The theme of evil is established right at the start of the play. On a heath the tree witches are waiting for Macbeth
“There to meet with Macbeth” (Act1 Sc1 Line 8)
The three witches have chosen their victim then we here how much of a great man Macbeth is and how he is admired by the king
“No more the Thane of Cawdor shall deceive our bosom interest .Go pronounce his present death and with his former title greet Macbeth” (Act1 Sc2 Line 72)
Here the king is giving Macbeth a new title the Thane of Cawdor. The king also says
“What we hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won” (Act1 Sc2 Line 76)
This shows he really admires Macbeth.
In the play Macbeth, the main character Macbeth undergoes a transition and changes from a kind hearted person to a psychotic cold-blooded killer. There are many examples in this play that indicate this major change in Macbeth. In the beginning of the play, he was your average nobleman to Scotland. He had only killed one soldier, and that was in battle. As the play progresses he and his wife plan the deaths of many other people to gain more power in Scotland. Macbeth, at first, didn’t agree with his wife and her killing ways, but as the play went on, he became more and more comfortable with his actions.
In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is the Thane of Glamis. He visits three witches and they predict that he is going to be the new Thane of Cawdor and then eventually he will become the king. Upon hearing this, he becomes anxious and wants that position very much, however he doesn’t want to kill or do anything malicious like that to get it. In Act one, he says, “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir.” This quote means that Macbeth wants to be king but he wants to get it when it comes to him and he doesn’t want to get it forcefully. He feels that he could wait to become king, and he will eventually become just that.
As the play goes on, Macbeth is becoming more like a cold blooded killer than the kind hearted person that he used to be. In Act two, Scene two, he kills the King Duncan. He does this because his wife is pushing him more and more to do it to become king. After he kills Duncan, he becomes paranoid and begins losing his mind. This shows that Macbeth is crossing over from the kind-hearted, non-violent person that he used to be, to a cold-hearted, violent killer.
As the play winds down, Macbeth is transformed in to a cold-blooded killer. In Act three, he hires three murderers to kill his so-called best friend Banquo and his son Fleance. In scene 1 he says to the murderers, “Know Banquo was your enemy”, and then he says, “So is he mine, and in such bloody distance…For sundry weighty reasons.” In this quote, he is goading the murderers into doing the deed. He is doing the same thing to the murderers as his wife did to him when she talked him into killing the king Duncan. This shows that Macbeth has transferred into a true killer, and he will do anything or kill anyone to get what he wants.
In the final act, Act 5, Macbeth has either planned or committed many different murders. However, he hears from his servant that ten thousand soldiers are on their way to attack the castle. Upon hearing this, Macbeth says, “Ill fight, till from my bones my flesh be hacked. Give me my armor.” This quote emphasizes on how much Macbeth thinks of himself, and how tough he thinks he is, when, in reality, he knows that there is no way of taking on that many men at one time. Macduff kills him in the attack in a sword fight. So the predictions of the apparitions came true when they said for him to fear Macduff because he will be the one to kill him. After the death of Macbeth, Malcolm becomes the new king of Scotland, and that is where the play ends.
At the end of the play the rightful king is restored and Macbeth and his wife are called
“Dead butcher and his fiend like Queen”
This is a tragedy Macbeth allowed his Vaulting Ambition to triumph over his Goodness. I do not think Macbeth caused his own downfall because he was only human and he could not have resisted the supernatural he should have also stood up to his wife but because of the immense evil in her he would do anything for her. So in the end Macbeth wasn’t fully responsibly for his own downfall.
