Is ambition the root of Macbeth's downfall?

‘The Prince of Cumberland: that is a step/On which I must fall down. Or else o’erleap,/For in my way it lies. Stars hide your fires/Let not light see my black and deep desires.’

His language here is a complete contrast to earlier on in the play; it is the first sign of the evil within Macbeth. It is dark and full of bad intent.

    Lady Macbeth observes the start of this change in him and acts upon it to encourage it since she knows that Macbeth possesses ambition within him, but not the malicious intent necessary for him to become king.

‘yet do I fear thy nature/It is to full o’th’milk of human kindness.’

She is selfless, and wants what is best for her husband. However Macbeth is not resolved to go through with the killing of the King. Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth’s self-esteem by playing on his manliness and his bravery, in order to ensure that he realises the opportunity in front of him.

‘when you durst do it, then you were a man. /And to be more than what you were, you would/Be so much more the man.’

This convinces Macbeth to commit regicide, because being one of the bravest men in Scotland, he could not stand being called a coward. He has to prove to his wife that he still is big and masculine. Although Macbeth has the final say in whether or not to go ahead with the initial killing, he loves his wife and wants to make her happy. Lady Macbeth is the dominating person in their relationship. It seems that she can get him to do anything as long as she does it in the right way, like playing on his confidence. However, as the play progresses, and Duncan is killed, Macbeth seems to become the dominating partner.

Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have ambition; Lady Macbeth’s ambition drives her to manipulate Macbeth into the most heinous crime of regicide. Most of the crimes committed by Macbeth were planned out beforehand, i.e. the murders of Duncan, Banquo and Macduff’s family.

     Paranoia is another key factor that leads to Macbeth’s downfall. Once Macbeth kills for the first time he has no choice but to cover up his wrong doings, and to do this he has to kill again because he is scared, understandably, of getting caught and having to pay for his crimes. Macbeth feels Banquo knows that he became king in an immoral way but also Macbeth knows that it would be ‘No son of mine succeeding’. Banquo’s children will succeed Macbeth as King which makes Macbeth very angry.

‘Only for them; and mine eternal jewel
Given to the common enemy of man,
To make them kings, the seeds of Banquo kings!’

 Here Macbeth realizes that if something is not done to Banquo, then his sons will succeed him as King. Macbeth cannot bear this as he feels he has paid a high price to ensure his own name on the crown. His fears become evident as well, ‘But to be safely thus: our fears in Banquo/ Stick deep;’ Macbeth has Banquo murdered; however his son Fleance escapes in the attack. Moreover, the fear of losing the impending battle with England makes Macbeth start doing anything that will give him the edge in the final battle. Macbeth's fear is starting to consume him; he can no longer sleep and is ravaged by guilt over what he has done.

In addition, Lady Macbeth is being consumed by fear and guilt; she is slowly losing her sanity. This is as a result of her not being able to cope with what she has done to Duncan. ‘Out damned spot! Out, I say! One, two. Why, then 'tis time to do't. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier and afeard? What need we fear? Who knows it when none can call our power to account?’

This sleepwalking and guilt therefore stops her from having any affect on Macbeth; he is now in control of what happens, unlike earlier on in the play.

The witches’ prophecies are another main source of fear for Macbeth, after all this is where he has learned everything from. With each new vision, Macbeth falls deeper and deeper into an evil spiral. This started from the witches’ first prediction of Macbeth being king, which made Macbeth kill to become king. This was followed by the prediction that Banquo's children would become kings, this scared Macbeth.  Later when he went back to see the witches he gained some more knowledge, ‘Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! beware Macduff; Beware the thane of Fife.’. Now that Macbeth has heard this, he believes that he must kill Macduff, however he learns that Macduff has fled to England, so he decides to kill Macduff’s family. Macbeth is told he cannot be killed by any man born of woman. This gives him the confidence that no matter what the English do he will not be defeated. In addition he is told that he will not be defeated until the trees of Birnam Wood move towards his castle. He has put all his faith in these prophecies because he believes what the witches have said must be true because of the outcome of the first prediction.

   In conclusion, Macbeth has many forces acting upon him, the Witches, Lady Macbeth, paranoia and ambition. However things would not have got so out of control if the others factors had not contributed, so ambition is the main root of Macbeth’s downfall.