Murder is the most unfathomable of all human sin. The concept of killing another living being is incomprehensible to all sane people in the Elizabethan and modern era. Despite this fact, in William Shakespeare’s celebrated play Macbeth, there are multiple murders. These murders include those of King Duncan, his servants, Banquo, Lady Macduff, the son of Macduff and all the servants in their castle. The play’s protagonist, Macbeth, was the physical force behind these murders. In reality, his wife, Lady Macbeth, shared the guilt. She had a major role in the murder of King Duncan and his servants. She was, however, unaware of the killings of Banquo, Lady Macduff, the son of Macduff, and everyone in the Macduff Castle until after the deed was
She doubted Macbeth’s manliness and ambition as he was reconsidering his murder plan. She said “What beast was ‘t, / Then, / That made you break this enterprise to me? / When you durst do it, then you were a man; / And to be more than what you were, you would / Be so much more the man.” (Shakespeare, I, vii, 53-58). Lady Macbeth was trying to encourage Macbeth by telling him that if he commits to killing, he will be a true, brave man. By saying this, she is also saying that if he decides not to go through with his plan, he will not be a true man and will in result, lose respect. To restate, “[Lady Macbeth] knows very well that, but for her persuasion, Macbeth would never murder Duncan. Therefore she decides to use her influence and the power of her speech to induce Macbeth to commit the foul deed.” (Singh, 10). Lady Macbeth decided to use her power over Macbeth to her advantage by encouraging him to kill Duncan. She also told Macbeth “Art thou afeard / To be the same in thine own act and valor / As thou art 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?”
This resulted in overwhelming guilt. She is justified in these feelings due to the gravity of her actions. She played a crucial role in the murder of King Duncan and his servants and important roles in the murders of Banquo and everyone in Macduff’s castle. Her role was in the sense that she turned Macbeth into a man who believed these murders were right and just. However, her realization that her actions were unjustified, in Act 5, Scene 1, came too late. Multiple characters were slaughtered by, or under strict orders of, Macbeth. Although lives were cut short at the hand of Macbeth, he was simply a puppet in Lady Macbeth’s puppet
When his wife told him that in order for him to become king, he must kill the current king, King Duncan. King Duncan is a friend of Macbeth who he is very loyal to. Macbeth had to decide whether his loyalty to the king or loyalty to his wife was more important. "Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valor as thou desire? Wouldst thou have that which thou esteem'st the ornament of life, and live a coward in thine own esteem..." (Macbeth 60) In this quote, Lady Macbeth is questioning Macbeth's manhood. She is stating that he is not a man because he won't show the boldness or the bravery to do this
Lady Macbeth has a greater control on Macbeth’s actions than any other character in Macbeth apart from the Weïrd Sisters. She is well known for her persuading speeches to her husband, convincing him to fulfill the murder of King Duncan. Lady Macbeth challenges Macbeth’s manly qualities, and informs him that only when he follows through with the murder that
Not much further in the play, we see that Macbeth decides not to murder Duncan but rather, carry on serving as his Thane. However, Lady Macbeth starts her persuasion again, but this time she questions his manhood, saying "When you durst do it, then you were a man: And to be more then what you were you would be so much more the man." (1.7.49-51). Had she not challenged his manhood and his love for her, he would not have usurped the throne and she would not have become a Queen. Not only did she get him to think about the murder, she even knew what to say after he had started thinking about the murder.
Motivated from his wife’s support, Macbeth decides to go through with the plan to kill Duncan. However, at the last minute, he hesitates and decides to fall through with the murder and to instead, continue serving as a loyal thane to the king. But, when he announces this to his wife, Lady Macbeth drives him into a corner by cunningly asserting “when [he] durst do it, then [he was] a man/And to be more than what [he was], [he] would be so much more the man.” During these times, men were very self conscious about their image and desired not to be seen less than fierce. In this particular instance, Lady Macbeth takes advantage of this fact by questioning Macbeth’s title as a man, which puts him in a predicament between having to choose either loyalty or dignity. He eventually chooses the latter which is what Lady Macbeth subtly expects so that she easily claim the throne without any
Secondly Lady Macbeth shows more ambition then Macbeth does in terms of gaining power regarding kingship. When Macbeth does not want to murder Duncan anymore, for he recognizes that he is a kind man, good king and thinks Duncan should remain the king. Lady Macbeth however shows more ambition for power, becomes very upset upon learning how Macbeth feels how he doesn’t want to kill King Duncan anymore, she says “And Live a coward in thine own esteem” (1.7.46) meaning she’s calling him a coward for not wanting to kill Duncan and thereby gaining power. She convinces him to change his mind to want the power of kingship now, which can only be achieved by killing Duncan.
This murder was a simple job for lady Macbeth to say for her husband to kill the man, but when it came down to it lady Macbeth let him do it and she put the murder off on the servants. It was all for two people to become king and queen, but after, when they were who they wanted to be they were still empty and although everything that had happened could not be taken back, maybe there was a thought of regret. Although Macbeth held a lot of power on the people, I would have to say Lady Macbeth did also. She was the reason Macbeth murdered the two men in the first place, including one of his very close friends. Lady Macbeth had no problem with her husband killing the king in the first place, so why did she act so mad when he killed two people? It was all her idea and after when all the people were so shocked she acted just as shocked although she told him to murder the
After the death of King Duncan, Macbeth becomes the more controlling one, and Lady Macbeth’s guilt eventually becomes too much for her to handle which leads to her death. Lady Macbeth is in fact the one that performs the preparations for the murder of King Duncan, but still shows some signs of humanity by not committing the murder herself because he resembles "My father as he slept". After the murder has been committed, she also shows signs of being a strong person because she calms Macbeth down in order to keep him from going insane.
After reading the letter, Lady Macbeth already started to think how she could make Macbeth, the king of Scotland. When Macbeth came home, Lady Macbeth tried to persuade him into killing the Duncan. She explains how the Duncan coming to their castle would be the perfect opportunity of making their move. She explains her plan and tells him that he won’t be the one looking bad. “Your hand, your tongue; look like th’innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t” (Act Ⅰ, Scene Ⅵ, Lines 64-65) Lady Macbeth had also mentioned that Macbeth would only kill the Duncan. She would take care of the rest, he wouldn’t have to worry about anything. “Only look up clear, to after favour ever is to fear. Leave all the rest to me.” (Act Ⅰ, Scene Ⅵ, Lines 70-72) Lady Macbeth had pulled off manipulating Macbeth, but her influence sure sheds off on
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the repercussions of Macbeth murdering his King are very numerous. Through themes that include, imagery, soliloquies, atmosphere, and supernatural beings, Shakespeare enforces the magnitude of Macbeth’s crime. Most of these factors are linked together.
“When you first do it, then you were a man, And to be more than what you were, you would, be so much more the man” (I. VII, 54-56). After struggling with the thought of killing Duncan, Macbeth is reprimanded by Lady Macbeth for his lack of courage. She informs him that killing the king will make him a man, insinuating that he isn’t a man if he doesn’t go through with the murder. This develops Lady Macbeth as a merciless, nasty, and selfish woman. She will say, or do anything to get what she desires, even if it means harming others.
Macbeth tells himself to act like a man in the following lines: “Prithee, peace! / I dare do all that may become a man; / Who dares do more is none” (I, vii, 45-47). This quote by Macbeth shows how he wants to be a man by killing King Duncan, but he does not think this would be an act of righteousness. Macbeth is in a controversy with himself in this situation. If he does not kill the king then his wife, Lady Macbeth, will not think he is a man, but if he does kill the king then he will betray his leader’s trust in him. Betrayal would not be seen as an act of manliness. Jarold Ramsey explains the situation in the following sentence: “And, striking more ruthlessly at him, she scornfully implies that his very sexuality will be called into question in her eyes if he refuses the regicide” (288). This quote by Jarold Ramsey explains how Macbeth’s manliness will be determined in the eyes of Lady Macbeth when he makes his decision on whether or not he will kill the king. Lady Macbeth shows her desire of being queen in the following lines: “What beast was’t then / That made you break this enterprise to me? /When you durst do it, then you were a man” (I, vii, 47-49). This quote shows how she wants Macbeth to kill the king. In this situation Macbeth tells himself to be a man and kill the king to please Lady Macbeth. Maria Howell exp...
But he wont, so she insults him more, and goes to do it herself. Lady Macbeth was the initial force to make this entire play roll along. Macbeth was comfortable where he was, he was curious about the fact the witches stated, but he didn't want to force it to work. After Lady Macbeth's help in the killing of Duncan, the only influence she has upon him is to keep everything to themselves. At the party after Banquo's murder, Lady Macbeth tries to calm Macbeth, and tell him that what he sees is only an illusion, and not to worry about Banquo, and to shut up because his fit may show everyone that they are the murders of Duncan and Banquo.
Macbeth is a true Shakespearian tragedy, in which mast murders take place, in order for one man and women to take the throne and become king and queen. It starts with Duncan’s murder, which is done because Macbeth did not want to see Duncan’s son next in line for the throne and the only way to prevent that was by eliminating Duncan. The nest murder was that of Banquo. Banquo is a friend of Macbeth and his murder is un-predictable. Macbeth may have feared that if he did not kill Banquo, Banquo would kill him in order to gain a position power seeing that the witch’s just informed both Macbeth and Banquo that Macbeth will be the next King of Scotland and Banquo will never have the chance to hold the throne. Once Banquo is out of the way, Macbeth turns his attention to his real target, King MaCduff. Although at first hesitant about killing MaCduff, Macbeth chooses to murder MaCduff, a man who Macbeth himself said was a good man and a fine leader. The last murder is of MaCduff’s family. Macbeth can not take any chances and must kill any associated with the former king (King MaCduff). The murder of MaCduff’s wife and son is the most vicious crime of them all because for one we see the killing on stage and number two a child is murdered, the most vicious and horrific thing one can show. Macbeth murders for personal gain and has no regrets or else he would not have continued his mass slaughtering. Macbeth is responsible for these murders because he commits them himself, without any assistance, he kills everyone out of necessity, and because all these acts were done out of free will.
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, first published in 1606, is an endearing tale outlining the dangers of unchecked ambition and moral betrayal. In the subsequent centuries after first being performed, Macbeth's critics have been divided upon whether Macbeth himself was irrevocably evil, or if he was guided by the manipulation and actions of the women in the play to his ultimate demise. Although Lady Macbeth and the witches were influential with their provocations in the opening acts, it is ultimately Macbeth’s inherent immorality and his vaulting ambition, that resulted in the tragic downfall. It was Macbeth’s desire for power that abolished his loyalty and trustworthiness and led him down a path of murder. It is evident through his actions and words throughout the play as to how he led himself through a path of betrayal leading to his inescapable demise.
At the end of the play this character feels guilt for what she has done and has taken the personality, which was that of her husband in the beginning.At the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth speaks and shows her shows how cruel and heartless she really is; "And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty". This shows she has no good in her, what so ever. Macbeth on the other hand, began as a good respectable character. When Lady Macbeth speaks of killing Duncan, he gives many reasons for reasons that he could not do so. Some of the reasons he gives in that speech are, that Duncan respects him, and trusts Macbeth. Duncan is also related to him by blood, and if he were to kill him he would never be able to rid himself of the guilt; wash the blood from his hands.At the climax of the play Macbeth makes plans to kill Banquo, with out Lady Macbeth, without anyone.