In this world, greed and pride are the ultimate cause to a humans downfall. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the author shows a big change in one of his characters (Macbeth) that plays a huge role in his downfall.
At the beginning of the play, Macbeth’s character begins as a very wise and loyal man that everyone respects and appreciates. He is very loyal to his king Duncun. He was also Duncan's cousin and had great respect for him. Duncan's eldest son Malcolm is expected to be the next king. One day, as Macbeth is returning from a battle with his best friend Banquo, they encountered three witches. The witches told Macbeth that he will be the king one day. They also tell Banquo that “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none” which means that Banquo will never be a king but he will be a father of kings. Now, they idea of being a king which has never crossed Macbeth's brain is now seeded in his head. As he was thinking more about the witches philosophy, he says “ Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires; the eye wink at the hand; yet let that be which the eyes fear, when it is done to see,” . This means that he is willing to do whatever it will take, good or bad to be the next king. The witches prophecy made Macbeth greedy, which made him disloyal to the king and changed who he was.
Another incident that changes Macbeth's character is when his wife Lady Macbeth finds out about the witches thoughts on Macbeth being a king one day. Macbeth tells his wife that Duncun will be spending the night at the castle. Lady Macbeth sees this as a great opportunity to execute king Duncun. She tells Macbeth about the plan she has come with where she will wait until Duncan goes to sleep and she will give his two guards enough wine to make them drunk. Macbeth tells her no, he does not want to kill Duncan. She tells him that “When you durst do it, then you were a man;”. By saying that, she pretty much called him a coward and questioned his manhood. He has been a well respected and admired man in his community, so when he hears these words from his wife, he feels insulted. He is finally convinced to committing this deed. The man who was once very loyal to his king now has turned against him and killed him because of his wife's evil scheme.
Last thing that caused Mcbeth to turn evil was his greed for more power. His desire for more power made him go out of control leading him into more murders. First he kills the guards and he tells everyone else that he killed the guards because he saw them smeared with blood so he had to out of loyalty. Second, when Macbeth is named the king, he feels insecure that Banquo remembers the three witches prophecy and that he might suspect him of the murder. For that reason Macbeth calls his two murderers and tells them to kill Banquo. Since Macbeth is the king, the murderers answer back by saying “we shall, my lord, Perform what you command us” . They do what they were ordered to do. These evil deeds were done because of his flaming desire for power which made him greedy and heartless.
In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the author shows a big change in one of his characters (Macbeth) that plays a huge role in his downfall. All these were the causes to the change in Macbeth's character. Greed is a very evil thing. It can turn you against your loved ones.
