How Is Lady Macbeth Guiltier

   Shakespeare's "Macbeth" holds many hidden themes within its already exuberant plot.  The first of these surrounds the murder of Duncan and the role that both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth himself played.  However, the true guilt of the murder can fall on either character.  Although Macbeth physically committed the crime, it was Lady Macbeth that pushed him to his limits of rational thought and essentially made fun of him to lower his esteem.  With Macbeth's defenses down, it was an easy task for Lady Macbeth to influence Duncan's murder and make up an excuse as to why she could not do it herself.  The guilt of Duncan's murder can be placed firmly on the head on Lady Macbeth.

In William Shakespeares Macbeth, psychosis, hallucinations and pride are a major characteristic shown in each character. The main characters that show these characteristics were Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, particularly with the murder of King Duncan. The question being, who is more responsible Lady Macbeth or Macbeth? There are reasons to believe both sides, but it is more believable that Lady Macbeth was the prime cause because she pressured Macbeth to commit the act of regicide just so he could be higher in power because he was runner up.

After he kills Duncan, Macbeth carries all the guilt, and is too shaken by shame to continue, while Lady Macbeth either feels no guilt, or represses it, because she is able to continue the deed and frame Duncan’s guards.

The story “The Tragedy Of Macbeth” also called The Scottish Play was written in 1606, by William Shakespeare. The story takes place in Scotland where King Duncan is in charge the country. Macbeth who is the Thames of Glamis, will go on an adventure to take leadership of the country of Scotland, while he also battles with his personal insanity along the way. Macbeth will eventually be King of Scotland and have a miserable reign due to his guilt, inadequacy and tyranny.

“When Lady MacBeth receives the letter from MacBeth telling her that he wants to kill Duncan, she fears that he would not have the courage to go through with it” (Shakespeare 31). She brings out the worst in him and encourages him to kill King Duncan. She persuades him by constantly telling him negative things to get MacBeth to believe that he is doing the right thing. “Look like th’ innocent flower, but be the serpent under ’t” (Shakespeare 35). Lady MacBeth is the one who tells MacBeth to be this vicious creature and makes him think that killing King Duncan is okay. Because of Lady Macbeth’s behavior, MacBeth was led to become a murderer. Macbeth should not be held accountable for his actions since Lady MacBeth is the one who convinced him to commit the crime that started his madness and turn him into a monster.

In William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, blame for the atrocities committed within the play can be divided between multiple parties. The death of Duncan at the hands of a man who should be a loyal thane as unnatural. Although both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth each bear some of the blame, most of it falls on Macbeth, because he takes action. Lady Macbeth convinces him, but never forces his hand. In addition, Macbeth has the idea to kill Duncan before he talks to Lady Macbeth. Consequently, Macbeth bears more guilt than Lady Macbeth.

On the surface, Macbeth in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” can be easily perceived as the leading criminal since Macbeth completes all of the murders directly. However, looking at scots law after the Union of Crowns, Lady Macbeth’s role in the murders of Duncan and Banquo can be seen as just as large. In the hypothetical situation where Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were tried, Lady Macbeth would be found to be just as guilty as Macbeth. The act of hiding the knives makes her a principal to a murder. Additionally, her action in Banquo’s murder makes her an accessory to Macbeth. Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking scene also reveals her true guilt from the murders committed. Lady Macbeth would be perceived just as guilty as Macbeth due to her role as a principal

Even though Macbeth and Lady Macbeth committed numerous crimes, there is one of them who is ‘more’ guiltier. When seen from the legal perspective, Macbeth is guiltier because he committed the crime of murder. Macbeth kills Duncan because of the demands of power. When he realizes that he is abound to be found, he killed more people or created situations that translated to the death of others such as the guards and family members of other leaders. Lady Macbeth can be seen as morally guilty through her actions and acts. For example, he communicated to Macbeth about what the witches said and ‘persuaded’ Macbeth towards killing Duncan. For example, Lady Macbeth raised issues around his manliness and the Lady developed a narrative that implied if

Lady Macbeth In the beginning Lady Macbeth is a supportive and loving wife, who gets alongwith her husband. When Macbeth ttells her about the withces' prophecy of him, she then becomes ruthless in trying to get Macneth to kill Duncan. She ha no patience with Macbeth's fear.

Most would agree that Lady Macbeth is just as guilty as Macbeth for Duncan’s murder, because it’s the truth. When the witches first told Macbeth of his prophecy, he was happy and wanted to know more. After Macbeth told Lady Macbeth of his encounter with the witches, she knew that he was determined, but feared he was too kind to do the “right” things to take throne. Speaking to herself she said, “you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty” (Mac. 1.5.38–41). Here, Lady

“No amount of guilt contains the past and no amount of worrying can change the future” (Umar Ibn Al-Khattab). Throughout life you experienced problems that you might feel guilty of later on. You have to decide yourself on how you look at it. In the play, The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth is a strong and emotionless woman. Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth faces conflicts and learns that she is suffering more guilt than what she realized.

In William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the protagonist commits the ultimate act of treason in killing the king. Even though Macbeth is the one who physically murders Duncan, Lady Macbeth is to blame for this crime. She makes Macbeth feel less than her, and calls him horrible names such as coward, she also tells him that he is too kind and generous to do what it takes to get to carry the kings crown, Therefore, there is no doubt that Lady Macbeth is the most culpable person for the murder of king Duncan, due to her pride and manipulation.

In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the character of Macbeth is portrayed as a loyal, patriotic and heroic soldier who cares deeply for his country. However, as the play continues, Macbeth develops a strong ambition and exhibits dangerous feelings towards his King and his country. In ACT 1 SCENE 7, ACT 1 SCENE 4 and in ACT 3 SCENE 1, Macbeth displays many different types of emotions, including those of guilt, doubt and fear which all culminate to drastically amend his character from how it appeared at the beginning of the play.

     Later on (Act 1 Scene 7) Macbeth started to have some serious doubts about the dreadful deed he was planning. He still very much wanted to be King, but his conscience was getting in the way of his "vaulting ambition". However, his wife managed to reassure him that all will be well, and he weakly submits. Nevertheless, it is absurd to suggest that Lady Macbeth was responsible for Macbeth’s decision to kill the King. If Macbeth had not wanted to kill the King, he wouldn’t have, regardless of any amount of bullying from his wife. He knows that he really wants to kill Duncan, it was his initial thought when he first encountered the witches. However, he didn’t like to think he was capable of such atrocities.

Even though it seems as if Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are completely different, they actually share a lot of similarities. They both were motivated by ambition and greed for royalty and power. Neither of them care what they have to do to get there. Just because their roles in the play reversed they still experienced the same emotions and feelings, except at different times throughout the play. The once cautious man, Macbeth, had become a fearless murderer. He said, “I have almost forgot the taste of fears.”(pg.177) Lady Macbeth was the women full of ambition and the drive to kill, but turned into the bystander of all these terrible actions. At first they both thought all they had to do for Macbeth to become king was to kill Duncan. It seems Lady Macbeth was not prepared for all of the other killings and didn’t prepare herself for how her actions could ruin both their lives.