Macbeth’s portrayal of the tragic downfall of a king through his ambition, greed and weakness has allowed it to resonate with contemporary audiences. Macbeth’s human flaws paint him as a tragic hero – he is not intrinsically ‘evil’, but his consuming ambition, the desire and greed he possesses and his weakness and inability to resist his wife’s and the witches’ temptations ultimately lead to his downfall. These three flaws are inseparable from our human nature, and they are indeed still relevant and relatable in our society today.

Macbeth’s ambition is his one great flaw that leads to his ruin. Ambition is a quality that we all exhibit. However, Macbeth’s ambition consumes him, and overwhelms his moral sense, his noble character. Initially, he is presented to the audience as a brave soldier, “like Valour’s minion,” having defeated an entire army. He is respected and admired by all, including King Duncan, who promotes him to Thane of Cawdor. By the end of the play, however, he has become a moral-less tyrant. His ultimate fall from grace lies in his ambition, his desire to become King at any cost. His image at the end of the play, a senseless, paranoid, murderer is sharply juxtaposed with his portrayal as a valiant solider initially. It is this juxtaposition of a noble hero and a ruined tyrant that invokes ‘a catharsis of pity and fear’, as described by Aristotle, in the audience, and that still allows contemporary audiences today to relate and respond. The three weird sisters are the ones who plant the seed of ambition – “all hail Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter”, they predict – but it is Macbeth who fosters it. “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,/Shakes so my single state of man that function/Is smother’d in surmise, and nothing is/But what is not.” Macbeth contemplates the murder of King Duncan, even when the witches themselves have not suggested it. The witches’ prophecy awaken a dangerous ambition in Macbeth, as his thoughts immediately turn to murder in order to seize the throne. He begins to rely on the witches’ prophecies more and more to satiate his curiosity. However, it is ultimately his own trait of ambition that leads to his downfall. Ambition is a universal human quality, and Macbeth presents the consequences of unchecked ambition, allowing it resonate with contemporary audiences today.

Greed is another human flaw explored in the play. Macbeth’s greed manifests itself mainly in his lust for power. The witches’ prophecies tempt him – he does not immediately consider the predictions, but they ultimately lead him to perform his first act of greed: the murder of King Duncan. “Let not light see my black and deep desires,” he repents, as he plans the murder. He confides that his desires are so terrible that he cannot stand to have even the stars shine on them. The metaphor of starlight mirrors King Duncan’s comparison of stars to “nobleness” just moments before – “signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine / on all deservers”. Macbeth’s greed overshadows any sense, any moral judgement he possesses. The audience relates to his lust for power, his secret desire to attain the throne at any cost. His greed is also evident in his murders as King. Once crowned, the Macbeths are still not secure, because he only holds a "barren sceptre" in his grip. The synecdoche, ‘sce ptre’, implies the rule of succession: to keep the crown in the family, Macbeth must ensure hisvsuccession, crucial to maintaining rule within the family. “Your descendants will be kings but you will not,” the witches proclaim to Banquo. Macbeth is later enraged at this prophecy, ordering Banquo and Fleance’s murder out of greed. His greed eventually becomes paranoia – he murders anyone who poses even the slightest threat to the throne. Again, the witches deliver their prophecies: “beware the Thane of Fife…[Macduff]…[but] none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” The pleonasm in his response, “I’ll make assurance double sure,/…thou shalt not live,” emphasizes his paranoia, even when the witches have assured him ‘no man’ could hurt him. Of course, this is dramatic irony, as the audience knows that Macduff was born by Caesarian section – not naturally. Macbeth’s paranoia is a direct result of his greed – he is desperate to ensure that no one has even a chance of usurping his power. Ultimately, it is Macbeth’s portrayal as a good man, with a simple human flaw – greed – allows the play to resonate with audiences, even today.

Macbeth’s weakness also contributes to his downfall. He is weak-minded – unable to resist temptations, unable to resist his wife’s urges. Lady Macbeth regards her husband as a coward, at first, in order to convince him to murder the king. “[You] are too full o’ the’ milk of human kindness?” she taunts Macbeth, “Art thou afeared to be the same in thine own…valour, as thou art in desire?” She is manipulative, insulting her husband’s manhood, and doubting his courage – “Are you a man?”, she questions, deliberately trying to bring out Macbeth’s ambition and fearlessness. Ironically, he is indeed a ‘coward’ – although he initially opposes the murder, he is urged into carrying out his wife’s plan. The audience is torn between Lady Macbeth’s “vaulting ambition” and desire and Macbeth’s moral judgement. This dichotomy is very much present in our lives, and the audience can easily sympathise with Macbeth’s plight. “Is this a dagger which I see before me/The handle toward my hand?” He begins to hallucinate as he contemplates the consequences of the murder. His anxious, unsure tone suggests his reluctance, as well as his weakness and inability to overcome his wife’s commanding nature. His own desire also comes into play here – even though he is reluctant, his own desires to become King also motivate him to commit the murder. He is unable to control his desires, and eventually succumbs to them. Macbeth is weak in both resisting his wife’s and his own desires. It is this human flaw of weakness that allows Macbeth to resonate with contemporary audiences today. We all ‘cave in’ to our desires – though perhaps not on such an extreme scale as Macbeth – and are therefore able to relate to the play.

It is indeed Macbeth’s depiction of intrinsically human flaws – ambition, greed, and weakness – and how they ultimately lead to his downfall, that has allowed to it still resonate with audiences in this day and age. The exploration of these flaws depicts their consequences if they are left unchecked, and the audience is able to relate to their own lives and experience a ‘catharsis of pity and fear’.