Who was responsible for the downfall of Scotland?

Authors Avatar

Who was responsible for the downfall of Scotland?

        Many people could be held responsible for the downfall of Scotland, and they can be split into four. Firstly there are the witches, who predicted the future of Macbeth therefore making him self-confident. Secondly, there does Duncan, whose naïve; trust and generous character could have been the cause for the downfall, as it led to the betrayal of both Thanes of Cawdor. Thirdly, there is Macbeth, the one who committed the murder to satisfy his ’black and deep desires’. Lastly, there is Lady Macbeth, who encouraged Macbeth to act upon the witches’ predictions and manipulated her husband by questioning his courage and saying that his love was worth nothing if he didn’t carry out the deed 'screw your courage to the sticking place'.  All of these people contributed to the downfall of Scotland, the blame falls on all of them. However Macbeth is the one who physically carried out the evil actions, the others didn’t force him to do evil they just triggered it. Then again, if any one of the other people weren’t present e.g. the witches, then Macbeth’ may not have killed the king.

        The witches could also be blamed for the downfall of Scotland, because initially if they hadn’t made the predictions then Macbeth wouldn’t have become so self-confident and determined to become King. The first Line that they chant ’fair is foul, and foul is fair’ sums up the play, it is an oxymoron which shows the audience that it will be difficult to tell the difference between good and evil throughout the play. This is reinforced by the idea that Banquo couldn’t tell if the witches were men or women. The concept f appearance and reality is a key theme in Macbeth.

        Shakespeare used the witches effectively concept of appearance and reality is a main theme in Macbeth. to suit his audience. Stuart audiences were fascinated with the supernatural would have been thrilled and excited by the witches and would have immediately held them responsible, because of their superstition. King James 1, the king on the throne during Shakespeare’s lifetime was especially interested in witches and even published a book about them Daemonologie, which he made sure was printed in London in 1603.

The Language used by the witches is ambiguous and dramatic, which terrifies the audience even more. They speak in vague riddles, so that Macbeth only hears what he wants to hear. Their language is full of spitefulness, violence and repulsive references to mutilations; this reinforces them as evil, making it very easy to place the blame on them. Particularly, since the Shakespearian audience already associate witches with evil.

It could also be said that the witches knew that the downfall of Scotland was approaching. As when one was talking about how she will punish a sailor because his wife didn’t give her some of her chestnuts, she implies that she can toss the ship in the stormy seas and torment the sailor so that he cannot sleep but cannot actually sink the ship. This is a metaphor, the ship represents Scotland and the sailor is Macbeth. The witches’ set up the ’climate’ of evil by the predictions they made but it’s Lady Macbeth who links it with murder, not the witches. It’s Macbeth’s actions that leave Scotland in turmoil, and he is the one who cannot sleep due to his evil deeds. The witches make it clear that they can only create the weather for evil but it is man alone who causes chaos in the world by destroying order, which is what Macbeth did, when he killed the King.

Join now!

        On the other hand, the witches did play on Macbeth’s fears in Act four scene one. Two of the four apparitions he was shown were children ‘a bloody child’ and ‘a child crowned, with a tree in his hand’. Children have been Macbeth’s weakness throughout the play as he is afraid of what they may grow up into. For example, he gave an order for the murder of Fleance because he is Banquo’s son and is a threat, as according to the witches Banquo’s decedents will take the throne. Macbeth is also afraid as Malcolm; Duncan’s son is the rightful ...

This is a preview of the whole essay