Who Is to Blame for Macbeth's Downfall? A Literary Essay Sample

The story of Macbeth is one which has great lessons to the rulers in the society and the subjects the rulers. The story is an inspiration to the society and acknowledges the benefits of patience and maintaining ones nobility and loyalty. This is a story of one servant of the king of Scotland who was very successful in war courtesy of his bravery, nobility, courage and loyalty. The success of the servant, Macbeth is evident in the manner in which he gained respect from the citizens as a result of his unfailing protection from Scotlands enemies. His victories made him a friend of the king and the king responded to Macbeths efforts by rewarding him righteously. However, Macbeth begins to change when he hears of the prophecy of him becoming the king of Scotland from the Three Witches. His superficial urge to become the next king leads him to kill the king thereby leaving the kingdom in shambles with him as the king; the shambolic nature of the kingdom eventually leads to his death. In this relation, there is need to examine how Macbeth orchestrated his own death.

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There are various ways in which Macbeth orchestrated his own death and the first way was through partial following of the prophecy by the Three Witches. It is evident that the Three Witches prophesied that Macbeth would become the next king, however, they did not elaborate on the how the prophecy would be fulfilled in time to come. However, Macbeth took it upon himself to see to it that he became the next king. In this relation, he sought to kill the king. Killing the king was the first mistake that Macbeth did and it is what led to his dissociation from the society. By Macbeth killing the king cast a spell on him and his family and it is what ruined him later in life. Macbeth killed the king and this increased the number of his enemies who then sought to kill him, in this manner, Macbeth increased threats to his life and his own insecurity.

The killing of the king led to the instability in the kingdom and the division among the servants of the kingdom. In this manner, Macbeth had the challenge of running a united kingdom and this led to the great opposition from his subjects. It is such opposition that Macbeth saw a rebellion hence a threat to his kingdom. The same threats also led to the change of character of Macbeth as he changed from that the kingdom once knew to a murderous king. Macbeth had poor interpretation of the prophecy and his action of trying to fulfill the prophecy all by himself is the causal agent of the troubles that befell Macbeth leading to his subsequent fall and death.

The second way in which Macbeth led to his own downfall is through listening to others without having a personal mediation. Macbeth listens to his wife, Lady Macbeth, without questioning a single of the advice she gave him. As Macbeth hears of the prophecy of him becoming the next King of Scotland, he shares the same with his wife, who then orchestrates the plan of fulfilling the prophecy. The failure of Macbeth is evident in the manner in which he gives the suggestions and plans of his wife unshaken allegiance. The first suggestion of Lady Macbeth of killing the king is wrong. However, Macbeth disowns his rightful thoughts and sets on his wifes idea of killing the king. It would have been prudent if Macbeth would have considered the suggestions and evaluated the effects of the same to the kingdom and to his personal well-being. It was reckless for Macbeth to follow the suggestions of his wife without considering the implications of the plans.

Additionally, the ingrained tendency of Macbeth to give the advice of other people is evident in the manner in which he listens to the Three Witches. This is evident in prophecy of the Three Witches prophecy of Macbeth becoming the next king and he follows the prophecy blindly without asking how it would be fulfilled. This absolute trust on the advice of others pushes Macbeth to try to fulfill the prophecy which then leads him to formulate a strategy of his ascension. Macbeth allowed himself to be manipulated by both his wife and the Three Witches.

The third way in which Macbeth led to his own downfall is through him being insecure and the use of brutal force. After Macbeth ascended the throne, he becomes very insecure and punishes anyone who is a threat to his authority. Due to the fact that Macbeth used power and violence to ascend the throne and that he killed a righteous king, he increased his enemies and this is where his life begins to fall apart. In this relation, he becomes paranoid and fears of any attempt to stealing the crown from him. Due to such great sense of insecurity, he changes to become a slash and burn murderer who does not respect humanity and lacks morality in the process of governing the kingdom. His plans of running the kingdom therefore changes and he thinks that he would be able to use murder and intimidation to govern the kingdom. This strategy of intimidation leads to great division in the kingdom and increases the number of Macbeths enemies.

It is through the use of murder and intimidation that makes Macbeth isolated from everyone and the result is his wife committing suicide due to the eminent failure of Macbeths authority. Additionally, the intensity of opposition to Macbeths authority becomes more intense to the level beyond his management and this leads to his death. Macduff kills Macbeth to end his violence leadership.

Due to occurrences that took place in the kingdom, the society can learn various lessons about leadership in the modern society and acquire skills that help in developing good leadership skills. One issue that is greatly highlighted in the story of Macbeth is greed; this is because it is through greed that Macbeth sought to ascend to power prematurely and sought to kill the king. This is of great benefit to the leaders of today as it advises that rulers need to not be greedy when they are in positions of leadership. They should exercise noble leadership skills and ensure that they serve the society truthfully and justly. Furthermore, the story highlights the impact of advice the rulers receive to the running of countries and kingdoms. It is through the use of wrong advice from his wife and the Three Witches that made Macbeth carry out the heinous crime of killing the king. In this relation, kings and rulers need to be surrounded by people with wisdom that can offer the right advice for the prosperity of the society.