Is Lady Macbeth the real driving force behind the murder of King Duncan?

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Is Lady Macbeth the real driving force behind the murder of King Duncan?

Shakespeare’s Macbeth centres around a general whose fate takes a devious twist. He meets three witches who later predict his future to become the King of Scotland. After his wife hears of the prophecies, her ambition and desire to become Queen takes control of their relationship, so much so, that she persuades Macbeth into assassinating the King.

        At the time of the play, the King of England, James I, was petrified of witches, to such a degree, that he passed a law condemning anyone, thought to be involved in witchcraft, to death. Witchcraft was so feared; people associated it with evil, the devil and hell. Witches were believed to see into the future, had the ability to make people go insane and were able to cast spells, by chanting. These all play an imperative role in “Macbeth.”

Macbeth and Banquo return from a winning battle, over a Scottish heath, as the atmosphere turned foul and menacing.

        “So foul and fair a day”

The repugnant witches they were about to encounter earlier used the oxymoron. The dark and grim atmosphere could even be reflecting on what was about to happen. Macbeth was stunned to silence on viewing the ‘creatures,’ commanding them with short and simple questions.

        “Speak, if you can. What are you?”

The witches start chanting Macbeth’s name and predicting his future, furthering to Macbeth’s silence. As mentioned earlier, chanting would have been able to cast a spell on to Macbeth, therefore were the witches about to control Macbeth’s future? The witches predicted Macbeth as the Thane of Cawdor, followed by the King, as they buried certain objects such as a dagger, later to be an illusory by Macbeth. At the time when the prophecies were rolling out, Macbeth was bewildered as to how they knew his name and his current position in society. Banquo, on the other hand, was concerned about his future, not afraid whether the predictions were good or bad. They greeted Banquo with the same respect, once again giving ambiguous predictions. From the oxymorons, Banquo learned he will not be King, but his children will be…

        “Thou shalt get kings, though tho be none.”

As Macbeth finally finds the courage to speak, he’s intrigued to find out more from the witches. From Macbeth’s actions and speech we can reveal he was both anxious and confused, speaking in question upon question, not giving the witches time to answer. After leaving the scene Macbeth and Banquo talk about the earlier incident using sarcasm, wondering if they just heard, what they thought was the impossible.

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        Although Macbeth tries to ignore the witches prophecies, in Act 1 Scene 3 part 2, he is announced Thane of Cawdor. In a soliloquy Macbeth considers taking the creatures seriously. He even considers killing the King.

        

        “Of the imperial theme…”

After he became Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth realised he could be becoming one of the most important persons in Scotland. The witches have made Macbeth very indecisive, as well as placing sadistic thoughts into his head. This confusion that Macbeth seems to be experiencing is displayed in the text as he contradicts himself on several occasions. For ...

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