What defines whether someone is reprehensible for such an odious deed? Is it the one on who commits the physical act, or the one who plants the venom filled seed into the accomplice’s head so that it imbeds its roots in every minute crevice of the brain? Which one is the most culpable for the execution? In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth three hideous witches reveal Macbeth’s prophecy to him. He will be Thane of Glaims, Thane of Cawdor, and King hereafter. The three grisly seeress’s also divulge Banquo’s future, Macbeth’s friend; Lesser but greater than Macbeth, not as happy but happier than Macbeth, and his son shall be king. Not him. Macbeth cherishes the idea of being king, but his good kind friend Duncan is king. Although Lady Macbeth craves the crown more than her next breath so she compels Macbeth to slaughter Duncan in his sleep. In the end all their efforts and lies backfired and led them both to their demise. In this play, Lady Macbeth is most responsible for Duncan’s murder. Shakespeare elucidates this though conflict and character.
In Macbeth by William Shakespeare Lady Macbeth is the most at fault for Duncan’s death; all the actions that came before and after his death fell like a deadly maze of dominoes because Lady Macbeth manipulated her husband into the disposal of Duncan with her poisonous words. She was the instigator and Macbeth was a slave to her remarks. She illustrates a nice little picture with her words; “Would 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?” (1.7.45-49). This is Lady Macbeth exploiting him by insulting his masculinity and proclaiming him a weakling. He denies it. She real...
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...eeder that nurtured the murderous tree and carved its branches into those of wooden stakes. In the end they are all but wood and can be broken to the point where it breaks the breeder. Without the underlying toxin in the ground, it’s roots absorbing it, that tree could have blossomed into the most dazzling sight that it stole a couple breaths from those who passed by and then left with sparkle filled eyes. Not only would Duncan still be alive if not for Lady Macbeth’s actions, she and Macbeth would be to and all those other fatalities who had gotten stuck in their twisted game. Macbeth could have still possibly have become too. Lady Macbeth is the most authoritative person at fault concerning Duncan’s destruction.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William, Barbara A. Mowat, and Paul Werstine. The Tragedy of Macbeth. New York: Washington Square, 2002. Print.
Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.
Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.
Throughout the play Macbeth allows his pride to interfere with his judgment and succumbs to the witches’ prophecy, leading to his tragic downfall. “Macbeth orders a slaughter of innocents in a vain and futile attempt to preserve kingships threatened by prophecies” (Hassel). He murders King Duncan, his good friend, in order to secure his fate as king. Although Macbeth knows the difference between right and wrong, he is a victim of his tragic flaw: his ambition. His tragic flaw repeatedly leads him to deceit and murder.
The main theme of Macbeth-the destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints-finds its most powerful expression in the play's two main characters. Macbeth is a courageous Scottish general who is not naturally inclined to commit evil deeds, yet he deeply desires power and advancement. He kills Duncan against his better judgment and afterward stews in guilt and paranoia. Toward the end of the play he descends into a kind of frantic, boastful madness. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, pursues her goals with greater determination, yet she is less capable of withstanding the repercussions of her immoral acts. One of Shakespeare's most forcefully drawn female characters, she spurs her husband mercilessly to kill Duncan and urges him to be strong in the murder's aftermath, but she is eventually driven to distraction by the effect of Macbeth's repeated bloodshed on her conscience. In each case, ambition helped, of course, by the malign prophecies of the witches is what drives the couple to ever more terrible atrocities. The problem, the play suggests, is that once one decides to use violence to further one?s quest for power, it is difficult to stop. There are always potential threats to the throne?Banquo, Fleance, Macduff?and it is always tempting to use violent means to dispose of them.
Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. Vol. XLVI, Part 4. The Harvard Classics. New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1909–14; Bartleby.com, 2001. http://www.bartleby.com/46/4/. [Date of Printout].
Macbeth is a play written by William Shakespeare in the 1600 century. It is one of Shakespeare’s most well known tragedies, and continues to be studied to this day. It is a dark and gloomy play, as the main character, Macbeth, gets a taste for evil and kills the king of Scotland, King Duncan, in order to become king himself. After this moment there is a rapid increase of evil in him, as he starts to kill more and more people who upset him or are a threat to the throne. One of the play’s most important scenes is when Macbeth murders King Duncan, this scene is essential to the remainder of the play and how it unfolds. This murder scene contributes to the play in terms of plot development, it exposes and develops the major theme of how people can turn evil when confronted with power, and it reveals the true character of Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth.
The three witches who introduce the play immediately strike the audience as representatives of evil, instantly establishing Macbeth as their ‘victim’, one whom they have chosen to involve in their plans. In the first act, Macbeth is shown to be a noble, cousin to the king, a valiant and worthy man: “Brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name”, just as the witches are shown to be malicious, evil creatures, recounting their cruel dealings. In his meeting them, the suggestion of his royalty is quickly seeded – their words provoke him and set in motion his demise. In the forth act, he is shown to have walked even further down the path of corruption to the point that he no longer shows the qualities of a good man in his seeking of the witches themselves – seeking the instruments of darkness, and thus embracing evil. Their original meeting with him sparked his ambition, and it is of his own accord and conscious choice that he seeks them out – it is no influence of theirs that leads him to meet with them a second time. Consequently, without the interference of the witches, Macbeth would not have begun his unforgivable massacre but his own corrupted nature takes him further than the initial prompting of the witches. In originally finding Macbeth and prophesising his ascension to power, the witches take partial responsibility in Macbeth’s downfall as they began the entire process of Macbeth’s rise and fall.
Evans, G. Blackemore. "Macbeth." In The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blackemore Evans. Boston: Houghton Mufflin Company. 1974: 1307- 1311
“That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan / Under my battlements Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe topful / Of direst cruelty!” (1.5.38-43). In these lines, Lady Macbeth asks to be filled with masculine strength and be stripped of her feminine weakness in order to take over the crown because she is not sure about the manhood of her husband Macbeth. The reader sees Lady Macbeth as woman that may influence the whole play and drive the action towards an unexpected end. However, Lady Macbeth is a character that gradually falls into the despair of being the driven force behind King Duncan’s murder. For example, in these lines Lady Macbeth struggle to get rid of some “damned spot” which will not disappear, regardless of much water she uses to wash them out. These blood spot serves as a reminder of her involvement in King Duncan’s murder and thinking about it will drive her crazy. “Out, damned spot! out, I say!—One: two: why, then, / 'tis time to do 't.—Hell is murky!—Fie, my lord, fie! / A soldier, and afeard?” (5.1.35-37). From a strong, cynical and influential character, Lady Macbeth gradually crumbles into a weak, vulnerable and tormented woman who feels guilty for being the driving force behind her husband 's killing spree in order to complete the
Lady Macbeth is a vicious and overly ambitious woman, her desire of having something over rules all the moral behaviors that one should follow. On the beginning of the novel, Macbeth receives the news that if Duncan, the current king, passed away he would be the next one to the throne. So, Lady Macbeth induces Macbeth into killing Duncan by filling his mind with ambition and planting cruel seeds into his head. After accomplishing his deed of killing the king, he brings out the daggers that were used during the murder, and says, “I’ll go no more. I am afraid to think what I have done; look on’t again I dare not.” This is his first crime and Macbeth is already filled with guilt and regret. He shows the reader to be the weak one of the duo. Lady Macbeth as the cruel partner still has some sentiment and somewhat a weakness in her heart and mind. When talking about Duncan she says, “Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done’t.” Weakness is still present and will always be there throughout the novel but this one change the fact that Lady Macbeth is still the stronger and cruel one.
Lady Macbeth is the first to strategize a way to kill Duncan. As a character foil to Macbeth she juxtaposes their possession of guilt and ruthlessness, which creates irony and excitement to the play. Originally, she is very power hungry and wants to utilize her husband’s position in status to become queen. Macbeth objects to the plan to kill Duncan because he believes Duncan is Macbeth’s kinsman, host, and an overall virtuous ruler (Act. 1 Scene. 7) and thus feels very guilty for taking advantage of Duncan’s trusting quality towards the Macbeth family. She refers to Macbeth as weak and rebukes his manhood (Act 1. Scene 7.) . As the play progresses, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have a character role reversal of their possession of guilt and ruthlessness. The character foil is extant, however Macbeth’s ruthlessness overcomes his guilt, and Lady Macbeth’s guilt vanquishes her drive for power. In addition to an alteration in character foils, Shakespeare introduces situational irony because now Lady Macbeth succumbs to the weakness Macbeth once possessed and Macbeth is the one who is formidable and ambitious. Macbeth’s ability to transcend his guilt exemplifies his struggle for power and reinforces the theme of evil ambition because Macbeth is able to secure the throne and power only by mass
Shakespeare, William, and John Crowther. No Fear Shakespeare: Macbeth. ed. New York: Spark Publishing, 2003. Print.
Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.
Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 2008.