Are the witches responsible for Macbeth's death?

This is one of the major questions that the play deals with, and it involves the idea of Fate and how Fate and Choice balance each other out. Given Macbeth's attitude at the beginning of the play - his position in the army, loyalty to Duncan, and hesitancy to commit murder - it is unlikely that Macbeth would have chosen to turn on Duncan without the prophecy from the witches, and without the immediate fulfillment of their first prophecy of becoming Thane of Cawdor. The witches also reveal when they are confronted by Hecate that they are purposely playing with Macbeth. However, it is quite a leap to blame the witches completely for the death of Macbeth. Macbeth very clearly chose to act in certain ways in order to create a fulfillment to the prophecies. Although what the witches predicted does happen, Macbeth's regicide and the subsequent murders that he arranges makes him personally responsible for the action Malcolm takes against him, and makes him the cause of his own death.