This may have been interpreted, that his thoughts in the past of maybe killing the king with his wife was to have to happen and it was the only way. This would only make sense depending on your interpretation of the conversations between Macbeth and his wife. Macbeth is proven to be very intrigued by the witches and taking a liking to them, as he says:
“Stay, you imperfect speakers, tells me more.”
Also after the first predictions had been proved true to Macbeth he should have been a believer of all that the witches said but he carried on his killing. This action of killing after the witches telling him that:
None of women born
Shall harm Macbeth
And another that:
Macbeth shall never vanquished be until,
Great Birnam wood to high Dunsianane
Shall come against him.
The nature of killing could not be explained by a reason for his safety, as the predictions would make him invincible to all that would have heard it. Even the killing of Macduffs wife and children was not excusable by the warning of the witches to beware Macduff. This shows that Macbeth had a very bloody mind by this time and was very unsteady.
Macbeth was highly thought of by the king Duncan up and leading to his death whilst being giving the title of thane of Cawdor. He had been made Thane of Cawdor and had been asked to be the host of the king, which was a great honor. The king Duncan was not only a king, but also one seen to as been made king by God. Macbeth by being able to go through the murder having these on his conscious is a great crime against God and a crime against a king, which shows no conscience lading to the murder. This was made worse as King Duncan was known by all men to be a great king and his murder would have be known to, Macbeth to be a great crime:
So clear in his office, that his virtues
Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against
The deep damnation of his taking off.
The murdering did not even stop at the murdering of his enemies and we are told that he keeps killing throughout the play, but even led to the murdering of his best friend and companion.
Firstly, his guilty ambition, whether to murder or just pure ambition, must have been known to his wife. This is because on reading the letter, she so instantaneously assumes that the king must be killed, also when Macbeth meets his wife, is aware that this thought was in her mind (as he evidently does).
But his ambition can be turned into an already thought through plan. In act 1, sc. 7, where lady Macbeth is urging Macbeth to do the deed, In this scene lady Macbeth asserts that Macbeth has already proposed the murder to her and that when he proposed it to her and was willing to commit the deed and swore to do it, although there seemed no opportunity.
This promise though has a flaw, if this promise had been made with a sincere intent, then Macbeth would not have been in such a conscious struggle through out the play as he so evidently does. It is more agreeable to say that Macbeth had made this promise in a resolution to his wife on the assumption that no such opportunity would ever arise. It could be described as a manly declaration to his wife.
Lady Macbeth, whom I believe has the most influence over Macbeth, knew from the outset of receiving the information that Macbeth would not be willing to kill the King, this is good evidence from the beginning that Macbeth was not so cruel and heartless as he latter becomes.
“Yet I do fear thy nature.
It is too full of the milk of human kindness,
To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great,
Art not without ambition…”
Macbeth’s wife knows that Macbeth is ambitious but lacks the ruthlessness to progress to king and is determined to play an influential role in the murder of King Duncan.
“That I may pour my spirits in thine ear,
And chastise with the valour of my tongue.”
The influence of Macbeth’s wife on Macbeth can be seen to be very influential on Macbeth’s actions. From the out start Lady Macbeth makes clear her thoughts when she reads the letter.
“Come you spirits/ that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here/… make thick my blood/… take my milk of gall, you murdering minister/s… come thick night.”
Throughout Macbeths constant conscious struggle during his soliloquy in act one scene 7 where he decides he wishes to go no further with the idea to kill Duncan, his noble king. Macbeth’s wife is the pressure that keeps influencing him to change his mind. She does this by pressurizing his manhood and twists his words to say that he no longer loves her.
Was the hope drunk?
Wherein you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since?
And wake it now, to look so green and pale
At what it did so freely? From this time
Such I account thy love
It was this account that changed Macbeth from saying:
We will proceed no further in this business
We can conclude from this that Macbeth most probably has a weak sense of character, easily being a very self-conscience man and easily lead astray. Lady Macbeth could be argued to have been the main cause for the actions of Macbeth. This conclusion would have been supported by Macbeth’s insomnia, showing that he had had a very guilty conscious after the event:
Sleep no more!
Macbeth does murder sleep…………
Sleep no more………..
Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor
Shall sleep no more: Macbeth shall sleep no more
His wife’s mentality was made clear when she told Macbeth of how she had or would have breast fed their children:
I have given suck, and know
How tender ‘tis to love the babe hath milk me
I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from its boneless gums,
And dashed the brains out, had I sworn as you
Have done to this.
This describes that his wife has a murderous mind and could be put to blame for pressurizing Macbeth, also it can be seen that Macbeths wife must have had a very high sense of power over her husband. In these times it was seen, as the man should rule the relationship and the women should not argue or advise her husband. But she still advises him to:
Look like th’ innocent flower,
But be the serpent under ‘t
This argument in Macbeth’s case would be undermined when looking at the killings of Banquo and the Macduffs. In these killings Macbeth did not discuss his plans with his wife, and these murders are considered to be more heartless and unmerciful. He did in fact tell her:
Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck,
Till thou applaud the deed
Analyzing the behavior of Macbeth at the scenes leading to the murder of Duncan and his actions after could be finally explained by insanity and Macbeth slowly losing his mind, as so does his wife. Before Macbeth commits the deed of killing Duncan, he begins to see a dagger in front of him. One he can see, but not touch: one that floats but has no strings. This account from Macbeth must mean he was hallucinating. Also, the killing of Banquo is shown to be a quite prominent case of insecurity and losing his ability to think rationally. He feels that everybody is plotting against him and realizes that Banquo's children will inherit the throne and he shall have no kids. He says:
They hailed him farther to a line of kings.
Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown,
And put a barren sceptre in my gripe,
Thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand,
No son of mine succeeding.
I believe and It can be concluded that the effect that Lady Macbeth held on Macbeth was very high and that her constant relaxed talk and pressure would have caused a change in Macbeth and this could be related to life. Today all life’s structures are run by peer groups setting trends and fashions, that others are inclined to follow. If one group pressures you, it will cause you to slowly change consciously and unconsciously.
For these reasons I believe that Lady Macbeth is responsible for changing Macbeth and causing him to kill Duncan and after trapping Macbeth in this deed he is already fallen and can no longer stop under her permanent influence.
