Macbeth

            
             William Shakespeare's fourth tragedy, Macbeth, involves a character whose ambitious nature is the cause of his tragic flaw. Macbeth's growing involvement with the evil three witches, his self-deceptions with hallucinations, and his mental torture force him to succumb to temptation. William Shakespeare also had a hand in Macbeth's tragic flaw. .
             Macbeth's belief in the three witches and evil were the main causes of his destruction. The three old women stir up an evil pensiveness by persuading Macbeth to become King. For Macbeth to become King, he must slay his cousin, Duncan. In Act I, scene IV, lines 144-145 Macbeth contemplates murdering Duncan, "If chance will have me King, why, chance may crown me, without my stir." Furthermore, the witches boosted his aspirations, "All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter" (I.3.50). Also the evil sisters cause Macbeth to change his life. Macbeth's ambition converts the blessings of nature into a curse when he becomes King Macbeth as a result of the murder he committed (Bloom 166). The curse supports his tragic flaw because of his, "foolish wish of ambition" (Ludowyk 55). However, after killing Duncan he realizes, "What's done cannot be undone" (2.2.14 & 5.1.68). After becoming King, Macbeth feels secure because the three witches tell him he would be safe until the "woods moved". Consequently, Macbeth knows woods do not move, and he feels he will remain King forever. The crazy sisters allow Macbeth to believe in everything that they tell him. However their prophecy is what sets the play's tragic aspect in motion by luring Macbeth away from the normal cycle of generation (Brooks 39). "As long as Macbeth plans to let natural events gain him the throne, he thinks in terms of letting time run its diurnal course" (Watson 140). His desire to become king proves the wickedness lurking inside him. "Macbeth defines a particular kind of evil- evil that results from a lust for power" (Knights 87).