Macbeth’s fall from grace to disgrace happens through a series of events from Act One to Three.
In the beginning of Act One, Macbeth is a great hero who fights bravely to defend the king and the country. In the dreadful battles he beat the rebel McDonald, the invader - king of Norwegian, and the treacherous Thane of Cawdor. Both of whom are a threat to the country. Before he returns back from the battlefield, his good reputation is disseminated throughout the kingdom. To reward his great success, Macbeth is crowned Thane of Glamis and Thane of Cawdor by King Duncan. Even more, Duncan personally goes to Macbeth’s castle to celebrate the victory. In Act One, when Ross delivers the crown news to Macbeth and praises him for his bravery, we could see how graced Macbeth is:
ROSS
The king hath happily receive, Macbeth,
the news of thy success, and when he reads
Thy personal venturn in the rebel’s fight,
His wonders and his praises do contend
Which should be thine or his. Silenced with that,
In viewing o’er the rest o’ the selfsame day,
He finds three in the stout Norweyan ranks,
Nothing afeard of what thyself didst make,
Strange images of death. As thick as tale
Can post with ost, and every one did bear
Thy praises in his kingdom’s great defense,
And pured them down before him. (Shakespeare. 1. 3. 60-74)
Macbeth’s fall starts from Act One when he and Banquo encounter the three witches. The witches tell them that Macbeth will be Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland, while Banquo will be the father of a line of kings. When Ross arrives and confirms the first news to them, Macbeth’s ambitions are trigged. He immediately thinks about murdering Duncan. Killing Duncan was Macbeth’s first fall from grace. Act Two shows how Macbeth hesitates in murdering Duncan:
MACBETH
It is the bloody business which informs
Thus to mine eyes. Now o’er the one half-world
Nature seems deed, and wicked dreams abuse
The curtained sleep. Witchcraft celebrates
Pale Hecate’s offerings, and withered murder,
Alarumed by his sentinel, the wolf,
Whose howl’s his watch, thus with his stealthy pace,
With Tarquin’s ravishing strides, towards his design
Moves like a ghost. Thou sure and firm-set earth,
Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear
Thy very stones prate of my whereabout,
And take the present horror from the time,
Which now suits with it. Whiles I threat, he lives.
Words to the heat of des too cold breath gives. (Shakespeare. 2. 1. 60-74)
Macbeth kills Duncan and becomes the King of Scotland; therefore, the prophecy predicted for Macbeth came true. Since then, he seems comfortable killing. In Act Three, he starts to worry about the third prophecy that the witches revealed to him. To protect his power and preserve his kingship, he decides to hire murderers to kill Banquo and Fleance, Banquo’s son. This plot for murder pushes him further from grace.
MACBETH
Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck,
Till thou applaud the deed. Come, seeling night,
Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day
And with thy bloody and invisible hand
Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond
Which keeps me pale. Light thickens, and the crow
Makes wing to th’ rooky wood.
Good things of day begin to droop and drowse;
Whiles night’s black agents to their preys do rouse.
Thou marvel’st at my words: but hold thee still.
Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill.
So, prithee, go with me. (Shakespeare. 3. 2. 51-63)
In conclusion, the witches’ prophesies twisted Macbeth’s ambitions down a dark road since Act One and drives him to murder Duncan and Banquo. He traded his humanity for the crown and falls deep into disgrace.
