Everyone who is mortal has at least one flaw. Some are more serious than others. For example, some people have addictions to gambling, while other people can’t remember to put the milk away after they use it. After a while though, a person’s flaws come back to haunt them. The tragedy MacBeth is no exception to this. In it, many of the character’s die. And the reason is that they have a flaw, that would eventually lead to their downfall. Not every character is deserving of his fate though. Some characters have a minor flaw, which shouldn’t lead to their death.
But other’s have a major flaw, which is would eventually lead them to their death anyway. The first Thane of Cawdor, is killed by MacBeth for trying to lead a revolution against England. His fatal flaw was that he was according to Ross, “a disloyal traitor”. The thane of Cawdor was greedy, and wanted the throne of England for himself, and as a result was murdered. But his murder wasn’t really disheartening, because the Thane of Cawdor, deserved his fate. He was leading a battle, in which many lost their lives, for the sake of greed, and deserved to die because of his flaw.
Duncan was the King of England, and was murdered by MacBeth. He was murdered, because in order for MacBeth to fulfill his plan and become king, Duncan would have to die. Duncan’s fatal flaw was that he was too trusting. For example, he thought that none of his friends could really be enemies. If Duncan was more careful about his safety at MacBeth’s castle, he may have had a chance to survive. But Duncan’s flaw, wasn’t something so horrible that he should die. Most people need to trust each other more, and just because one person did, he shouldn’t have to die.
MacBeth’s former best friend, Banquo was also killed by MacBeth. Banquo was killed, because he knew too much about the murder of Duncan. But that was not his fatal flaw. Banquo’s fatal flaw was that although he knew that MacBeth killed Duncan, he really didn’t do anything about it. There were many opportunities where Banquo could tell someone such as MacDuff what he thought about the murders. But Banquo didn’t deserve death, just because he didn’t act quickly in telling someone that MacBeth killed Duncan.
Banquo knew that if he said anything, no one would believe him, and he would be executed. Lady MacBeth is MacBeth’s wife. She is his coconspirator in killing Duncan. Although she helps MacBeth get the courage to commit the murder, she isn’t willing to do it herself. She uses the excuse that Duncan looked too much like her father. Unlike MacBeth though, it is harder for Lady MacBeth to live with the fact that she helped cause the murder of the king. And in the end, it makes her so crazy that she commits suicide. Whether or not Lady MacBeth deserved her fate is a tricky question.
Although she did encourage MacBeth to murder Duncan, she feels regret for her action. Also, she realized what she did was wrong. But in my opinion, she realized it a little too late, and Duncan was still dead so she did deserve her fate. MacBeth was the focus of the entire play, and that’s why it was named after him. All of the problems start when he murder’s Duncan. He commits the murder because of his fatal flaw, he is too ambitious. If he wasn’t so ambitious and determined to be king, then he would never have killed Duncan.
And if MacBeth didn’t kill Duncan none of the other characters would die. MacBeth deserved his fate more than any other characters in the play. He did many things wrong. First he killed Duncan, then he killed Banquo. After that, MacBeth killed MacDuff’s family. And worst of all, MacBeth disturbed the balance of nature. Also, MacBeth didn’t feel any remorse until he was faced with death. If MacBeth just waited for his time, he would have been king, and have had a chance to enjoy it. Every character that died in MacBeth had one fatal flaw.
The first Thane of Cawdor was a traitor. Duncan was too trusting. Banquo didn’t do anything about the knowledge he had. Lady MacBeth helped plot the murder of Duncan. And MacBeth, destroyed the natural order and harmony of nature. But not all of the characters who died deserved to die because of their flaws. Duncan shouldn’t have been punished for trusting someone, and Banquo would have said something, but was waiting for the right time or some physical evidence. But if MacBeth hadn’t been so ambitious, none of the problems that occurred would have.