Who is to blame for Macbeth's downfall?

In Shakespeare's dramatic tragedy, 'Macbeth', the concept of the 'true antagonist' is explored and harbingers the tragic downfall of the character Macbeth. As the play progresses, Shakespeare ventilates a myriad of elements, that can be blamed for the catalyst of his demise. Although it is evident that the Witches' prophecies and Lady Macbeth's inhumane conscience and enticement promotes Macbeth's ungraceful end, Shakespeare shows through the exploits of Macbeth that he regresses from a logical and conscientious man, to an egocentric and tormented soul, who places his own interests above all other considerations. The "vaulting ambition" and self-aggrandisement that was ruthlessly pursued, is rather ironically manifested to be the architect of his downfall, ultimately illustrating that these cravings induced his eventual nemesis.

In the opening of the play, the Witches appear in midst of 'thunder and lightning', establishing a dark and ominous atmosphere, while foreshadowing the impending catastrophe. The witches' prophecies act as a trigger that influence and obscure Macbeth's "vaulting ambition". This misleads him into believing that he is invulnerable through deceptive use of equivocation, which subconsciously begins controlling his destiny. Though the Witches don't instruct him to do anything, they merely reveal the future and confront him at his most vulnerable state, planting a 'seed' in his head that "All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!" and that "none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth" which he acquiescently believes and instigates his actions. Originally, the Witches' deceptive tidings of chiasmus "fair is foul and foul is fair" is an imagery to echo the notion of moral contamination through paradoxical quotes, used to state there will be much antithesis, as they ultimately corrupt Macbeth's 'noble stature', contextually depicting them as agents of the devil. With their adoption of rhythm and rhyme in their speech and poetic language, they 'palter with Macbeth "in riddles and affairs of death" and as a result he is 'drawn into turmoil', which is used by Shakespeare to convey the danger of suggestion, that depending on the conditions, they may be harmless, delusive or insidious. Manipulating Macbeth's "deepest desires" to falsely lead him, ends being his 'deepest consequence'.

Lady Macbeth's pivotal role in Macbeth's calamity is illustrated through her immorality, stemming from her deceptiveness and manipulation of Macbeth's thoughts, emotions and actions. Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth proves to be exceedingly manipulative with no qualms about achieving her ambition. She cleverly influences Macbeth by exploiting his vulnerability and skilfully using it as a weapon. This is apparent when she accuses him of not loving her "From this time/ Such I account thy love" and criticises him of cowardice "Art thou afeard...'; "And live a coward". Similarly in Act 1, Scene 7, Lady Macbeth insults and humiliates Macbeth by questioning his manliness; "What beast was't than/ That made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man". She employs highly emotive language as a tactic along with her cunning subversion of Macbeth's sense of manhood to pressure him to commit the murder, as she knows he will take great offence in this, thus propelling him to commit the murder. Furthermore, she divulges to Macbeth to "Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't'". This simile is used to tell Macbeth to appear benign and innocent so his facade will camouflage his true motives: to murder King Duncan. Due to Lady Macbeth's impetuous nature along with her practical mindset, the examples epitomises Lady Macbeth's control and authority over Macbeth, thus delineating another aspect that drives Macbeth to his undoing.

Despite the fact that the nature of perpetual conflicts persists throughout the play, it is eventually Macbeth's succumbing to moral corruption, his 'vaulting ambition' and hubris that becomes his hamartia. This is clearly stated in the aside in Act 1 Scene 4, "The Prince of Cumberland! that is a step, On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap, For in my way it lies" where Macbeth is malcontent with 'just' being Thane of Cawdor and instead desires to be King where it similarly explores his overwhelming amount of hubris. As he begins to act on his hubris, he slowly loses sense of virtue and declares it necessary to conceal his "black and deep" desires which is metaphorically disclosed for his plans to become king. In Macbeth's dagger soliloquy, the dagger is symbolic of Macbeth being torn between guilt and temptation. The hallucination of the bloody dagger, "Is that a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me cluth thee" is an apostrophe to show that it is only a figment of his own guilty imagination, revealing his dark aspiration and lust for power he subconsciously knows is depraved. At the end of Macbeth's "dagger soliloquy" the final vestiges of the honourable Macbeth disappears as he gives in to his craving for power, overthrowing his sense of guilt and revulsion as he is "spurred" by his own mind to commit regicide, exemplifying the real antagonist. Through this, the murder of Duncan foreshadows the toll to be exacted upon the conspirator. Though Macbeth shows hubris as early as Act 1, it lingers till the denouement where it is most evident "I will not yield, To kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet, And to be baited with the rabble's curse". Although he knows his death is inevitable, he still refuses to concede defeat, showing that essentially he values his hubris and ego over his life; a man deceived by his baser nature, knowing complicity in his own perdition.

Essentially, the witches plant the 'seed' or ideas of evil, Lady Macbeth waters it with encouragement and from there, it grows wildly on its own within Macbeth. Ultimately, Macbeth's absolute desertion of humanity along with his "vaulting ambition", hubris and overriding crusade for stature, power and self-aggrandisement reveals him to be the architect of his own reckoning.

*This essay was written by Michael Yang, The King's School

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