insecurities and misguided attempts to take control of his future. First of all, the witches’ prophecy concerning Banquo’s descendants and acmbeth’s feeling of inferiority to Banquo lead Macbeth to arrange for the murder of Banquo and his son, Fleance. Having Banquo around him is a constant reminder to Macbeth of the evil deed he has committed, and the knowledge that Banquo’s children, not Macbeth’s, will be king is also bothering him. Also, Macbeth’s insecurity of Macduff’s support for Banquo leads him to suspect Macduff. When he learns Macduff has fled to England before he could have him killed, Macbeth takes immediate revenge by having Macduff’s family murdered. He says:From this moment The very firstlings of my heart shall beThe firstlings of my hand.(Act IV, i: 146-148)He is determined from that moment on to take control by acting immediately rather than talking and thinking. His insecurities cause him to see the positive side of immediate action. He is unable toappreciate the negative side of rash actions. Certainly, killing Macduff’s family contributed to Macbeth’s downfall as the act inspired hatred and revenge. Finally, Macbeth is made miserable by the deterioration of Lady Macbeth. He begs the doctor to find her disease. She is eventually full of regret and kills herself. In this play, the witches awaken Macbeth’s ambition and Lady Macbeth encourages the crime necessary for his ambition to be realized. Both these influences help lead to Macbeth’s eventual failure and death. His insecurities lead him to rash actions to get rid of his perceived enemies. These are actions he regrets later. Also, he relies of the apparitions’ prophecies that he will be safe. Only in the end did he realize he was misled and betrayed....
