Outline of macbeth

4. Angus remarks that Macbeth’s soldiers move only out of fear, not out of love for

In Act I Macbeth is very uneasy in his and Lady Macbeth’s decision to kill Duncan. He says, “We shall proceed no further in

“Then, as his host, Who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself.” Macbeth notifies his wife that they will not be killing the king. “We will proceed no further in this business” he tells her.

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

“What not put upon his spongy officers, who shall bear the guilt of our great quell?” (1.7.70-71). She is confident that her husband will get away with everything as long as he shows no fear and sticks to plan. Without a doubt she shows her fearlessness and loyalty to his terrible act.

From this decision arises obvious internal conflict- he has love for his king and has proved this in battle. However, his ambition is decidedly the prevailing emotion and he decides he must kill his king. The scene before the murder takes place Macbeth imagines a dagger before him. He says,

The one thing he cannot bear is to be called a coward by his wife, to have his courage brought into question. By questioning his manhood in this way, Lady Macbeth easily convinces him to go along with the plan to murder Duncan.

When Macbeth is greeted by his wife she wants to tempt him into going ahead with her plans. He does not want to commit regicide against the king so disregards her ideas, but Macbeth’s ambitions and desires get the better of him and he eventually agrees.

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.

   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.

24-29). When Macbeth decides not to continue with their plan to murder Duncan, his wife urges him to act on his desires or he will think of himself as a coward. She says, "Art thou afeard / To be the same in thine own act and valour / As thou art in desire?" (I, vii. 42-44). She then makes sure he will perform the deed by taking an active role in preparing for the murder. "his two chamberlains / Will I with wine and wassel so convince," (I, vii. 70-71) and cleaning up afterwards, "Give me the daggers: the sleeping, and the dead / Are but as pictures; 'tis the eye of childhood / That fears a painted devil. If he do bleed, / I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal, / For it must seem their guilt." (II, ii. 69-73).

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

“Ambition is like love, impatient both of delays and rivals.” – Buddha. Buddha was a wise man and knew that someone who is ambitious can get very impatient when it comes to delaying their plan and having rivals that share the same goals. Ambition is often the result of one good thing happening which leads to one pursuing their dreams more and more. Although ambition can be a good thing, it can also be bad. Twisting people 's judgment on reality and making them perform actions they wouldn 't normally do. Such is the case in Macbeth where ambition causes Macbeth to go through with a murderous plot to become king that involves his wife plotting the murder and going insane. In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare expresses the theme of ambition by

Lady Macbeth had a very powerful hold over Macbeth. Just by questioning his valor she could shift Macbeth’s whole thought process and second-guessing of the murder of Duncan (Booth, 24), and he allows it because he cannot bear to disappoint her. His love for her and need for her approval is what ultimately leads him to commit each and every one of his crimes. She is the center of his world and if she does not see a problem in the murders than why should he. This is naïve ignorance caused by a blindness that is induced by love, and that is both heart breaking and tragic.