ACT IV- Conspiracy and Betrayal
5
Cause
Effect
Macbeth meets with the three witches, and slays Macduffs family.
Macduff goes to England to retrieve Malcolm in hopes of overthrowing Macbeth
Macbeth has become increasingly paranoid, and the guilt of all his murders has set in further. He decides tosee the witches so as to ease his guilty conscience.
Macbeth is given false hope and let down. He finds out that Macduff has been on to him and had been all along. All of his rash decisions due to his guilty conscience led up to this. In fact, his guilty and paranoid conscience leads him to make another rash decision, murdering Macduffs entire family. The handicap of a guilty conscience removes Macbeth from full responsibility. Had his wife not convinced him to kill Duncan in the first place, then this would all be different. Macbeth woudn't have a guilty conscience, and would make decisions that weren't rash, immoral, or wrong.
After having seen all of Macbeths hallucinatooff became suspicious. So he went to rally Malcolm who was residing in England, and have him overthrow Macbeth. All of this was a result of Macbeth's guilty conscience causing him to make rash decisions. Therefore, Macbeth's guilty actions were the driving factor in his own downfall.
Macbeth finds out that Macduff has gone to england, and is immediately confronted with a new wave of paranoia, guilt, and despair. He knows why Macduff is there, and with all the emotions running through his head his ability to think straight is heavily clouded. This bit of information wrapped in Macbeths guilty conscience was another leading factor into his decision to murder Macduffs family. However, once he completes this deed, he can only feel more paranoia and guilt. Thus plunging him into an endless cycle of guilt, rash decisions, and a grown man whos guilt lead him in the wrong direction and the responsibility for his own demise.