Tim Stone
Mr. Stone
ENG3UI
12 April 2013
Macbeth: How Blaming Delegitimizes the Blamer
In line 62, we can see Macbeth’s tendency to not only blame others for the decisions he has
made, but also that he feels, as a result of these decisions, that he is an illegitimate ruler.
Macbeth, when worrying to himself about what the future, says “upon my head, they have
placed a fruitless crown”(3.1.62). Macbeth clearly sees himself as a victim when he accuses the
witches (and, to a lesser extent, the thanes who chose him) of having placed the crown on his
head, rather than accepting that he killed Duncan to get it. This ties in with other places in the
play, like when he blamed ambition for his wanting to be king, where Macbeth tries to convince
himself he is a passive victim of circumstance and so is not the one to blame. The fact that he
sees the crown he has won as fruitless indicates that he sees it, and himself as a result, as
illegitimate and unnatural. Calling the crown fruitless also suggests that Macbeth is still worried
about how much of a man he is, as he feels he will not be able to have an heir (he is without
fruit after all).
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth.Ed. Roma Gill. Toronto: Oxford UP. 1977. Print.