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How is Macbeth influenced by the witches to kill King Duncan
how does Lady Macbeth influence macbeth in killing king duncan
how does killing duncan effect macbeth
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Sometimes people can help you act on certain ambitions that could improve your life. However, those actions do not usually go to such extremes as committing murder. In Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth is given a prophecy from three witches, also known as the Weird Sisters, that says he will become king. However, in order to gain the throne, Macbeth needs to kill his cousin, King Duncan. Since Macbeth has high morals, he is reluctant to carry out the act. Nevertheless, his wife, Lady Macbeth, is committed to doing whatever she can to make sure Macbeth murders Duncan and becomes king. Lady Macbeth’s decision to motivate Macbeth to kill Duncan and how she manipulated him ultimately influenced his decision to kill Duncan.
Lady Macbeth reveals to the audience that she thinks her husband is too mentally weak to kill
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When Macbeth tells his wife that Duncan would be coming to their house, she tells him to “ ...put/ This night’s great business/ into [her] dispatch,/ Which shall to all our nights and days to come/ Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom” (1.5.59-62). At this point, Lady Macbeth is telling her husband not to worry about how he will kill Duncan when he visits, for she will make a plan that will surely change their lives forever. Later, when Macbeth had recommitted himself to killing Duncan after having second thoughts, Lady Macbeth delivers the plan to him. Her plan includes getting Duncan’s guards drunk to the point of passing out, allowing Macbeth to stab Duncan with one of his guard’s daggers. Then, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth would be able to place the blame on the servants’ intoxication (1.7.61-72). This is the most important piece of Lady Macbeth’s influence on her husband; in all likelihood, Macbeth would not have devised any kind of plan by himself to kill Duncan because he would not have allowed his ambitions to overpower his
A powerful speaker is required to convince someone to commit murder, and it seems Lady Macbeth is that and more. Many people will claim she is possessed and that is why she tries to convince Macbeth to kill Duncan, but a closer look at the text will reveal her greed. In Act I scene v Lady Macbeth receives a letter from her husband announcing his recent promotion (Shakespeare 256). Lady Macbeth immediately is not content with this new found power but jumps right into contemplating murder. This is not a sign of possession by something dark, but a stark insight into the character of Lady Macbeth. In the same letter Macbeth calls his wife his ‘dearest partner in greatness’ which shows how different and out spoken Lady Macbeth must be from other women of her day (Shakespeare 256). This was not a common endearment in the days of Lady Macbeth and shows that Macbeth values her opinion. This could be a blessing or in this case a curse seeing how twisted Lady Macbeth’s character seems. During the next three scenes Lady Macbeth shows her overbearing personality when constantly convincing her husband it is a good idea to murder Duncan (Shakespeare 258-66) Macbeth, unlike many men of his time, is quite fickle in his thought. Lady Macbeth with h...
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth focuses mainly on becoming king. He is influenced by his wife, Lady Macbeth throughout the story. Lady Macbeth says; “Shall be,” (1.5.11) stating that she will have something to do with the fulfillment of the deed. Lady Macbeth also greets her husband using same words of the three witches by saying, “all hail” and hereafter (1.5.10). Macbeth becomes apprehensive of the deed that he is about to perform. Lady Macbeth continuously helps lead Macbeth into an evil spiral. At this point in the play Macbeth is confused and lacks the ability to make his own decision. He feels that killing king Duncan would be a horrid deed because Duncan his cousin. He is also concerned about his soul after life. "This even-handed justice commends the ingredients ...
When Macbeth finds out about the witches prophecies, he quickly sends a letter to Lady Macbeth explaining the situation. She rapidly sees that she must help Macbeth become king, so she says “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness /To catch the nearest way. /Thou wouldst be great,/ Art not without ambition, but without/ The illness should attend it. (1.5.15-20). Right away, Lady Macbeth is going to do everything she possibly can to ensure he becomes king which proves her ambition. Later on in the play, Lady Macbeth makes another decision which shows that her ambition is quickly getting the worst out of her. When King Duncan arrives, Lady Macbeth sees a perfect opportunity to kill Duncan. She is worried that Macbeth will not go through with the plan so she says ¨When Duncan is asleep—/Whereto the rather shall his day’s hard journey/ Soundly invite him—his two chamberlains/Will I with wine and wassail so convince¨ (1.7.61-65). Lady Macbeth reveals that her need for power is taking a turn. She plots to get the “two chamberlains” drunk so she can blame the murder of Duncan on them. The fact that she plots out an entire plan to kill Duncan and that she is willing to blame it on someone else reveals that her ambition has brought out the worst in her.. All in all, Lady Macbeth is a character who does not second
We start to see Lady Macbeth’s actions have a huge impact on Macbeth’s character as he transforms from a decent being to an overly bitter creature. The cause of his alteration is due to the fact that Lady Macbeth is constantly excreting heartless information into his mind. "Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou art in desire?" (I;vii;39-41) "And, to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man." (I;vii;50-51) Lady Macbeth uses these quotes to push her husband beyond limits and is therefore responsible for his dramatic change in attitude. She is constantly feeding his thoughts with negative comments and later on Macbeth realizes that he has another side to him. As he moves along to discover the concealed side of him, Macbeth falls in love with himself and begins to be drawn towards his evil desires. Because Lady Macbeth was the main cause of his new hidden discovery, she is fully responsible for opening up the door and letting the darkness in. This results in Macbeth committing both murders.
Sometimes, a criminal only commits a crime because they have been manipulated to believe it is the right thing to do. One such instance is in the play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth, a fierce warrior, is told by three witches that he will eventually become King of Scotland. Lady Macbeth, Macbeth’s wife, convinces Macbeth to kill King Duncan so that he can claim the crown. Although Lady Macbeth did not actually commit the murder, she is ultimately the driving force behind Macbeth’s downfall throughout the play. Lady Macbeth is able to control Macbeth through emotional abuse, guilt, and by setting the groundwork for the murder. Lady Macbeth uses many tactics to persuade Macbeth, but her use of emotional
When her husband reveals his indecisiveness on whether he should process the assassination, Lady Macbeth relentlessly accuses Macbeth’s fear of rebellion. She fully understands Macbeth’s desire and weakness; thus, she first utilizes their love to satirize Macbeth, and then questions Macbeth’s manhood which is the most serious taboo for any soldier by saying: “…live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting ‘I dear not’ wait upon ‘I would’.” Obviously, Lady Macbeth’s eloquence immediately impacts on Macbeth so that he commits to kill the king Duncan and “become a man.” Even though the argument against Lady Macbeth might focusing on she provokes Macbeth’s evil ambition and directly causes Macbeth’s death, I think Lady Macbeth forces Macbeth to face his greedy ambition of being a King and strive for the ambition without
At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a trusted soldier, who is honest and noble. Unfortunately, he meets three witches who tell him three prophecies; that he will become thane of Cawdor, that he will become king and that Banquo’s sons will become kings. These three prophecies slowly change his opinions on life and turn him into a greedy, dishonest, tyrant, full of ambition. Lady Macbeth’s thoughts change as well when she is told about the three prophecies that were told to Macbeth. In the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is ambitious, controlling and domineering. She is the one who encourages him to kill the king, she not only encourages him, she makes all the plans herself, which shows her determination and persistence."Yet I do fear thy nature, it is too full o’th milk of human kindness. To catch the nearest way thou wouldst be great. Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it." (Act 1, scene 5). Lady Macbeth is the force behind Macbeth’s sudden ambition and she tries to manipulate him into feeling guilty and unmanly for not following through with the murder, by using her husbands emotions, she manages to convince Macbeth to murder Duncan.
Following the meeting with the witches, Macbeth begins to think about killing Duncan and taking the throne by force. Macbeth becomes concerned with the witches prophesies and wants to learn more, as we can see from what he says after they leave, "Would they have stayed!" (1.3.82). After this, he begins thinking about his desire to be king. We can see that he is thinking about murdering Duncan from his soliloquy, "Stars, hide your fires, /Let not light see my black and deep desires;" (1.5.50-51). Macbeth has begun his path to corruption.
We are first introduced to Lady Macbeth at the beginning of Act 1, scene 5, through the letter that Macbeth sends her. This shows her to be his, ‘dearest partner of greatness’ and that he has no secrets from her. The witches’ prophecies intensify her ambitions for her husband, to be the King of Scotland. Lady Macbeth is the one who encourages him to kill the king and she not only encourages him, she makes all the plans herself. We see how clever she is and how she understands her husband well, she knows he has great ambitions, but she also knows that he is honourable and mentally weak:
In Shakespeare’s MacBeth, a Scottish thane ascends his way to becoming king by killing off anyone in his way. MacBeth’s first victim, and most difficult to kill, was King Duncan. The reason killing King Duncan was harder for MacBeth than killing other victims, was that MacBeth had never committed such a crime, and he was unsure whether or not he wanted to go through with his plan. He had promised his ambitious wife, Lady MacBeth, that he would kill Duncan, though he later reassesses the idea. If it were not for Lady MacBeth’s persuasion, Duncan most likely would not have been murdered.
Throughout the play and leading up to her eventual suicide, Lady Macbeth slowly weakens. Yet, in the beginning of the play, she acts as if she is unstoppable. When Macbeth has his doubts and fears about murdering the loyal Duncan, Lady Macbeth chastises him, calling him everything from a coward to a helpless baby (I. vii. 39-49, 53-67). She even offers to do it herself, possibly to make Macbeth feel that he's even more cowardly because a woman is offering to do "his" job. This pushes Macbeth to kill, though these are the actions that will eventually lead to both of their demises later in the play. Macbeth tries to convince Lady Macbeth, as well as himself, that she is wrong: 3 Prithee, peace. I dare do all that may become a man. Who dares more is none. (I. vii. 50-52) However, Macbeth does not seem to fully convince her, because he is still mocked by his wife. Whether he failed to convince himself or to convince his Lady is irrelevant; he went through with the murder anyhow.
In life everyone has goals that they hope to attain and there are many ways that one can achieve these goals. To achieve what you desire you can either wait for time to take its toll, or take matters into your own hands and do what you have to do in order to fulfill your desires. You can attain your goal as long as you have ambition. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth had the goal of Macbeth becoming king: to obtain this they took matters into hands and killed Duncan. In order for somebody to commit such a heinous act as murder the conspirators must be ruthless, and this is what Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were, ruthless. Lady Macbeth’s is more ruthless than her spouse and her ruthlessness is what fueled Duncan’s murder. However some may claim that this is not so and that Macbeth is more ruthless than his wife.
Duncan is the most unlikely character to be killed because of his personality, but his title as King of Scotland, causes for Macbeth to loathe Duncan. In the play there is very little interaction between Macbeth and Duncan, showing the little time in which Macbeth gets more power. Prior to the witches’ prophecies Macbeth is loyal to Duncan, and would never imagine killing him. After the one of the witches’ prophecies comes to be true, the thought of killing Duncan, Macbeth "yield[s] to that suggestion / whose horrid image doth unfix my hair / and make my seated heart knock at my ribs" (1.3.146-148). Partly because of Lady Macbeth’s suggestion his "vaulting ambition" is starting to take over, and he begins to take into consideration killing Duncan, to become king. Macbeth however, does not feel comfortable in killing Macbeth, giving himself reasons why not to kill Duncan: “First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, Who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself,” (I, vii, 13-16) Lady Macbeth, convinces Macbeth, that killing Duncan is the right thing to do until right before he performs the murder. We learn from this murder that Macbeth truly had faith in the king and was very loyal, but knowing that one day he would become king, his ambition and the persuasion of Lady Macbeth, causes him to perform the act, that he will regret. This murder changes Macbeth as a person, however, and he soon feels little regret for killing King Duncan, but this act will soon aid in his downfall.
In the beginning of the play, when Lady Macbeth is first introduced she is already plotting Duncan's murder. She even wishes that she were not a woman so that she could do it herself saying in Act I, Scene 5, "Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here." Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband with astonishing success, overruling all his objections. When he does not wish to murder, she frequently questions his manhood until he feels that he must kill King Duncan in order to prove himself. They are both blinded by ambition; nothing will stop them from gaining the throne. Macbeth feels remorse immediately following the murder, but Lady Macbeth assures him that everything will be fine. When he worries over his blood stained hands she tells him in Act II, Scene 2 that "A little water clears us of this deed. How easy is it then!" Lady Macbeth also logically explains to her husband that as long as he is the new king, he can never be punished for the murder of Duncan, for no one possesses more power than he. She seems completely unaffected by the murder they two have conspired to commit. This apathy does not last for long however.
When Lady Macbeth found out about the predictions, she pressurised her husband into killing Duncan. Anytime Macbeth had second thoughts, Lady Macbeth was there to spur him on – mostly by criticising him and calling him a coward! This could be another reason for Macbeth’s change of character; his wife constantly used ‘reverse psychology’ on him and even considered committing the murde...