How Does Lady Macbeth Kill Duncan

Why Macbeth Decided to Kill King Duncan William Shakespeare wrote Macbeth in the summer of 1606, it is set in the location of Scotland. The theme is “Fair is Foul” and “Foul is Fair” which means not everything is what it seems to be, (such as Macbeth), who turned from a loyal servant into a brutal murderer. At that time William Shakespeare’s audience “Elizabethans” believed the world had good and evil powers. They believed that the evil powers of witches controlled people’s lives. =

Macbeth's Killing of King Duncan in William Shakespeare's Macbeth The play of Macbeth was technically set in the 11th century (despite showing little indication of the period). The Scottish play was written by William Shakespeare in 1606 and is one of his tragedies, in that the main characters struggle with circumstances and meet death and despair. It was allegedly written for King James 1st by Shakespeare to act as a propaganda tool to basically scare people against trying to kill the King, as Guy Fawkes had attempted to do. It is noted that King James was fascinated by witchcraft and at the time when it was written there was a strong cultural belief in supernatural objects such as the Devil and witches. There are many factors that we must consider when deciding who persuaded Macbeth to kill Duncan.

Macbeth is in a tough spot wondering if he should or should not kill King Duncan. I personally think that Macbeth should not kill Duncan. Although there are some advantages to killing Duncan it might hurt him in the long run. If Macbeth kills Duncan than he will become the king. He will be on top of the food chain and control everything and everyone. If he doesn’t kill the king then he will not become the king right now. If he would just have some patience then maybe someday his dream of coming king will come true. “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (1, 1, 12). I agree with Emma Larson in this statement because I think it has something to do with what happens to be right or

Lady Macbeth has been taunting her husband with the idea of success and obtaining royal status. Her solution is one “small” deed- to kill the king. Macbeth becomes uncertain of the repercussions of success, questioning whether he could overome the mental impact of the act. She is the closest character to Macbeth, meaning she is influential through the close proximity of their relationship and in their love. Macbeth is dependent on advice and the opinion of his wife. Lady Macbeth speaks to Macbeth, attempting to aggravate him and obtain an intentional response, she says: “From this time/Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard/To be the same in thine own act and valor/As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that/Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life,/And live a coward in thine own esteem,/Letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would,

After Lady Macbeth reads his letter and Macbeth arrives home, she is excited about becoming queen. She asks Macbeth when King Duncan is to be arriving and tells Macbeth to leave the plan up to her, his only job being that he has to look innocent and hide their true intentions. Macbeth seems to be stunned and nervous, telling his wife that they will talk later when she begins to tell him of her plan. In the seventh scene, at the castle, Macbeth speaks of the intense guilt he is feeling even before he is to kill Duncan; “… this even-handed justice/ Commends the ingredients of our poisoned/ Chalice to our own lips…” (1. 7. 10-12) (Shakespeare), “… He’s here in double trust…” (1. 7. 12) (Shakespeare), “… Besides, this Duncan/ Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been/ So clear in his great office…” (1. 7. 17-19)(Shakespeare) all express Macbeth’s discomfort with murdering Duncan to steal the throne. Not only does he convey these emotions during this monologue, but he does so when Lady Macbeth enters the room, saying “We will proceed no further in this business./ He hath honored me of late, and I have bought/ Golden opinions from all sorts of people…” (1. 7. 32-34) (Shakespeare). To respond to this, Lady Macbeth does what she does best: emasculating her husband. She first articulates her questioning of his manhood after she reads Macbeth’s letter in the first act when she says “Yet do I fear thy nature;/ It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness…” (1. 5. 2-3) (Shakespeare), which contrasts with the heroic description the dying Captain gives of Macbeth in the opening scene. After Macbeth tells his wife that he is calling off the plan to kill King Duncan, she

Killing the King in William Shakespeare's Macbeth William Shakespeare was born on April 23rd 1564 in Stratford, England. In the 1590's Shakespeare joined a touring theatre company in London. He was the lead actor of the company, which was called " The Lord Chamberlain's Men."

Both Lady Macbeth and Iago, have versions of a temptation scene in which they manipulate the minds of their prey to achieve a goal. After strengthening her mind and fortifying her emotions, Lady Macbeth feels prepared to take on the responsibility for what’s to come. Sensing her husband’s tentativeness, she eases his nerves by saying “you shall put this night’s great business into my dispatch, which shall to all our nights and days to come give solely sovereign sway and masterdom” (I. vii. 67-70). She manages to keep her cool and maintains a level head for the beginning stages of their villainy when Macbeth is still on the edge. In order to push him into compliance she distorts her idea of masculinity and “comes to assume all the obnoxious aspects of patriarchal thinking. She patronizes Macbeth, seeks to bring him back into the logical system of masculine dialect [and] male dominance in the name of order” (Fawkner 92). Knowing full well that Macbeth would be swayed by this line of taunting, she questions him, “Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valor as thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, and live a coward in thine own esteem, letting ‘I dare not’ wait upon ‘I would’, like the poor cat i’ th’ adage?” (I. vii. 39-44). She goes on to assure him of the impossibility of their failure and promises him that he’ll “be so much more than man” upon completion of their evil deed (I. vii. 51). “This was the nature of Lady Macbeth’s influence on Macbeth. She could sway him because she understood him and loved him, and because he loved her and depended on her love and good thoughts of him” (Shanley 308). It was this trust in each other and the fact that she knows just which stri...

During this time, Macbeth was undergoing a lot of apprehension and anxiety. Additionally, Macbeth at this time was questioning whether taking the life of someone (Duncan) who he trusted, fought for, and cared for was really worth all the power and glory it would gain him and his wife. Moreover, he was also contemplating the moral, and emotional consequences this crime would invoke. Prior to the murder, Macbeth utters these words,”This even-handed justice commend th’ingredience of our poison’d chalice to our own lips...First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, strong both against the deed; then, as his host, Who should go against his murderer shut the door, Not bear a knife myself…”(1:7:10-16). Within this quotation Macbeth displays his anxieties and his emotions in a very open way and conveys to the audience that deep down Macbeth wishes not to murder Duncan because of the overwhelming guilt he will face in the future. Moreover, Macbeth speaks on how being his kinsman and host rightfully prohibit him from killing Duncan and that Macbeth should actually be the one stopping a threat to Duncan’s life rather than committing it himself. Contrastingly, Lady Macbeth, prior to the murder, heavily impacts her husband and antagonizes Macbeth by trying to belittle his masculinity for refusing to kill Duncan.

Additionally, Lady Macbeth is very eager to murder Duncan; as a result, she wishes she can be a man who is aggressive and masculine. “Come, you spirit, / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full, / Of direst cruelty” (I.v.36-39). Lady Macbeth wants to “unsex” herself; she wants to get rid of all her female qualities, such as morality and benevolence. She hopes to be “fill full of cruelty from her top to the bottom,” so she does not have to worry her kindness will stop her from assassinating Duncan. Furthermore, she wants her blood to be thicker, so she can prepare herself to be more brave and strong like a male (I.v.39-40). To put it differently, Lady Macbeth wishes she can change her gender

In Act 1 Scene 7, Lady Macbeth ‘bullies’ her husband by doubting his masculinity and provoking a response. She called Macbeth “afeard” and a “coward”. I am inclined to think that Lady Macbeth chose these words as Macbeth values his courage and fierce nature as it has positioned him highly in society. It is possible that Macbeth’s greatest vulnerability is his love for Lady Macbeth and that enables her to exploit his love for power. This shows her femininity as a strength as she can use it to influence Macbeth and show him as the weak spouse.