How Did Macbeth Kill Duncan

Lady Macbeth decides she cannot live with herself anymore and commits suicide. Macbeth does not show any concern about his wife’s death, instead saying that “she should have died hereafter. . . Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day. . . the way to a dust death. Out, out, brief candle! (5:5:17-25). Macduff beheads Macbeth, proclaiming to Malcolm “Hail, king! For so thou art. Behold where stands the usurper’s cursed head. The time is free” (5:8:54-55). All of these negative consequences occurred solely because Macbeth and Lady Macbeth wanted to be more powerful. They learned that ambition fueled by greed ultimately leads to the worst consequence:

3. 157-159) Macbeth’s arrogance is made apparent with the immediacy of his thoughts of becoming king and it is clear that the supernatural has given him arrogant ambition as Macbeth is already beginning to think of how he will be crowned king. Macbeth eventually decides he will show his “Black and deep desires” (1. 4. 58) and murder Duncan, the current king of Scotland. This is a shift from Macbeth showing loyalty to Scotland and the king as he now has arrogantly, for the benefit of himself becoming king, murdered Duncan, the king of Scotland. Duncan was greatly admired and respected by the population of Scotland. Macbeth himself describes Duncan as “meek” (1. 7. 17) and being “so clear in his great office” (1. 7. 18). When Macduff first realizes the death of Duncan, he describes the scene as: “O horror, horror, horror!” (2. 3. 73) Macbeth acknowledges that the reaction to Duncan’s death would be mournful before murdering him: “Pity… / Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye, / That tears shall drown the wind” (1.7. 21-25). However, Macbeth’s only goal is to become king, not to please the population of Scotland who admires their king greatly and sees him as a righteous person. After tempting Macbeth with the idea of becoming king, the supernatural gives Macbeth arrogant ambition, forcing him to contrast his loyal and courageous personality, which motivates him to kill Duncan.

Lady Macbeth has the power over her husband to persuade him into doing anything she requests. She manipulates Macbeth with incredible efficiency by overruling all of his thoughts and changing his perspective on the present. Even though the many tasks that need to be completed are difficult to understand why they need to be done, Lady Macbeth will always convince Macbeth to do it. Her husband often tells her that she has a “masculine soul” which is obvious due to her murderous and envious actions. When the time came to kill king Duncan, Macbeth believes that his wife has gone insane and tells her that the crime they were about to commit was a horrible idea. As a result of his questioning, Lady Macbeth says that executing the crime will show his loyalty to her. On the night of the assassination Lady Macbeth watched the guards of the castle become drunk and unaware of what was going on. Lady Macbeth sent her husband into the castle to kill King Duncan. The married couple fled the scene leaving the guards covered in the evidence. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are stained with the blood of their victims and the feeling of guilt in their stomach.

After hearing the prophecy that he will become king, Macbeth resolves to leave his future up to fate proving his pride and prestige are very important to him. Once he is told of Malcolm being named successor to the throne, Macbeth decides that if he is going to reach his goal he cannot leave it up to luck. Again Macbeth’s resolve to murder Duncan wavers when he leaves the grand banquet to assess his situation and decide whether he wants to proceed. His arguments include wishing to keep his honor and not kill Duncan for Duncan is there ‘in double trust’. Thus, Macbeth is shown to be clinging to his honor. Finally, Macbeth must stand his ground one last time against his wife who uses tact to emasculate Macbeth. In his final attempt to stop the whole ordeal before it can start Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that he does not want to ‘cast aside’ the honor he has just recently received. Unfortunately, Lady Macbeth will have none of what her husband is saying and so convinces Macbeth to follow through with his plan of murdering King Duncan. Hence, the audience is given the first example of how powerful selfish motives are and how quickly they can spread to others along with cause them to perform unthinkable

Coincidentally, Duncan, honoring the hero, decides to stay at Macbeth’s castle overnight. Lady Macbeth believes that this is a perfect opportunity given by fate to kill Duncan and usurp his power. Exhibiting extreme ambition and masculinity, Lady Macbeth orchestrates the entire scheme and persuades her husband into committing evil deeds, chiding him for behaving like a feminine and coward. Macbeth eventually yields to his wife’s pressure and manipulation. After the murder is discovered, Malcolm and Donalbain, Duncan’s sons, flee to England and Ireland, respectively, while Macbeth assumes a dictatorial sovereignty of Scotland. Macbeth, however, becomes insecure about his power, for the witches have prophesied that Banquo’s descendants will be kings and Macduff, another Scottish nobleman in England, may threaten him. Hence, the vicious tyrant assassinates Banquo and Macduff’s family. As a result, Macduff, with aids from Malcolm and England, vows to retaliate against Macbeth. Meanwhile, Lady Macbeth is greatly agonized by guilt, sleepwalking, rubbing her hands as if trying to wash away the bloodstains, and finally committing suicide. The downfall of Macbeth immediately succeeds when the English army invades his castle and is marked by Macduff outplaying Macbeth in a fierce

Macbeth’s desire to become king and take the crown from King Duncan ends up hurting him more than helping him. Initially, Macbeth was against murdering King Duncan and didn't think he could do that to his very own king. Lady Macbeth believes that her husband will not go through with his plan however he does end up killing him. She states “Yet I do fear thy nature; It is too full of of the milk of human kindness. As he kills the King he starts to see things like the floating dagger and that seems to make him extremely

Lady Macbeth gives Macbeth the first push to kill Duncan, and she wants to be ruthless, feel no remorse so that she and her husband will successfully kill Duncan. She desires to “stop up th’ access and passage to remorse” (Shakespeare 1.5.51) so that she will not feel bad about the murder. She persuades Macbeth to kill Duncan, but he struggles afterward when he does not follow the plan and forgets to put back the daggers he cannot face the evil act he has committed. Lady Macbeth is satisfied after Macbeth is king, but that is not enough for him any longer. Eventually the killings take a toll on Macbeth’s mental state, and the guilt he begins to feel is unbearable. Macbeth kills Duncan and then says “this is a sorry sight”

Ladies and Gentlemen of the court, the evidence shows that Lady Macbeth compelled Macbeth to murder King Duncan and set him down a path of crime and destruction. She is as much to blame as Macbeth. The facts of the case are, Macbeth killed Duncan by his own hand, but he hired assassins to commit the murders of Banquo and Fleance. At the beginning of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s marriage the people can see they act as equals, one does not outrank the other. As time progresses her true colors start to seep through onto the surface. Lady Macbeth portrayed herself as power-hungry, she will do anything and everything to deem the family name as dominant and successful.

After Macbeth had slaughtered King Duncan, he was filled with a guilty conscience, regretting his wrong. His wife however, thought he was infirm of purpose. This was the first murder that Macbeth had experienced, however after the first murder, killing seemed to be the only solution to maintain his reign as king. Therefore, it was Lady Macbeth who introduced Macbeth to murder, turning him into a murderous villain and leading him to his decadence. Macbeths ambition influenced his declining character and led to his demise. Although Macbeths ambition had not been strong enough to carry the motive to kill King Duncan, with the added contribution of Lady Macbeths influence, his ambition was intensified enough to drive him to obtain and maintain his title as King of Scotland at no matter the cost, even the life of his good and loyal friend, Banquo. Although Macbeth did not have the mental strength to murder King Duncan on his own, he had the black and deep desires hidden in his heart. It was this fuelled ambition that ultimately led to his downfall. All in all, it was the combined factors of the witches prophecies, Lady Macbeths manipulation and plan, and ultimately, Macbeths intensified ambition that all contributed greatly to the degeneration of his character, resulting in his downfall. Macbeth was never a tyrant to begin with, although as his desires and wickedness grew, so did he develop the

But despite Macbeth’s desire to take the throne, he does not want to kill Duncan. What pushes Macbeth over the edge is Lady Macbeth. She tells Macbeth to follow his ambitions and kill Duncan. She says that murdering Duncan is not a sin, and that it is all worth it for the crown. These words from Lady Macbeth’s mouth are what made Macbeth decide to follow through and commit murder. “I am settled and bend up each corporal agent to this terrible feat.” (1.7.92-93). Macbeth will do the act, but he is very reluctant to do so. In conclusion, Macbeth’s ambitions and his loyalty towards Lady Macbeth are huge factors for why Macbeth was torn, and why he decided to kill Duncan.

Macbeth’s ambitious ways takes over his whole inner self throughout his time of first wanting to be king. Macbeth was thought to be a great leader and war hero before he was king. Macbeth was hatched an idea by three suspicious witches in whom he had never come in contact with before. They told him that he would one day become King of Scotland. After the witches disappeared, he got to think a lot about what they told him and pondered the words they spoke. Macbeth sends a letter to his wife about his feelings of what he had heard. When Macbeth returned back to his castle his wife wanted to lead him down a dark path and feed his ambition. Macbeth decides he wants to go after the crown after consulting his wife. "I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself, and falls on th'other...." (Act I, scene vii) This shows that Macbeth’s only reason to kill Duncan is for his ambition. Macbeth ends up killing Duncan. The way Macbeth killed Duncan made it a great crime scene. Macbeth still

This angers Macbeth and enables him to follow Lady Macbeth's scheme to kill the King easier. Macbeth's first murder is definitely a trying experience for him. However, as the play progresses, killing seems easy and the only solution to maintain his reign of the people of Scotland. Macbeth becomes increasingly ambitious as the play goes on. The witches prophecies and Lady Macbeth's influence intensifies his ambition and drives Macbeth to obtain and maintain his title of Scotland by whatever means, even murdering his best friend, Banquo. "Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown, ...no son of mine succeeding. If't be so, for Banquo's issue have I filed my mind; For them the gracious Duncan I have murder'd; ...To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings! (Act III. sc.I) At this point Macbeth's passion becomes more and more extreme to the point where no one stands in his way. His greed, violence, and hunger for power drastically declines his character. The witches prophecy, Lady Macbeth's influence, and Macbeth's own ambition all contribute greatly to his deterioration of character which results in his downfall, which was death. All the causes link to one another. If it wasn't for Macbeth's strong will and passion, Macbeth would still be his ordinary self. Because of this, Macbeth's curiosity of possibly becoming king was brought out which led to Lady Macbeth's controlling influence. Macbeth's ambition then builds and causes him to commit a

In the beginning of the play, Macbeth loyally defends his king from traitors and was given the title of the Thane of Cawdor, but Macbeth still wanted more power. The only Macbeth would ever get more power is by becoming king; however, in order to that he would have to wait years or murder King Duncan. At first Macbeth was not willing to kill King Duncan because he was loyal to him, but eventually, his wife manipulates him into killing him. Macbeth then begins to ask the heavens to hide his immoral act from God and is horrified. Now that Macbeth is King, he is paranoid about him losing his kingship. So Macbeth begins to kill anyone he finds a treat. If Macbeth had not killed Duncan he would have obtained kingship in a moral manner, thus

About the murder of Duncan, Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that he is “his kinsman and his subject” and Duncan “hath been / So clear in his great office, that his virtues / Will plead like angels” (1,7,13; 17-19). Thus, not wanting to kill Duncan for his own good. However, Lady Macbeth provokes Macbeth, as well his ambitions, to stand up like a man and take the chance. She tells him “Was the hope drunk...When you durst do it, then you were a man” (1,7,39; 56). Lady Macbeth’s criticism causes Macbeth to kill Duncan, and become the king of Scotland. Macbeth’s murder of Duncan clearly demonstrates his change in that, now, he is being selfish in that he killed Duncan to become a king, which would give him higher honors. Then, after killing Duncan, Macbeth forgets the feeling of sympathy and kills more people to secure his position as the king. He kills Banquo, who was his dearest friend, for Banquo figuring out Macbeth is the murderer, and also kills Macduff’s family since Macduff, who was also Macbeth’s fellow nobleman, has gone to England to fight against Macbeth. Furthermore, he does not feel any kind of sorrowness when he hears about Lady Macbeth’s death, only saying “She should have died hereafter” (5.5.20).” That is very cold of him since he does not even sympathize about his own wife’s death. Therefore, it is noticeable that Macbeth has completely changed from he was in the beginning, but the exact opposite. Macbeth, at the end, has become an cruel, senseless murderer that only cares about himself due to his ambitions to become a king taking over his

After returning home from the battlefield, Macbeth consciously ponders murdering his king. However, his loyalty to the crown overtakes his hidden desire, and he resolves: “If chance will have me king, why, chance / may crown me / Without my stir (1.3) Macbeth then informs Lady Macbeth that he is not will to commit regicide. Upon hearing that Macbeth has disregarded his “black and deep desires,” Lady Macbeth tries to convince Macbeth to go through with the deed: