirely his idea. “Macbeth…has been changed by the witches prophecy more than his wife can be aware.” (Mehl, p113) This quote shows that Lady Macbeth is not aware of how much the witches’ prophecy changed her husband. If she is the cause for his downfall, how can this be? Thirdly, it is the second prophecy that causes Macbeth to send the murderers to Fife to kill Macduff and his family (Act IV, Scene i, L: 82-86). This was also entirely Macbeth’s idea based on what the prophecy had told him. Even though the prophecy said that “none of woman born/Shall harm Macbeth” (Act IV,...