Macbeth Essay, Research Paper
Everyone who is mortal has at least one flaw. Some are more serious than
others. For example, some people have addictions to gambling, while
other people can’t remember to put the milk away after they use it.
After a while though, a person’s flaws come back to haunt them. The
tragedy MacBeth is no exception to this. In it, many of the character’s
die. And the reason is that they have a flaw, that would eventually lead
to their downfall. Not every character is deserving of his fate though.
Some characters have a minor flaw, which shouldn’t lead to their death.
But other’s have a major flaw, which is would eventually lead them to
their death anyway. The first Thane of Cawdor, is killed by MacBeth for
trying to lead a revolution against England. His fatal flaw was that he
was according to Ross, “a disloyal traitor”. The thane of Cawdor was
greedy, and wanted the throne of England for himself, and as a result
was murdered. But his murder wasn’t really disheartening, because the
Thane of Cawdor, deserved his fate. He was leading a battle, in which
many lost their lives, for the sake of greed, and deserved to die
because of his flaw. Duncan was the King of England, and was murdered by
MacBeth. He was murdered, because in order for MacBeth to fulfill his
plan and become king, Duncan would have to die. Duncan’s fatal flaw was
that he was too trusting. For example, he thought that none of his
friends could really be enemies. If Duncan was more careful about his
safety at MacBeth’s castle, he may have had a chance to survive. But
Duncan’s flaw, wasn’t something so horrible that he should die. Most
people need to trust each other more, and just because one person did,
he shouldn’t have to die. MacBeth’s former best friend, Banquo was also
killed by MacBeth. Banquo was killed, because he knew too much about the
murder of Duncan. But that was not his fatal flaw. Banquo’s fatal flaw
was that although he knew that MacBeth killed Duncan, he really didn’t
do anything about it. There were many opportunities where Banquo could
tell someone such as MacDuff what he thought about the murders. But
Banquo didn’t deserve death, just because he didn’t act quickly in
telling someone that
anything, no one would believe him, and he would be executed. Lady
MacBeth is MacBeth’s wife. She is his coconspirator in killing Duncan.
Although she helps MacBeth get the courage to commit the murder, she
isn’t willing to do it herself. She uses the excuse that Duncan looked
too much like her father. Unlike MacBeth though, it is harder for Lady
MacBeth to live with the fact that she helped cause the murder of the
king. And in the end, it makes her so crazy that she commits suicide.
Whether or not Lady MacBeth deserved her fate is a tricky question.
Although she did encourage MacBeth to murder Duncan, she feels regret
for her action. Also, she realized what she did was wrong. But in my
opinion, she realized it a little too late, and Duncan was still dead so
she did deserve her fate. MacBeth was the focus of the entire play, and
that’s why it was named after him. All of the problems start when he
murder’s Duncan. He commits the murder because of his fatal flaw, he is
too ambitious. If he wasn’t so ambitious and determined to be king, then
he would never have killed Duncan. And if MacBeth didn’t kill Duncan
none of the other characters would die. MacBeth deserved his fate more
than any other characters in the play. He did many things wrong. First
he killed Duncan, then he killed Banquo. After that, MacBeth killed
MacDuff’s family. And worst of all, MacBeth disturbed the balance of
nature. Also, MacBeth didn’t feel any remorse until he was faced with
death. If MacBeth just waited for his time, he would have been king, and
have had a chance to enjoy it. Every character that died in MacBeth had
one fatal flaw. The first Thane of Cawdor was a traitor. Duncan was too
trusting. Banquo didn’t do anything about the knowledge he had. Lady
MacBeth helped plot the murder of Duncan. And MacBeth, destroyed the
natural order and harmony of nature. But not all of the characters who
died deserved to die because of their flaws. Duncan shouldn’t have been
punished for trusting someone, and Banquo would have said something, but
was waiting for the right time or some physical evidence. But if MacBeth
hadn’t been so ambitious, none of the problems that occurred would have.