Who is Responsible for Macbeth’s Downfall? Essay Example

Did Macbeth dig his own grave? Macbeth is a novel written by Shakespeare about a man, Macbeth, and his journey on becoming king. It is clear that Macbeth has been through many obstacles and done things he may or may not regret. Though it seems as if Lady Macbeth or the witches are responsible for Macbeth’s downfall, it is truly no one but his own fault. 

How are the witches connected to Macbeth and his downfall? The witches have involved themselves by making predictions about what will become of Macbeth in the future. While making their predictions, they told Macbeth that he would soon be King, they stated “All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter!” (1.3.50). This gave Macbeth false hope, it makes the audience feel as though the witches are responsible for his downfall because now Lady Macbeth has also started scheming, figuring out ways for him to get Duncan out of the way. But the witches play a small part in this. Their one statement should not be enough to get a person to commit murder. Their one statement was not enough to get him to do what he did to Duncan. The reason he did so was because of his own will. As the saying says “where there’s a will there’s a way” this relates to Macbeth because as long as he wanted the throne he would find a way to achieve it, even if that meant getting rid of the current owner of it.

That being said, Lady Macbeth isn’t as innocent as she seems. She is actually manipulative and selfish. Lady Macbeth has made comments about Macbeth’s manhood numerous times, she threatened it by saying, “When you durst do it, then you were a man / And to be more than what you were, you would / Be so much more the man.” (Act 1, Scene 7, line 46-53). She meant to manipulate him here, so that she was capable of getting into his head. Although this seems as if it is Lady Macbeth’s fault it isn’t, Macbeth could have easily avoided the outcome by simply blocking out the meaningless words his wife had uttered to him. But instead of doing the following, he decided he had to prove himself to her because he craved her validation. That being said, Lady Macbeth’s actions should not be defended. Making comments about his manhood is one thing but creating a fantasy where she would own the throne herself is another. One of her main motives to get Macbeth to kill Duncan was because she wanted to be claimed as Queen, which could only have been done once Macbeth was King. She portrayed that by saying, “Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this.” (Act 1, Scene 7, line 56-58). Lady Macbeth gave it her all to get Macbeth to kill, but she isn’t the reason he went through all those stages of guilt. 

With all of that given, the witches and Lady Macbeth still had a great part to play in Macbeth’s downfall, but that doesn’t let Macbeth off of the hook. Yes, it is true that he is easily persuaded, but that does not mean that he hasn’t had violent thoughts of his own. He had said that, "Stars hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires." (Act 1, Scene 4). Meaning that he has thoughts himself that he realizes are wrong. This shows that through his own actions, he followed through with his dark impulses rather than committing the murders because of Lady Macbeth’s dark thoughts. He may have realized that his thoughts are not so different from Lady Macbeth’s, but the difference between the two is that he wouldn’t say his out loud. In act 3, scene 4, he had said, “blood will have blood”. This also proves that he finds joy in killing, so even if Lady Macbeth somehow was the reason he killed Duncan, he still had hunger for more blood. He felt as though he “needed” to kill, as if there were no other option. That would then redirect right back to the fact that he had his own dark impulses. Now the one who is guilty can be argued, but the fact is that in the end Macbeth is the only one who could have changed the outcome. 

There are many thoughts that point the finger at Lady Macbeth. As stated before, the main reasons others are led to believe that Lady Macbeth is actually responsible for Macbeth’s downfall is because she questioned his manhood which led to his ego being hurt. But the fact is that Macbeth is the one who brought on his fortune. Lady Macbeth verbally told him what she thinks he should do, but Macbeth was the one who actually committed the crime. In a real-life situation, when someone commits murder, the one who actually committed it is the one who goes to jail, not the people involved behind the scenes. The same goes for Macbeth., if he let Lady Macbeth act on her actions he would have been safe but instead of doing so, he took matters into his own hands which point him to be guilty in every way possible.

Now putting all of these thoughts into consideration, I still believe that no one is responsible for his actions but Macbeth. No matter what is said, the one who takes action is the one who is guilty. If Macbeth had simply not acted on these actions, he would be safe, not worrying about what is going to happen to him or having to go through all the stages of guilt.