Macbeths need to be all powerful was a direct cause of his death. At the beginning of the play, the third witch says ‘All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be king hereafter’ (Act I. Scene iii line 49). This had intrigued Macbeth. At this part in the play, he has reached a great point in his life as the Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth is now in touch with both the supernatural and the evil, and though still skeptical, he wants to become king at all costs. Though dressed ‘In borrow’d robes’ (Macbeth, Act I. Scene iii line 108) he easily adjusted to the roll. His need to become more in life leads to his killing of the king. Like a pack of ravaging dogs, Macbeth finishes off the King of Scotland even though many reasons tell him not too. His greed to constantly become all powerful brought him down. As Macbeth became over confident at his power, he challenged that which he could not defeat. Macbeth could not stand others defying him or others being better then him or in any aspect; he saw himself as the superpower. As one can clearly see, his need to be all controlling led to his defeat.
Another character flaw that Macbeth possesses is his thirst for killing. His first kill sparked something inside of him. The old shy and nervous Macbeth was replaced with a new reckless and brave man. His need for power makes him want to remove all those around him that pose a threat, and his thirst for killing fuels that. As the seconds slips away on a clock, so does Macbeths ability to think logically. His seeking out of Macduff, his only real energy, was an unwise choice that eventually lead to his death. As Macbeth foreshadowed, ‘It will have blood; blood will have blood:’ (Act III. Scene iv line 22). Who was to know that instead of Macbeth talking about his past and future killings, he was referring to his own eventual bloody demise? It is easy to see that his hunger for killing people caused a chain of events that directly related to Macbeths own ending.
Macbeth’s ambition is a snake, it hides stealthy, waiting for its’ pray, and attacks. Macbeth is a very ambition man, and the actions that he does because of his ambition all relate to each other in the fact that a series of events follows those actions which eventually lead to his untimely death. Macbeths killing of the King was morally unjustified. His reasons for not killing the King were far substantially larger then his reasons for killing him. The reason for killing the King was simple; his ambition. Macbeths ambition drove him to take drastic measures, and to do whatever he sees fit to become the all powerful ruler. Macbeth needed to prove to his wife that he could ‘look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under ‘t ‘(Lady Macbeth, Act I. Scene v lines 64-65). This tragic hero which we call Macbeth was so set on the one goal that eventually led to his uncontrollable paranoia. This paranoia caused Macbeth to kill Banquo, thus causing Macbeth to become haunted. These hauntings slowly lead him to lose all sense of sanity and rational thinking. As time went on however, the paranoia was gone because the Three Witches lulled him into a false sense of security in their second meeting. This false security led to over confidence and him not fearing those he should. ‘I cannot taint with fear. What’s this boy Malcom? Was he not of woman born?’ (Macbeth, Act V. Scene ii lines 3-4). After all, ‘thou’lt be afraid to …’(Macbeth, Act V. Scene vii line 5) hear his name, though his downfall comes from his display of over ambition.
The tragic Shakespearean hero Macbeth had many tragic flaws that led to the downward spiral into evil. Those character defects are his greed for power, his ambition, and his desire to kill. The great tragedy of Macbeth’s downfall will be relived for generations to come. This dark symphony of fear will be read and as Shakespeare manages to capture the passion and emotion onto a page of words, it affects us as people for the rest of our lives. Lessons learnt from Macbeth may carry with us for years to come. As Shakespeare portrays the many faces of evil, the audience is left with a lasting impression of a most famous piece of literature and art.
Key
Similie
Parallelism
Metaphor