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The Play “Macbeth” is purely about the downfall of a great noble man. A traditional tragic hero is defined as someone that is essentially a good and noble person but fails because of a certain flaw in their character. William Shakespeare's tragedy, “Macbeth”, portrays the downfall of the great noble man who is overcome by his desire and vaulting ambition which soon transforms into a ruthless seek for power, becoming his fatal flaw. Macbeth is blinded by his ambition and in turn is manipulated and lead to perform evil deeds by the evil intentions and unnatural powers of the witches and his wife, Lady Macbeth., which take over his better half. It is these three factors that intertwine with one another to contribute to Macbeth’s tragic end. At the start of the play, Macbeth is a highly praised and loyal nobleman admired by all. "For brave Macbeth---well he deserves that name" (Act I, Scene I, line 16). This statement is an example of how well respected Macbeth was until he become a victim of the witches. The witches evoke his unrestrained ambition with promising prophecies that ensure him security and giving him confidence with the apparitions. “All hail Macbeth, hail to thee thane of Cawdor. All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter” (Act I, Scene 3, 47-48). This prophecy arouses Macbeth’s curiosity of how he can become the King of Scotland. “Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more: By Sinel’s death I know I am Thane of Glamis; But how of Cawdor' The Thane of Cawdor lives, a prosperous gentleman; and to be king stands not within the prospect of belief.” (Act I, Scene 3, 68-72) This quote shows how the witches prophecy attracts Macbeth. Banquo, a fellow nobleman, warns Macbeth about the prophecies, "But 'tis strange: and often times, to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles, to betrays in deepest consequence" (Act I, Scene 3, 122-127). The witches tempting prophecies bait Macbeth into their deceitful plot giving him a path to follow of how to obtain the goal that he had wanted for a long time, to become king. Not knowing they are all part of the deception, Macbeth easily succumbs to their plan and begins to aimlessly kill, believing nothing can harm him. Perhaps the greatest force in driving Macbeth to evil is his wife Lady Macbeth as she manipulated Macbeth in many ways. She was a huge incentive to commit the crimes he committed. When Macbeth was emotionally conflicted about killing Duncan, it was Lady Macbeth who gave him the final push towards murder. Lady Macbeth says “Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it” meaning that Macbeth is not without ambition, but lack of ruthlessness that is needed. She also questioned Macbeth's manhood and poured scorn upon her husbands lack of courage by calling him a coward and forced him to commit the murder. “When you durst do it, then you were a man. And to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man” (Act I, Scene 7, 49-51).This portrays the amount of control Lady Macbeth had over her husband. After she assured him they will not be blamed for the murder, Macbeth's attitude shifted and he agreed with his wife. After Macbeth began his murdering spree. his unholy deeds begin to trouble his sleep, and the innocent victims return to haunt him. Evil spirits take over his every move and thought. The luring prophecies, sleepless nights, hallucinations, and deceptive apparitions are all products of sorcery used to cloud Macbeth's moral judgement and lead him to further degradation. In Macbeth, ambition is the fatal flaw that causes his downfall. Macbeth changes from a person with some moral sense to a man who will stop at nothing to get and keep what he wants. After becoming king, Macbeth's endless ambitions lead him into misery and tragic ending. Being obsessed by the witches' prophecy, he even tries to control his future, “He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour/to act in safety. There is none but he, Whose being I do fear; and under him My genius is rebuked, as it is said Mark Antony's was by Caesar. Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown, And put a barren sceptre in my gripe,/ Thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand,/ No son of mine succeeding” (Act III, Scene 1, 54-65). By the plays end Macbeth has lost all emotion. He cannot even react to his wife's death saying that life is only "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." (Act V, Scene5, 25-27). In the end, Macbeth's eventual downfall and destruction was a product of his own blind ambition, triggered by both the witches and his wife, Lady Macbeth. His ambitions began a tragic downward spiral from which the tragic hero could never recover. “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself And falls on th’ other---” (Act I, Scene 7,25-28) -Carly Mannix.