Discuss the Concept of Tragic Flaw as It Relates to Macbeth

Ambition can make one succeed, but it can also make one fail. Being ambitious is good when a person is to achieve a goal. However, being overly ambitious can make one lose focus and bring him down. In Macbeth, those three deceiving witches arose MacbethЎ¦s desire and ambition for the throne. Nonetheless, MacbethЎ¦s overgrown ambition became his tragic flaw.

MacbethЎ¦s ambition changed his personality greatly. He used to be loyal to Duncan, the King of Scotland: Ў§The service and the loyalty I owe / In doing it pays itself.ЎЁ (I, iv, 25-26) Also, he was well-known and respected for his bravery on war fields. However, the witchesЎ¦ prophecies made him ambitious. Macbeth betrayed the beloved King Duncan, who deeply trusted him, by making plans to kill Duncan: Ў§I am settled and bend up / Each corporal agent to this terrible feat.ЎЁ (I, vii, 92-93) Ambitious had turned him from an honest man to a villain. It was the first step of MacbethЎ¦s fall.

MacbethЎ¦s ambition deteriorated his relationship with his friends. King Duncan and Macbeth used to be good friends. Nevertheless, MacbethЎ¦s ambition filled his mind and blinded him. He began to see Duncan as an obstacle on his way of being king, and he just wanted to get rid of him: Ў§Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell / That summons thee to heaven or to hell.ЎЁ (II, I, 76-77) Banquo was MacbethЎ¦s old friend, who had fought with Macbeth in countless wars. Nonetheless, Macbeth was afraid that the witchesЎ¦ prophecy about Banquo, which indicated that BanquoЎ¦s descendents would be kings, would come true. Thus, Macbeth saw Banquo and Fleance as enemies: Ў§So is [Banquo] mine [enemy], and in such bloody distance that every minute of his being thrusts / Against my nearЎ¦st of life.ЎЁ (III, I, 132-134) Macbeth hired murderers to kill Banquo and Fleance. His ambition lost him two of his intimate friends,