Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Safia Hassan
Ms. Figueroa
Senior English
19 March, 2019
“The human being is a self-propelled automaton entirely under the control of external
influences. Will full and predetermined though they appear, his actions are governed not from
within, but from without. He is like a float tossed about by the waves of a turbulent sea” (Nikola
Tesla). In the “The Tragedy of Macbeth”, Macbeth meets three witches after the war and they
tell him he’ll be Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and then king, after that he has thoughts
about killing the king. Lady Macbeth pressures Macbeth into actually killing King Duncan. After
committing the crime Macbeth starts getting paranoid and begins a killing spree. Lady Macbeth
is responsible for Macbeth’s downfall which is portrayed through manipulation and greed.
Lady Macbeth was the primary reason for Macbeth’s downfall because she was overly
manipulative towards him. An example of her manipulation is when she calls him a coward.
Lady Macbeth says, “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” (Shakespeare 1.7.49-51). She belittles his courage
and emotionally manipulates him to go through with the plan. Another example of her
manipulation is when she tells him how to act when the king comes. She states, “look like the
time; bear welcome in your eye, your hand, your tongue: look like th' innocent flower, but the
serpent under't” (1.5.61-63). She orders him to act innocent so people do not suspect him.
The reason why Lady Macbeth is so controlling with Macbeth is because she is greedy
for power. An example of her selfishness is when she found out about Macbeth’s prophecy and
his thoughts on it, she immediately thought of a plan to make it come true. She says, “and that
which rather thou dost fear to do, than wishest should be undone. Hie thee hither, that I may pour
my spirits in thing ear and chastise with valor of my tongue all that impedes thee from golden
round which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem to have thee crowned withal” ( 1.5.21-27). She
wants to get rid of Macbeth’s doubts so he can focus on becoming king. She is not thinking
about how Macbeth feelings and is just focused on getting ahold of the crown. Lady Macbeth
says, “art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it. What thou wouldst
highly that wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false and yet wouldst wrongly win” (1.5.16-
19). She knows Macbeth is too much of a coward to act on his thoughts, so she wants to help
him. In conclusion Lady Macbeth is encouraging of the murder because of the power that is at
stake.
Lady Macbeth is the main cause of Macbeth’s downfall because she was very controlling
and selfish. Macbeth would have never killed Duncan if Lady Macbeth was not pressuring him
to commit the crime. He originally was going to back out the plan until Lady Macbeth started to
emotionally manipulate him by calling him a coward and making him feel like less of a man. The
only reason she went through all the trouble of getting Macbeth to kill Duncan was so she can
Works Cited