Essay/Term paper: Macbeth: characteristics of macbeth that led to his downfall

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Macbeth

Macbeth: Characteristics of Macbeth That Led to His Downfall

Rickford Foo


Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow..." Sometimes tomorrow never comes
and as for Macbeth, tomorrow meant another day of inner torment and guilt. This
victorious Thane literally got the better of himself as soon as he started to
believe in the witches. After the prophesies, Macbeth's popularity seems to
take a turn for the worst as well as his mental state. Even though the witches
did tempt him with the idea of becoming king, and Lady Macbeth helped him with
his natural hesitation of committing murder, Macbeth chose the crown over is
honor.
Moreover, I believe that Macbeth caused his own downfall. There were
people like the witches and his wife who influenced him, but it was his choice
to choose over salvation of the next world and material gain of this one.
Ambition is always good...to an extent. An overambitious person, Macbeth is too
intrigued by the witches' prediction that he ignores all of the years of loyalty
and ethics to his king for his own selfishness. And in the end, apparently,
Macbeth's ambition is stronger than his conscience.
In addition, Macbeth's ambition caused him to do desperate things.
Desperation. in my opinion, dug Macbeth's own grave. When the subject of
Macduff arrives, I don't think that he would have been so bitter towards Macbeth
if he hadn't killed his wife and children. Killing Macduff's family gains
nothing for Macbeth and tries to get at Macduff indirectly. This act of
desperation and spitefulness gives a good reason to now fear Macduff.
Also, as Macbeth took the throne, he really didn't trust anyone except his
wife, Lady Macbeth. Paranoid, due to King Duncan's murder, Macbeth let's his
delusional state of mind get to him. Therefore, from his original guilt of
murder causes Macbeth to become paranoid and kill some more. Killing Macduff's
family was definitely an act of desperation. He also plants spies showing again
how paranoid and desperate he was seeing his enemies, real or imagined,
everywhere.
Lastly, I thought that Macbeth showed some very important traits that we
should all learn from. We should learn that it is good to be ambitious but
being overambitiousness could cause us to do desperate things. And while doing
those desperate things, we could possibly become paranoid and then do some more
desperate things. {When I say "we', I mean the people of the world.} This is a
fatal circle that I believe that Macbeth got spun into by the witches and partly
by Lady Macbeth. It was his choice to follow through. No one put a, in this
case, sword to his head.