Is Macbeth responcible for his
Is Macbeth responcible for hisWas Macbeth responsible for his own downfall?
Eleventh century Scotland was a violent and troubled country. Feuding families and clans fought to control trade and territory. The castle was the powerbase for each warlord (Thane). Political murder and revenge killings were commonplace. Marauding Vikings and Norsemen raided constantly.
Macbeth was born in 1005, son of a great family that ruled Moray and Ross. Macbeths father was murdered by his own cousins. He then married Gruach, granddaughter to a high king of Scotland. They never had any children and there is no evidence of the influence that Lady Macbeth had over her husband.
Whilst the play is based loosely on fact, Shakespeare altered some of the events so that they fitted the play. For example, he invented Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking and death, the banquet scene and Banquo's Ghost as well as most of the cauldron scene. Shakespeare also changed Duncan from an ineffectual king into an old and revered ruler and he also ignored Macbeth's ten years of good rule.
The first major event in the play is Act 1 Scene 1 where the witches talk about meeting Macbeth on the heath. The appearance of the witches early on in the play immediately establishes the influence of the supernatural. My quote supporting this statement is below. It's when the third witch says.
"There to meet with Macbeth"
This suggests that the witches knew that Macbeth was taking that route back to Duncan�s castle and that they would be waiting for him on the way. How would the witches know where to meet Macbeth if he hadn�t told them unless they were supernatural?
Secondly, the next event in the play is where the sergeant comes into the king�s chamber reporting that the rebellion led by MacDonwald has been crushed. However, Sweno, king of Norway has launched an attack, which both Macbeth and Banquo are helping to repel. King Duncan then pronounces the death sentence over the treacherous Thane of Cawdor and says that Macbeth shall have his title. In this event, we first learn that Macbeth is going to be given more power as the Thane of Cawdor than he ever had when he was Thane of Glamis. The next quote shows Duncan deciding to give Macbeth the title of Thane of Cawdor.
�And with his former title greet Macbeth�
It will be this taste of power together with the promise of the witches� prophecies, which eventually convinces Macbeth to murder King Duncan.
Overall, the characters that were most responsible for influencing Macbeth are the witches and Lady Macbeth. They both play on his fatal flaws (ambition and greed) in order to cause what they want i.e. chaos for the witches and becoming queen for Lady...
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