Witch-slapped: Macbeth's Fall from Grace

Why do people who are not "evil" take the first step into evil? What, for instance, is involved in taking the first step "down the primrose path to the everlasting bonfire" (Macbeth, 2.3)? What are the consequences of the individual choosing evil (particularly the internal consequences)? Use examples from the text to support your opinion.

When thinking about the first part of this question we have to first decide what the definition is of evil. Everyone in the world does bad things in life but evil deeds are on a completely different level. Acting bad is when you put your needs above others first in situations where the community should come first. But evil is when you physically or mentally harm others to benefit yourself or to give yourself power over others. So why do people who have been good all their lives begin to follow the path of evil? To me, this is an extremely hard question to answer that we will never truly know the answer to. But there are many logical reasons that I have come up with.

The first is that people may decide to become evil when they are power or wealth hungry. This is exactly what happened to Macbeth. People have a weakness when it comes to power, doing anything to become in control or obtain more power. In Macbeth the prophecy told by the witch was that Macbeth would become king and that Banquo's children would be king after him. Macbeth contemplates killing Duncan for a long time until he finally lets evil take over. He does not know how else he would become king if Duncan is king. The born goodness in Macbeth, however, was what made it hard for Macbeth to make a decision but in at the end of a soliloquy in act 1 scene 7 he says "To prick the sides of my intent, Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself And falls on th' other" (Macbeth, 1.7). This is pretty much saying that ambition is what is causing him to go through with the plan to kill Duncan. Fear of loosing this power will also prompt people to stay evil and that is why once Macbeth started down the evil path he couldn't stop and had to attempt to kill Fleance and Banquo because he wanted to stay king. He feared Banquo and his family becoming king after him so he felt he had to do something about it even if it meant continuing to be evil. Macbeth says, "To be thus is nothing, But to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo Stick deep...And put a barren scepter in my grip, Thence to be wrenched with an unlined hand...Put rancors in the vessel of my peace..." (Macbeth, 3.1)

However in Macbeth's case power was not the only element in causing Macbeth to turn evil, lady Macbeth was the ultimate turning point for Macbeth because she called him a coward and said that he was not worthy of being a man if he did not kill Duncan. Macbeth did not want to seem weak or not worthy of being a man so he gave in and listened to his wife.

When a person becomes evil there are consequences to this, whether it be internal or external. In Macbeth's case, the consequences were more internal because after killing Banquo, he claims he sees his ghost and is very scared. He almost wishes that he did not kill him because of this. Macbeth also continues to go back and forth about whether what he was doing was the best course of action until he realizes that after he killed Banquo there was no turning back and that is when we see a different side of Macbeth, weakness. Macbeth states, "I am in blood Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o'er" (Macbeth, 3.4).

The second reason that is worth mentioning is that a person who decides to step down an evil path may have realized that life isn't fair and that he/she needs to create a world in which everyone experiences what they have gone through. So these people may inflict physical or emotional pain on others because they believe it is the only way for them to feel better about their troubles. I believe that it is human nature to not want to suffer alone and that is one reason why people turn evil. It's not necessarily their fault for the terrible things that happened to them in life but it was their choice to take the easier way out and become evil and inflict pain on others rather then staying strong and not letting their past traumas consume them. This example was not the reason that Macbeth became evil but I thought this was important.

Works Cited
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-the-good-the-bad-and-the-evil#