Lady Macbeth Is Not A Murderer, However, An Accessory To

As being the dominated one in their relationship Lady Macbeth uses all her control over Macbeth to make Macbeth murder king Duncan. She also challenges his patriarchy to make him murder the King. For example, when Lady Macbeth says "When you durst do it, then you were a man." Now that Macbeth is trying to back out of it, Lady Macbeth is calling him a coward and torments him to do the murdering. She also says " Wouldst thou have that which thou esteem'st the ornament of life and live a coward in thine own esteem..." In other words, Lady Macbeth uses the power of love to persuade him. She also says if you love me you would kill him straight away with no hesitation. Lady Macbeth says "I have given suck and know how tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling in my face, have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums and dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this." In this quotation Lady Macbeth stirs Macbeth even more when Lady Macbeth challenges their love relationship on the basis of the decision, he eventually gives in and murders King Duncan.

In the Tragedy of Macbeth, Shakespeare depicted the fall of a valiant general, who usurped the Scottish throne and eventually destroyed by his ever inflating ambition. During the course of regicide, his wife Lady Macbeth act as a powerful stimulant, who coaxed and pushed Macbeth to kill the beloved king Duncan. However,we can see from the play that though Lady Macbeth had a pivotal role to play in this evil deed, she did not bear chief responsibility of the murder. She was an intimidating and evil character from the beginning, while as situation developed, his husband became a much

Macbeth needed Lady Macbeth to do this, for without her, he would have continued to see the horrible act as something he shouldn’t do. In this regard, Lady Macbeth does this very well, she makes Macbeth see things in a different light, tells him how he is erroneous in his thinking and gets him to think how she wants him to. The following quote shows these domineering and manipulating qualities of hers quite well: “Art thou afeard/To be the same in thine own act and valor/As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that…/And live a coward in thine own esteem,/Letting ‘I dare not’ wait upon ‘I would’/Like the poor cat I’ the adage?” (1.7.43-49) This passage of Lady Macbeth also sums up her thoughts quite nicely: “What beast was’t it then/… made you break this enterprise…/when you durst do it, then you were a man,/…to be more than what you were, you would/Be so much more the man.” (1.7.53-57) Both of these quotations display Lady Macbeth’s thoughts about Macbeth: he is weak, and he must be a man, while she is strong and would do the murder without a thought. These thoughts clearly show how ambitious she is, and how determined she wants to influence Macbeth’s actions.

In the story of Macbeth by Shakespeare, the main character Macbeth kills King Duncan out of his own greed. Macbeth had wanted so desperately to be king, that nothing would stop him. Macbeth is solely guilty of killing King Duncan, with everything going against him and very little going for him. He had the choice not the kill Duncan, but still went through with it because of stories told by witches, his wife talking him into it, and his thirst to be king.

Although Macbeth commits the murder, Lady Macbeth shows that she has just as many dark and corrupt thoughts as him. The one who comes up with the murder plan is Lady Macbeth, directly after she learns about the prophecy. After Macbeth informs her of the king’s overnight stay, Lady Macbeth’s first words are “O, never/ Shall sun that morrow see!” (1. 5. 67-68) as her plan to kill the king is already being put into motion. If Lady Macbeth had not made the plans Macbeth may not have gone through with the murder. Lady macbeth becomes a driving, manipulative force to Macbeth. She justifies why killing Duncan is good and shames him into committing horrible deeds. When Macbeth tries to refuse she says “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.” (1. 7. 54-56), challenging his masculinity. In the end, Lady Macbeth isn't the only one who’s mind becomes corrupted, she drags Macbeth down with her. Finally, Lady Macbeth pretends that the guilt doesn’t really bother her, she simply tells her husband that he is weak. She tries hide her corruption through lies and by putting Macbeth down, but in the end she falters, realises her guilt and drives herself insane.

Macbeth cannot be fully blamed for gaining this new ambition though, Lady Macbeth and the witches contributed mightily to tainting his ambition. However, Lady Macbeth never blatantly tells Macbeth to do anything he does, she strongly persuades and eventually talks him into doing the things he does. She does call him out as a coward and questions his manhood and bravery. This comes into play when Macbeth tells her he will not murder Duncan, she replies: "How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have pluck'd my nipple from his

Because she is assertive, she manipulates Macbeth by saying, “shall sun that morrow see.” Before Lady Macbeth said anything, Macbeth was going to let Duncan go but because of Lady Macbeth’s assertiveness, she manipulated Macbeth into killing Duncan. On top of being assertive, Lady Macbeth also downgrades people as a way to show her masculinity and her ability to manipulate Macbeth. When Macbeth and Lady Macbeth argue about the plan to kill Duncan they say, “We will proceed no further in this business...  Was the hope drunk Wherein you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since?” (1.7.32-37). When Macbeth does not want to go through with the plan of killing Duncan Lady Macbeth has a downgrading tone towards Macbeth. Lady Macbeth uses harsh words like “wherein you dressed yourself” and “Hath it slept since” to manipulate Macbeth into killing Duncan instead of using positive words. Because of this, Macbeth kills Duncan out of manipulation. Lady Macbeth uses her masculinity to manipulate Macbeth’s actions.

In Act 1, Scene 7, Lines 56-57, "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", Lady Macbeth orchestrates Macbeth’s self-esteem by taunting his manliness when Macbeth doesn’t plan on following through with her plan. Moments later, she tells him how he should act and what he needs to do, in Act 1, Scene 5, Lines 71-75, “When Duncan is asleep...look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.” She successfully augments Macbeth’s ambition and exhorts him to commit atrocities. After Duncan’s murder, Macbeth no longer values Lady Macbeth’s opinions- his actions are rash and selfish because they are made promptly. Interaction between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth falters since Macbeth is now swept up with erasing his tracks. The two perish as individuals- Macbeth is miserable with guilt caused by cold- blooded Lady Macbeth’s attribution of influence and plan. But instead of comforting her husband and talking him out of murdering more people, Lady Macbeth only gives one feeble attempt.

“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.

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.

Later on when Macbeth is starting to question if he should carry the act out or not and starts to reminisce about how much Duncan has helped him throughout the years; Lady Macbeth enters and reassures him that murdering Duncan is the right thing to do. When Macbeth asks what would happen if the murder didn’t work out correctly, Lady Macbeth assures him that’s not going to happen and tells him exactly what to do. Lady Macbeth is so mesmerized by title of King that her husband would inherit, that she doesn’t even think about the consequences of their actions if they were to be caught.

Lady Macbeth solely set up Duncan's murder making it as easy as possible for Macbeth to commit the assassination of the king. This is another way in which Lady Macbeth is responsible for the assassination of Duncan. The audience does not know that Lady Macbeth feels that she is responsible for the destruction of her husband until the end when she sleepwalks. Lady Macbeth is excellent at hiding her true feelings.

     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.

Aptly described as "fiendlike" by Prince Malcolm, Lady Macbeth was a major participant in the ruin of Macbeth. She was a woman virtually devoid of human emotions and general scruples. Her lack of principles and mindless ambition made her a proponent of seizing the throne. She goaded her husband into the act of vile murder with the words, "Yet do I fear thy nature. / It is too full o' the milk of human kindness" (Shakespeare 189). Lady Macbeth later said, "When you durst do it [kill Duncan], then you were a man" (Shakespeare 189). Lady Macbeth called Macbeth weak and made light of his manhood in order to influence him towards the murder of Duncan. Without the influence of his wife, Macbeth may have lacked the single minded resolve to go through with the murder of good King Duncan. In addition to pushing Macbeth to commit the murders, Lady Macbeth acted as accomplice that made his succession to the throne possible. Lady Macbeth came up with the plan to frame two innocent guards for the murder of Duncan. "...his two chamberlains [the ones she planned to frame for the murder] / Will I with wine and wassail so

It all began when Lady Macbeth's craving to have power overtook every part of her body. When inviting King Duncan to sleep over at her house, Lady Macbeth took this to her advantage by tempting Macbeth to do the unthinkable: killing the King. Despite the fact Macbeth was terrified to do it, she convinces him to do so by degrading him and saying “Fie my lord, fie, a soldier, and afeared?” at lines 32 and 33 from Act 5, scene 1. She believed that no one would even think of blaming them because Macbeth was such a noteworthy soldier to Duncan. At the lines 34 and 35 when she says “Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?”, she realizes that even if Duncan bid farewell to this world, his death left behind an enormous amount of consequences and conflicts that now stain her hands from the metaphorical blood still running from his body. Macbeth never thought of killing Duncan until Lady Macbeth administered the situation and controlled every move Macbeth made, as if he was her puppet.