In the typical Shakespearean tragedy, the protagonist falls from grace due to

his/her hamartia. Macbeths fall is a result of a few key, influential factors, but it
is important to understand that the tragedy is a result of Macbeths personal
flaws; he is easily subject to manipulation, he has hubris, and even more
ambition. Throughout the play, Macbeth is manipulated by the witches and his
wife alike, and succumbs to the immense pressure placed upon him, which leads
to the beginning of his downfall when he murders King Duncan. The witches
certainly plant the seed of corruption within Macbeths mind and Lady Macbeth
acts upon these regicidal thoughts and pushes for Macbeths murder of King
Duncan in Act I scenes 3 and 5 respectively, but it is his own lack of resistance of
these various manipulations that result in Macbeths eventual downfall. By
allowing these negative influences to control him, Macbeth is transformed into
an ambitious, fearful, paranoid tyrant, a shadow of his former self.
Macbeths meeting with the witches is a point within the play at which we can
see that he allows himself to be torn between his ambition and his moral values.
At the very beginning, the witches, Shakespeares symbol of the power of the
supernatural, plot to disrupt the natural order, by creating turmoil within
Scotland, which Shakespeare foreshadows using pathetic fallacy in the form of
the stage directions of thunder and lightning. In their encounter with Macbeth
in Act I Scene 3, they stun Macbeth with their prophecies, claiming him to be
Thane of Glamis Thane of Cawdor and king hereafter., which Macbeth
foolishly believes with little doubt, as demonstrated when he asks the imperfect
speakers (to) tell me more. Even later, in Act IV Scene 1, Macbeth actually
consults the witches, showing how much he has let the witches manipulate him.
The aforementioned meetings with the witches exemplify Macbeths
vulnerability to manipulation. It is noteworthy that Banquo, who hears his own
prophecies, sticks truer to his own principles and is more resolute, dismissing
the witches and warning Macbeth that the instruments of darkness often tell us
truths (to) betrays in deepest consequence. Banquo, being more cautious
than Macbeth, serves to show Macbeths juxtaposed gullibility. Banquo is thus a
symbol of what Macbeth could have done; stayed his hand and disregarded the
witches. With that in mind, seeing that Macbeth could have forgone the entire
conflict, he is clearly responsible for the events that unfold. However, he allows
the witches prophecies to plant black and deep desires in his mind, and trigger
an emotional conflict, where his moral code stands in the way of his ambition to
be king. As time progresses, the deeper Macbeths internal conflict becomes, to
the point where he states regicide cannot be ill, cannot be good, and later
utilises celestial and light imagery in an aside, where he implores the stars (to)
hide your fires. Let the light not see my black and deep desires. Previously a
man of honour, Macbeth succumbs to his thoughts, and by doing so, acts upon his
selfish ambitions. Because he himself commits the proceeding crime, and regards
the witches as beings with the power to predict fate, it is clear that Macbeth sets
himself on the path towards his downfall.
On Macbeths return to Inverness, he again allows himself to fall victim to
manipulation, this time by his wife. It is important to note Shakespeares
subversion of gender roles in Elizabethan society, Lady Macbeth being Macbeths

dearest partner of greatness, in order to show her power over him. Knowing
that Macbeth is an honourable warrior, a person too full othmilk of human
kindness a person who would rather catch the nearest way, in Act I Scene V
she consorts with spirits that tend on moral thoughts and asks to become
topfull of direst cruelty, in order to fan the flame of her husbands vaulting
ambition. Shakespeares use of dark and supernatural imagery throughout her
soliloquy gives an insight into Lady Macbeths own ambition. Her proceeding
worship-like greeting of, Great glamis, worthy Cawdor, greater than both upon
seeing her husband is an example of the recurring theme of appearance vs reality
within the play, and demonstrates Lady Macbeths powerful deception of her
husband. Through listening to his wife, Macbeth acquires The illness should
attend (ambition); the desire to act upon ones ambition, something that later in
the play continues to be something that Macbeths tyrannical nature can be
attributed to.
Macbeth proves himself to be a tractable husband, when he is easily tempted into
murder by his wife. By not being adamant with his wife when approaching her to
proceed no further in this business, Shakespeare again demonstrates
Macbeths lack of faith in his own moral values when he backs down under her,
proving that, in contrast to the valiant, honourable warrior he is on the outside,
on the inside, his value system has destabilised and given way to his ambition.
The aforementioned theme of appearance vs. reality is reiterated when Lady
Macbeth makes use a biblical allusion and advises Macbeth to look like the
innocent flower, but be the serpent under it. Despite being manipulated by his
wife, Macbeth has the final say. When Macbeth kills Duncan, his outcry of
Macbeth does murder sleep and Macbeth shall sleep no more is an example
of Shakespeares recurring motif of a lack of, or interrupted sleep representing
disturbed peace, which is used here to foreshadow a downturn in Macbeths
mental state; Macbeth never sleeps without nightmares until his almost cathartic
death. That fact that he follows the fatal vision of the dagger, and follows
through with the murder is a representation of Macbeths responsibility for the
beginning of his downfall.
Whilst Lady Macbeth and the witches were certainly both factors affecting the
character of Macbeth throughout the play, it is Macbeth, the man himself, who
controls his own destiny, and it is his failure to do this which attributes the
blame for his downfall upon himself; he misplaces his confidence, relying on the
prophecies and apparitions, and allows his pride and ambition to win out and
overshadow his virtues and moral values. To quote from A Glance Toward
Shakespeare by J.J. Chapman,