In act 1 scene 2 Macbeth has an hallucination in which a dagger appears “ is this a dagger which I see before me?” He uses the dagger as a proof that the Witches prediction was correct, but he knows that the hallucination is not real “ I have thee not”, “yet I see thee still”. Macbeth is a weak, fragile, passive character and he always tries to find excuses, like the dagger hallucination, to fulfill his dreams.
Lady Macbeth is also an excuse, because he knows that she is more ambitious than he is and she will certainly help him to become king. Lady Macbeth's ambition is also due to her inferior position, firstly because she is a woman and secondly because she never had any sons or daughters, but always wanted to be a mother and maybe she lost the baby when he/she was small “have plucked my nipple...boneless gums”(Act 1 scene 7). Macbeth never tries to contradict her because he personally feels responsible for his wife’s misery.
We can clearly see that Lady Macbeth is one of the main culprits for Macbeth's downfall. She has a dominant character, she calls him “coward” and explains to Macbeth precisely what he has to do, as we see in Act 1 Scene 5 when she tells him “ look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under`t”. She is the person in charge of the whole situation “leave all the rest to me”. Even though the role of women at the time was merely of accompaniment, we see here that infact Lady Macbeth is the superior character. Macbeth is a passive actor at this point of the play while Lady Macbeth is the true leader.
Lady Macbeth can also be associated with the Witches not only for her role to convince Macbeth but also for her connections with the evil “ Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts! Unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty”.
Lady Macbeth changes her character at one specific point in the play: the deaths of MacDuffs children.
Maybe this reminds her of the child that she lost or the fact that she has no sons. She is now full of remorse for Duncan's death “ Out, damned spot! Out, I say” “ Here's the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand”.
Only at the end does Macbeth develop a strong character. He doesn’t care anymore of his wife’s death “ She should have died here after”, and he is ready to fight “ I'll fight till from my bones my flesh be hack`d”.
This war imagery towards the end of the play reminds us of how Macbeth was at the beginning of the play, a fearless warrior fighting for his king.
This two-faced Macbeth, on one side traitor to King Duncan, and on the other great soldier begins to make him lose his mind.
You can clearly see this in Act 4 when he sees the three apparitions, he doesn’t understand that these apparitions are deceiving him and once more like in the witches scene he believes the words of a 'magical' character “Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn the power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth” and think he is invincible.
Macbeth's downfall is caused by his great ambition that unfortunately wasn't backed up by a strong character. His fragility surrounds him by influences that only apparently are helping him overcome his weaknesses, but in reality lead him to madness and at the end to his defeat.