The Fate of Macbeth

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, major decisions made by Macbeth affect the entire play. The result of these decisions and actions ended in the negative outcome of his death. But was Macbeth responsible for the negative outcome, which was ultimately his death? Evidently, Macbeth is responsible for his own fate because he is a liar, he has a tragic flaw, and he is strongly dependent on others.

Macbeth determines his own fate by lying. If Macbeth did not lie, he would of not made people suspicious of him and then they would of not rebelled and killed him. Macbeth lies to Macduff about killing the Kings guards. We know he is lying when Macbeth says “O, yet I do repent me of my fury, That I did kill them” (Macbeth, 2.3 121-122). Here Macduff becomes suspicious of Macbeth. Macduff’s suspicion leads him to start a rebellion against Macbeth and ultimately resulting in Macduff killing Macbeth. If Macbeth hadn’t lied about killing the guards Macduff would have not been so suspicious of Macbeth and would not have rebelled against him. Macbeth also lies to Banquo. This is Macbeth’s first lie and this starts the ball rolling. Macbeth had said “I think not of them” (Macbeth, 2.1 25). Here he lied about not thinking about the three witches, when, in fact, all he does is think of the three witches. Macbeth lying to both Banquo and Macduff causes suspicion, which caused conflict and then his death.

An equally significant aspect of Macbeth determining his own fate is his tragic flaw. His excessive ambition drives his determination to carry out the murders. When Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth “I have done the deed” (Macbeth, 2.2.18), this is the inciting incident of the play. He committed the murder of King Duncan, which got the whole story started. If Macbeth had not killed Duncan he would not have been killed himself. Another occurrence of his excessive ambition is when he knows the war is coming. His ambition blurs his thought process and decision-making. In this quote Macbeth is stating that it’s no use running away or staying here and he must prepare for battle “Arm, arm, and out! If this which he avouches does appear, There is nor flying hence nor tarrying here. I gin to be aweary of the sun, And wish the estate o' the world were now undone”(Macbeth, 5.5 50-54). He continues to be ambitious by believing he is unstoppable and goes to fight Macduff and then dies. His excessive ambition is stronger and more dominate than his subconscious guilt, so he doesn’t feel any wrong. His excessive ambition is reliant off the prophecies, which is a weak foundation. In addition to Macbeth’s tragic flaw, he was dependent on others.

Macbeth’s dependency on others is another contributing factor to him being responsible for his own fate. If he were to be more independent he may have not had to rely on others to make decisions for him and he would have not been killed. Lady Macbeth controlled Macbeth and he was dependent on her making his decisions. If not for her telling him to kill Duncan he would have never done so. If Macbeth was more independent he might not have gone through with the murder of Duncan, which ultimately resulted in him lying and then his death. An example of Lady Macbeth telling Macbeth what to do is when she says “But screw your courage to the sticking-place, And we'll not fail. When Duncan is asleep…”(Macbeth, 1.7.66-69). Here Lady Macbeth is telling Macbeth how to commit the murder. (Macbeth, 3.4.163-164) In addition to Lady Macbeth, he is fully confident in the prophecies and believes he is unstoppable. When Macbeth says “I will to-morrow, And betimes I will, to the weird sisters” (Macbeth, 3.4 138-139). Here Macbeth says he is going back to the witches a second time. He strongly depends on them and what they will tell him to be true. By believing in the prophecies once again, he guarantees that he will die because he believes he is unstoppable. (Macbeth, 2.1.69) His gullibility and his strong belief in the prophecies provide for a weak foundation. The witches are manipulative and Macbeth depends on them. Without his belief in the prophecies he would have never decided to kill Duncan. If he never committed the murder the story would have never gotten started and then he would not have died. If Macbeth was not dependent on others he would have determined a different fate that was not his death because he would have been making his own decisions.

In Macbeth, many negative circumstances influenced the fate of Macbeth; however, his ambition; which forced his plans into action, his being dependent on the Witches and Lady Macbeth’s weak foundation, and his lying to Macduff ultimately was the most significant factors that determined his fated death. For these reasons, Macbeth’s tragic flaw, his dependency on others, and being a liar, in the end, made him responsible for his own fate.

Works Cited

William Shakespeare. Macbeth. Toronto: Harcourt Brace, 1988.