The Three Main Powers of Macbeth

The following sample essay on three main forces that create the eponym’s downfall. To read the essay’s introduction, body and conclusion, scroll down.

Macbet’s Downfall

William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth show three main forces that create the eponym’s downfall. These are the role of the supernatural, the struggle between good and evil and Macbeth’s ambition guilt and fear. These all combine to create the massive downfall of power that Macbeth experiences during the play. The role of the supernatural has a key part in the creation of the downfall of Macbeth’s power.

This is brought on by many factors associated with the supernatural. The witches are a central part in the supernatural theme.

The storms that are associated with the witches whenever they come on stage reflect a violation of the natural order of witch the weather is meant to be. The worst of these storms happens on the night of Duncan’s murder. They also summon the apparitions that give the predictions to Macbeth that lead to his downfall.

The siliquy of the dagger shows that Macbeth was completely obsessed with the thoughts of the murder. This would also be a warning sign to the audience that Macbeth was morally unfit to undertake the murder. Banquo’s ghost also portrays this sense of unfitness towards Macbeth’s conscience.

The Downfall Of Lady Macbeth

Macbeth would be experiencing an unstable mind state due to the fact of the supernatural controlling his life. This would have in turn lead to Macbeth’s downfall.

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The struggle between good and evil created havoc for Macbeth’s life and therefore contributed to his downfall. The good side is portrayed in Macbeth through noble Banquo and the rightful king Duncan. Macbeth juxtaposes these characters during his downfall. On the contrary there is the evil side of the play. This is portrayed through the witches and their many spells. The most important of these are the apparitions that they use to show Macbeth his future.

These are very vague and only tell of the good to come but not of the evil. These trick Macbeth into thinking that everything will be all right. This later contributed to Macbeth’s downfall. Lady Macbeth also portrays evil herself. After finishing the deed of killing Duncan she believes that the blood has stained her “What will these hands ne’er be clean? ” This shows the distracting power that the evil has on the characters. Macbeth also plays part of showing the theme of evil through darkness and blood. The blood on his hands symbolizes the guilt that he has about the murder.

He portrays darkness through the line “stars hide your fires let no light see my backward deep desires” Here Macbeth is taking about how he is almost possessed by the thought of murder. He gets caught up in these thoughts and this is a contributing factor to his downfall. Macbeth’s ambition guilt and fear all had a huge contribution to the downfall that he experienced. Ambition was one of Macbeth’s fatal flaws. This was what ultimately led to his downfall. This was combined with Lady Macbeth’s ambitions. She is the one that suggests entertaining Duncan after hearing the news of the witches’ predictions.

If Lady Macbeth hadn’t pushed forward Macbeth’s ambition and convinced him to kill Duncan the whole downfall would not have happened. Guilt was another factor that contributed to Macbeth’s downfall. Macbeth says, “I could not say ‘amen’… Macbeth will sleep no more”. This puts forward the guilt that Macbeth would have been feeling at the time. Yet after saying this he still does not repent. This guilt then led to fear that Macbeth feels. “We have scratched the snake not killed it. ” This quote is Macbeth referring to the predicament that he is facing.

The ambition to kill Duncan that lead to guilt and consequently fear played an important role in Macbeth’s downfall. In William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth we see the eponym face many factors that contribute to his downfall. These are the roles of the supernatural being the witches the daggers and Banquo’s ghost. The struggle between good and particularly evil with Macbeth being sucked in form the good side by the withes and them pushed ahead by Lady Macbeth. This is all combined with Macbeth’s Ambitions guilt and consequently fears. All of these reasons combine to the outcome of Macbeth’s downfall.