The play Macbeth can leave us with a very strong sense of helplessness. The character MacBeth is convinced that when he is hit by bad times that he is a victim of fate and that he has no control over the occurrences in his world. The purpose of this essay is to prove to the reader that MacBeth is a victim of ambition and greed not of the will of otherworldly beings. Many things contributed to MacBeth's eventual downfall. His interpretation of the witches' first prophecy set MacBeth onto the road less traveled and better left so. Lady MacBeth is also a prime factor in MacBeth's actions.
Greed and ambition can be very powerful emotions and can drive people to do things they would never even consider. When MacBeth first considers an act of regicide, the very thought sickens him. He is in a very different state of mind the night of the first murder.
"Is this a dagger I see before me...Thou marshall'st me the way that I was going"(act 2, scene 1, line 40-49). By this he means that the dagger is some sort of symbol that is supposed to reassure him that he should murder Duncan. If MacBeth murders a man in cold blood MacBeth should be prepared to be responsible for his actions and to receive the consequences, physical and psychological. "Glamis hath murder'd sleep: and therefor Cawdor shall sleep no more: MacBeth shall sleep no more!"(Act 2, scene 2, lines 54-56).
Lady MacBeth had a very profound influence on her husband. She moved him to kill Duncan. It is very probable that without her criticisms and taunting, MacBeth would never have killed Duncan and therefore not have killed anyone else. Before the murder, MacBeth once decided to let Duncan live and that would...