To what extent was Macbeth the cause of his own demise?

It can be
said thatwas almost completely
responsible for his own downfall. The only others that could be
considered
worthy of blame would befor initially seducing him with the idea of power and
for
their deception, as well as his wife for prodding and encouraging his
evil acts. However,
neither of these two parties could be seen as responsible
to the same degree.

The witches are proven in the first
scene to be extraordinarily spiteful beings. While
it can certainly be argued
thatwas tricked into doing terrible things, it is entirely likely
that the
potential for this evil was growing within him all along. We can see the
ambitious
nature of Macbeth from the moment that he hears about the
prophecy.wonders why Macbeth could
possibly seem afraid at the "fair"
prophecies that have been laid out before him. It
could be said that Macbeth
is somewhat aware of the terrible crimes he will have to commit to
become
king, and his mind is already racing with the thought of committing them.



Macbeth allows himself to be insulted by his wife to the point
of committing
his most heinous crime, as he had decided against it until she
viciously berated him. This is as
close as another party comes to being
responsible for Macbeth's undoing. However it is still
Macbeth who commits
the act, and the maddening paranoia he experiences thereafter are from his

actions alone.