why does macbeth,who knows that his actions are evil and will be punished,continue to choose to be evil?

Question

from the story macbeth,shakesspeare

Answer 1

Macbeth is never told outright tha this actions will be punished. The witches (fate, if you prefer) only tell him that he will become Thane of Cawdor and then "King hereafter." Lady Macbeth feeds Macbeth the idea that killing Duncan would ensure that the "prophecy" would come true. To secure his position, Macbeth kills off the servants to avoid detection. He also feared Banquo's prophecy of being the father of kings.

His reign of terror was solely to keep the power that he had gained, leading inevitably to his madness and his own wife's death. The only precursor to his "punishment" is through the witches' warning of "Beware Macduff." Macbeth believes that, once he kills off Macduff's family, he will be safe since "none of woman born shall harm" him. Indeed, Macbeth would be safe until "Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come." To Macbeth, these prophecies were an impossibility. Only at the end does he realise that his life is forfeit when Malcolm arrives at the castle with branches cut from Birnam and when Macduff informs him that he was from "his mother's womb untimely ripped" or from Caesarean section.

So, in summary, Macbeth really didn't "choose" to be evil as all was prophecied. Would the prophecy still have come true had Macbeth not killed Duncan? Who knows. He merely thought that the best way to secure his power was to remove all opposition to it.

Answer 2

It is definitely his ambition.The 3 witches hail him as the thane of Cawdor(if i'm not mistaken ) and also as king.Lady Macbeth pushes her husband on. She seems 2 b strong but is the 1st 2 break down afterwards.Anyway,Macbeth is sort of like the H.Cs(hardened criminals).He knows he's wrong but he just keeps doing wrong.This is mainly due to his error of judgement,or, as it is called in literature,his hamartia.This ultimately leads 2 his nadir(downfall)

Answer 3

i believe that he feels that he cannot turn back-he made his move, and now he has no option but to follow through on his original choice, even though he knows that his actions are wrong and even thoug they will ultimately lead to his destruction

Answer 4

His wife plants the fatal seed of AMBITION in his mind.

Answer 5

He becomes so power hungry that he no longer cares.