Is Lady Macbeth the Driving Force behind the Murder of King Duncan?

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Holly Barnes-Wallis

Is Lady Macbeth the Driving Force behind

the Murder of King Duncan?

‘Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be

What thou are promised; yet I do fear thy nature,

It is too full o’th’milk of human kindness

To catch the nearest way.’

Lady Macbeth, Act 1 scene 5

In the first two scenes, it is clear that the plot to murder King Duncan is the main occurrence in Macbeth. It is not fair to say that Lady Macbeth is the only driving force behind this deed, however, her persuasiveness and ruthlessness is one of the main factors.

When Lady Macbeth receives the letter from her husband, her ambition is immediately obvious. As soon as she has read it, she wants Macbeth to become king. She is determined that Macbeth must act to become king, and so she thinks of murder straight away. She is determined that the prophecies that she has heard about will come true:

“Hail, king that shalt be.” This I have thought good to deliver thee, my dearest partner of greatness, that thou mightst not lose the dues of rejoicing by being ignorant of what greatness is promised thee.

She is now absolutely certain that Macbeth will become king, and she shall be his queen:

        Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and thou shalt be

What thou art promised.

Lady Macbeth thinks that Macbeth is not capable of killing Duncan and she knows she must ‘pour [her] spirits in [his] ear/And chastise with the valour of [her] tongue/All that impedes thee from the golden round,’ or the deed will not be done.

Lady Macbeth invites the evil spirits to enter her:

Come you spirits

That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,

And fill me from the crown to the toe topfull

Of direst cruelty.

She wants to have no femininity left inside her so that she does not feel remorse for the murder. She knows that Macbeth will not commit the murder voluntarily, and that he involvement is necessary. I think that she feels it is her duty to persuade him. She appears to know exactly what she is doing; her words are purposeful. She asks the spirits to deprive her of her femininity, to ‘make thick my blood’ so she has no compassion, and to stop her ability to weep. She does not want anything to stand in her way and so she knows that she must not feel guilty for the murder. She then asks the same spirits to suckle her, converting what would be mother’s milk to ‘gall’ (poison or bitterness). Lady Macbeth wants the night to hide her actions in a ‘blanket of the dark’ so that the murder is not seen by anyone and incriminating evidence is not found. This is parallel to what Macbeth says in Act 1 scene 4:

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        Stars, hide your fires,

        Let not light see my black and deep desires

as he wants no one else to know about the murderous thoughts inside his head. This shows a strong link between them, as initially they have the same thoughts, but in different contexts. She wants the night to be dark so that no one sees them commit the murder. This shows she knows exactly what she is doing. She needs to have strength of character to carry out the deed with no feelings of remorse.

In Act 1, scene 5, Lady Macbeth is already planning the ...

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