Lady Macbeth's Reason To Kill King Duncan

   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.

Lady Macbeth played a large role as Macbeth’s seductress and brainwasher. Lady Macbeth persuaded her husband to kill the King not so that he would himself be King but so that she could be Queen.Although because of her involvement in this web of lies she felt guilty and drove herself insane worrying about what had happened and what would happen to her and her husband for being so dishonest. She was not responsible for the tragedy, she was only a manipulative factor in the scheme of things. Even though it does take two to tango, Macbeth tangoed on his own.

They invited Duncan to their home and planned to murder him then. Once Duncan had arrived, Macbeth began to have doubts about killing his upstanding leader. Lady Macbeth did her best to convince Macbeth to go through with the murder. She succeeded in convincing him. It makes sense that someone would think this part made it Lady Macbeth’s fault, but despite Lady Macbeth ‘strongly suggesting’ that he kills Duncan, Macbeth could still have chosen to say no and keep Duncan alive. Lady Macbeth did not control him, she may have persuaded him but in the end it was his choice to kill King Duncan.

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.

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

Nonetheless we must do the same with Lady Macbeth as we did for his husband, look at the causes for her actions. When we meet Lady Macbeth after she finishes reading Macbeth’s letter we know immediately that she is determined to be the queen of Scotland (“Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be / What thou art promised.”) So at the same time the cause for Macbeth’s action of killing the king was caused directly by Lady Macbeth, the reason for her wish is because of Macbeth. Even thou it seems like a circular argument we find an outlet for it when we consider the responsibility of the witches.

In my essay we are going to talk about why I think Lady Macbeth is more responsible for the murder of King Duncan. I think the reason she is guilty is because she put her nightwear, she pushed her husband Macbeth to kill him, and because Duncan was more in charge than she was over all of the people.

The second reason that he was responsible, was that he let himself be goaded into killing the King by his wife, Lady Macbeth. While she was his wife, surely Macbeth would have been able to resist the temptation to kill the King, especially if he was as good of a man as people thought that he was. Macbeth lets himself be persuaded far too easily by his wife. All she really had to was calling him a coward and then he gave

“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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Macbeth tells a story of deceit, betrayal, and a man who, once pushed, would stop at nothing to get what he desired and keep it that way. The murder of King Duncan was not simply just because of Macbeth, as most people would usually believe since he was the one that went ahead with stabbing him. The blame should rightly fall on both Lady Macbeth and the Witches. There are multiple facts to support this statement.