In William Shakespeare's Macbeth, the downfall of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth was caused by their strong desire to become rulers. When the witches first told Macbeth about his future rule, he didn't completely believe them. However, he soon accepted the idea and was ecstatic. Both he and Lady Macbeth wanted to become king and queen as soon as possible. They both became obsessed with their power, and every time Macbeth wondered if he was doing the right thing, Lady Macbeth knew exactly what to say to get him to do what she wanted. Initially, Macbeth was noble and only fought for his country, but he is ultimately destroyed by his excessive ambition, which Shakespeare describes as unnatural and dangerous. After the witches prophesied that Macbeth would become king, he just needed an extra push. by Lady Macbeth to overcome his strong feelings of guilt and thus be able to act. Lady Macbeth pursued her goals with more determination than Macbeth. She was willing to do anything to become queen and feels like she's the one who has to push him into action. After reading his letter explaining the prophecies, she says to herself: “Yet I fear your nature; / He is too full of the milk of human kindness / to take the nearest road. You would be great, / You are not without ambition, but without / Sickness should attend it” (1.5.16-20). The “nature” he talks about is morality and what is considered natural. He then comments on how he is full of the “milk of human kindness” just as a baby would be full of its mother's milk. He is also full of what is best for him. He doesn't expect him to take the shortcut of killing Duncan. Lady Macbeth goes on to say that she thinks Macbeth would like...middle of the paper...to talk about killing Duncan. He's finding that just the thought gives him goosebumps and his heart pounding. His mind tells him he should kill, but his body naturally tells him it's wrong. Macbeth would have been a great ruler if only he had rationalized the situations the Wëird Sisters presented to him. Macbeth was not the type of character who would kill others for his own benefit, but as he gained more power, his ambitions grew to dangerous proportions. Lady Macbeth helped him ignore some of the guilt so he could carry out the actions. He was also able to ignore the awareness of his growing desires, so that by the end of the play, Macbeth's ambition practically caused him to drown in his greed and lust for power. Macbeth died not only because of Macduff, but also because of his ambitions which transformed from something motivating to use in battle to something destructive.