Macbeth Is Entirely Responsible for This Downfall? Do You Agree or Disagree?

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Macbeth’s downfall was also influenced by psychological factors such as his guilt, fear and paranoia after murdering Duncan, caused by his ambition. These factors continuously plagued him, resulting in him repeatedly murdering people that he considered as threats to himself and the throne. Guilt is the main psychological factor that dictates Macbeth’s actions throughout the play and consequently leads to his downfall. One of Shakespeare’s reasons for writing the play, apart from complimenting King James, was to illustrate the consequences of murdering a king. The play was first performed in 1605, the year of the Gunpowder Plot, which was a plan lead by Guy Fawkes to bomb the Parliament. Shakespeare’s Macbeth would be politically accepted by member of King James’ court as Shakespeare shows that the consequences for the murderers of a king would be to be tormented by guilt, thus driven to their doom. The pattern of an ambitious person, who has no moral limits, rising to power, and then falling because of the psychological aftermath of their ambition, is a common theme that Shakespeare incorporates into his play. This is evident in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, when Macbeth says ‘Life’s but a walking shadow’ along with other examples of life’s futility. It is because of this mentality that he becomes reckless, paranoid and boastfully insane, allowing Malcolm to dispose of Macbeth and claim the throne, restoring peace and order to Scotland. Guilt is one of the psychological factors that play a pivotal role in affecting Macbeth’s actions. The idea of guilt makes its first appearance in when Banquo questions Macbeth’s reaction to the witches’ prophecy, saying ‘Why do you start and seem to fear, /Things that do sound so fair?’ Macbeth’ guilt soon takes a visual form through hallucinations, such as the bloody dagger that leads him to murder Duncan. After he commits his first crime, murdering Duncan, Macbeth is slowly driven mad by the guilt. Macbeth begins to see hallucinations and develop insomnia. This is evident when Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost at the table whilst saying ‘Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake thy gory locks at me! Macbeth imagines that his guilty conscience will never let him sleep peacefully again ‘Methought I heard a voice cry “Sleep no more’. Macbeth’s guilt prevents him from enjoying his ill-gotten gains and leads to him making decisions that will further corrupt him and burden his already guilty conscience. However, towards the end of the play, Macbeth is relieved that he no longer has to carry the burden of his guilty conscience. Fear is another psychological factor that hinders Macbeth and steers his character’s mind set and actions. Macbeth’s fear is derived from his paranoia of being caught and subsequently removed from the throne, as well as preventing the witches’ third prophecy as it states ‘Macbeth shall never vanquished be until/ Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane hill/ Shall come against him’. It is through the third prophecy that Macbeth fears losing the impending battle and acts rashly and boastfully, sending his army to greet the enemy rather than protect his castle, thinking that it will prevent Birnam Wood from reaching his castle and whilst giving him the advantage. Macbeth also feared that Banquo’s children will reign in his place in the future, thereby cutting his lineage short. In Macbeth’s monologue ‘That two-fold balls and treble sceptres carry’, it is evident that Banquo’s descendants’ reign will be over more than just Scotland, bringing into context King James’ claim that he is descended from Banquo as he is the first king to rule over Scotland and England. Fear is Macbeth’s main motivating force that drives him to commit more murders to cover up his shame and guilt as well as in fear of being caught or rebelled against, both of which occur nonetheless because of his tyranny and corrupted actions. Lady Macbeth also plays a role in drawing out Macbeth’s fear, condemning his guilt as cowardice or fear, leading Macbeth to murder innocent lives to prove his manhood. Paranoia is the last psychological factor that drives Macbeth to his downfall. Macbeth paranoia develops to the point that he takes extra precautions, evident and clearly illustrated when Macbeth hires a third murderer to join the two that were previously hired in murdering Banquo and Fleance. The murderers state ‘He needs not our mistrust; since he delivers our offices, and what we have to do.’ Macbeth’s paranoia is a result of fear and guilt, which was triggered by the murdering Duncan. It developed into a boastful madness resulting in his rash actions, thereby leading to his downfall.

Shakespeare’s Macbeth, evidently analyses the statement that Macbeth is not entirely responsible for his own downfall through the use of context, language and the construction of the events throughout the play. Through the pivotal role of the witches and their prophecy, being the main influential factor, Lady Macbeth’s power hungry nature for power and her use of manipulation and verbal trickery, and the psychological factors being fear, guilt and paranoia, Shakespeare successfully conveys the message that there are numerous factors that contribute to his downfall. Therefore, this evidently leads to the conclusion that Macbeth is not entirely responsible for his own downfall, due to the numerous contributors that lead to his demise.

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