Macbeth greatest enemy is himself. Who is responsible for his downfall?
Let’s consider the following three points. (By Dr Jennifer Minter: English Works Notes, 2017)
“We will proceed no further in this business.” Macbeth prefers to wear the “golden opinions” in “their newest glows”. “Not cast aside so soon”.
Shakespeare suggests that Macbeth’s failure to adhere to his conscience and moral resolutions is one of his biggest mistakes which directly leads to the brutal death of King Duncan. After his key soliloquy wherein he discusses the consequences of regicide, Macbeth announces to Lady Macbeth, that “we will proceed no further with this business”. He recognises that evil deeds will return to “plague the inventor”, and that this “even-handed justice” will fail t “trammel up the consequence”. From a religious and from a philosophical perspective, Macbeth recognises his doom. He also recognises that he should be protecting his host, and “should against his murderer shut the door” rather than wield the knife himself However, after he reveals his resolution to Lady Macbeth, she very swiftly manipulates and disarms him. Shakespeare depicts Lady Macbeth as an “unsexed” figure calling upon the “spirits” of “direst cruelty” in order to “stop up the access and passage to remorse”. Lady Macbeth implores Macbeth to be more courageous than “the cat i’ the adage” and to be “so much more the man” by sticking to his dubious “promise” that he supposedly made in his letter to her advising her, too, of “what greatness is promised thee”.
In doing so, Shakespeare suggests, that Lady Macbeth does contribute to the tragedy, but this is because Macbeth proves to be morally indecisive and corruptible.. (for that reason he becomes his own worst enemy.
Banquo’s moral counsel
“If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me, Without my stir.” Macbeth.
Ironically, the more enthralled Macbeth becomes by the “instruments of the darkness”, especially in the wake of the news from Angus and Ross, (the “missives from the king”) the more Macbeth struggles to retain his moral equilibrium. So that “nothing is but what is not”.
Contrastingly, Shakespeare uses Banquo as a moral foil who warns Macbeth about the danger of placing too much trust in these supernatural “instruments of darkness”. (The “instruments of darkness tell us truths; Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s /In deepest consequence”.) He recognises the degree to which the witches, who represent the forces of evil, and the irrational lure of superstitious temptation, are tempting Macbeth. He notices later, “how our partner’s rapt” having “eaten on the insane root That takes the reason prisoner?” Sequentially, Shakespeare constructs the opening scenes so that Macbeth invests greater trust in the witches who become the initial harbingers of good news regarding Thane of Cawdor who provides, prophetically to be a traitor upon whom King Duncan “built An absolute trust”. Banquo also remarks in an aside, “what, can the devil speak true?” and just before the brutal murder tells Macbeth that he “still keep(s) My bosom franchis’d and allegiance clear”. Contrastingly, Macbeth begins having fearful thoughts at the “horrid image” that “doth unfix my hair”. Even though the thought of “murder yet is but fantastical” he nevertheless becomes morally confused to the point that “nothing is But what is not”. In this sense, his desire to trust to “chance” only seems to last as long as King Duncan’s appointment of “our eldest, Malcolm, whom we name hereafter The Prince of Cumberland”. Shakespeare presents this announcement as a turning point for Macbeth who marks it as an obstacle he must “o’er’leap” (note the reference to “overleaping” ambition) for “in my way it lies”. As the audience notes, Macbeth selectively adheres to the witches and is very quick to entrust his faith in these “instruments of darkness”. In doing so, he fails to heed Banquo’s moral counsel. Later, he, too, is quick to seek out the witches to gain reassurance despite his waning power and overwrought “heat-oppressed brain”.
The Letter: “Lay it to thy heart”: the temptation of evil forces
“Thus have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest partner of greatness, that though mightiest not lose the dues of rejoicing, by being ignorant of what greatness is promised thee.”
Whilst the witches no doubt target Macbeth with their “hurly burly” and desire to create both a physical and a symbolic moral fog, Shakespeare also suggests that because of his thirst for power, Macbeth is vulnerable. Likewise, the perils of ambition are particularly evident as Lady Macbeth systematically tramples upon Macbeth’s sensitive nature and browbeats him into submission.
But Macbeth is not an innocent target. Not only does Shakespeare construct the opening scenes to show that Macbeth’s trust has been manipulated, but the playwright also suggests that Macbeth constructs the letter to Lady Macbeth in such a way as to stimulate her dark forces.
The first encounter with Lady Macbeth is in the castle in Inverness as she reads the letter from Macbeth revealing that “day of success” when he met the witches (not when he met Ross and Angus). By “the perfectest report”, Macbeth reveals the promise of the crown, but he also acknowledges that they have “more in them that mortal knowledge”. He selectively omits to tell Lady Macbeth about the success of Banquo’s heirs. Rather, he makes her aware of “what greatness is promised thee” , as if it were indeed an unbreakable promise. As Shakespeare suggests, the letter prompts this “partner in greatness” to cloak herself in evil in order to make sure that Macbeth, does not yield to the “milk of human kindness” that, she believes, will undermine the crown. She is aware of the fact that Macbeth is “not without ambition”, but “without the illness should attend it”. She sets upon stimulating this “illness”, which according to her, is a lust for power so great, that he will become “the same in thine own act and valour As thou art in desire”. For her, mind over matter, will prevent those cowardly thoughts that would “break this enterprise to me”, as articulated, she believes, in that original letter relating to that “day of success”. Once on the murderous path, Macbeth increasingly isolates Lady Macbeth so that she can remain “innocent”.