Witches and other superstitions were widely believed in Shakespeare’s time, so it is easy to see why Macbeth was fooled into believing them.
In Act 2, Scene 3, the morning after the murder, guilt and regret clearly play upon his mind when he says, ‘Had I died but an hour before this chance, I would have lived a blessed time.’ However, these feelings gradually manifest into negative thoughts. Banquo was with Macbeth when the predictions were made, and is suspicious because the prophecies have become true so quickly and he knew some of Macbeth's murderous thoughts. Macbeth then decided to order two murders to kill Banquo and Fleance, so anyone suspicious is eradicated. He later then assigns another murder to ensure the act is completed. This shows Macbeth becoming an evil person; the murders give him a sense of power and he becomes greedy.
When Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost, he converses with it, but what seems like an empty space to the guests. Lady Macbeth comes to his aid, saying he has always has these moments and ‘hath been from his youth’ Even though Macbeth had been neglecting her, Lady Macbeth still cares deeply for her husband. The sense of losing touch is continued, when he puts all his faith into the supernatural.
When Macbeth sees The Sisters next, The witches give contradictory predictions about Macduff, the first being an armed head that’s says, ‘Macbeth...Beware Macduff. Beware the Thane of Fife’’ to which second apparition takes it place. It says, ‘Be bloody, bold and resolute: laugh to scorn. The power of man, for none of women born shall harm Macbeth.’ Sill apprehensive, Macbeth hires murderers to kill Macduff, but he has fled to England. Instead they kill Macduff s family, yet Macbeth no longer feels guilt, he has committed so much evil that he has distanced himself from any remorse.
In Act 1,Scene 5, Macbeth sends a letter to his wife, informing her of his new title as Thane of Cawdor, and his connections with the Weird sisters and their prophecies. As soon as she finishes the letter, she determines that Macbeth will receive “what thou art promised’ and the only way this can be achieved is that Macbeth kills King Duncan. However, she feels her husband is ‘too full of the milk of human kindness’ to fulfil this act of treason. Lady Macbeth summons spirits to ‘unsex’ her and ‘thicken [her] blood’ so she can, too, complete this act. Macbeth brings further news that Duncan is coming to spend the night with them, it becomes clear to Lady Macbeth that her role is to seize the moment and facilitate her husband’s rise to kingship. However, In Act 1 Scene 7 Macbeth makes it clear he wants to ‘proceed no further’ in the planning of King Duncan’s death. Lady Macbeth’s desire for her husband to become King and her Queen is evident when she uses a variety of techniques to persuade Macbeth. She questions his love for her, by saying ‘From this time, Such I account thy love’ This unexpected scorn causes Macbeth to become defensive, as their relationship is quite intense and he shows that he really does care. Furthermore, Lady Macbeth taunts Macbeth’s masculinity by calling him a ‘coward’ and says ‘Art thou afeared to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou are in desire,’ Macbeth’s title depends on his courage and bravery, so for her to say he is weak would drive him to prove her wrong. Her final tactic is very shocking, she criticises Macbeth for going back on his word, and says if it were her then she would have ‘dashed the brains out’ of her baby as punishment for breaking her promise. In the end he is persuaded.
In Act 5, Scene 1, Shakespeare demonstrates Lady Macbeth being tortured by guilt as she sleepwalks and begins to go mad. She often hallucinates King Duncan’s blood on her hands as she says, ‘Out damned spot!’ Eventually, Lady Macbeth is driven to suicide. Macbeth's reaction to the death of his wife is very different from what we, as an audience, expect from a man who shared a very intimate and close understanding with his better half. He is emotionless, saying "she should have died hereafter.’’ Macbeth is very calm, almost like he does not care at all. This illustrates the breakdown of their relationship. At this point, Macbeth realises that he is near his own death, even though the witches have told him otherwise, because he says ‘all our yesterdays have lighted fools, the way to the dusty death.’ He seems to accept it and appears to no longer believe the Witches.
This leads me to answer the question, who is responsible for the tragedy of Macbeth?
From all of the evidence, I believe that Lady Macbeth is not responsible. Some people call Lady Macbeth the fourth Witch, but if you look more closely, she fades out of the action rather quickly. The only kill she contributed towards was King Duncan’s, and from this point onwards Macbeth decides himself. She may have been the one to pressure Macbeth into killing Duncan and use her devious taunts to force him do it, but it does not take him long to submit to them.
I believe that The Witches are partially responsible. If they could see the future and make these predictions, they must have been able to see what Macbeth was going to do. Macbeth was foolish; he should not have put so much trust in the Witches. They meant for Macbeth to get into this trouble, that he was just an instrument for them to perform and execute their evil mischief.
From all the evidence I have concluded that Macbeth was responsible. He was a weak man; it was not long before the Witches and his wife were able to influence him.
Being a man of status and power, he should not have allowed himself to get involved with the supernatural. The deeds he performed are sheer evil and no one can place the blame upon anyone else but Macbeth. He made the choice to kill; all he had to do was to refuse Lady Macbeth, which was not hard seeing as in those days, men were superior to women. Furthermore, the witches did not tell him to kill Banquo or Duncan, Macbeth decided this himself. He should not have been so willing to listen to the Witches and rather than just being suspicious of his friends, he should have questioned The Sister more.
As the play progressed, he became a cold and callous man. He got his kingship, but was left with nothing. At the end Macduff rightly defeated him, and one of Duncan sons- Malcolm became King. Macbeth was responsible for the tragedies that occurred.
