When Macbeth is not pronounced heir to the throne of Scotland, he starts to wonder how he would become king. This is when he rights to Lady Macbeth and tells her what the witches had said to him. Lady Macbeth reacts to the letter because if her husband were to become king, then that would make her queen. When Macbeth returns to his castle, Lady Macbeth tells him that if he wants to become king, he will have to murder Duncan. To get him to do it she tells him that he would be more of a man for doing it and that she would think more of him.
“When you durst do it, then you are a man;
And, to be more than what you were, you would
Be so much more the man.”
She then goes onto tell him what he has to do as if she has thought hard about it and had worked out a plan. She encourages Macbeth to carry out her plan to kill Duncan. For this I think that she is just to blame for the murder as Macbeth because he was pressured by her to do it and she even went as far as to tell him how to do it.
Most of the blame would have to lie on Macbeth because at this time in the play, he still has his sanity and knows what he is doing. Throughout the whole planning and doing the crime, he is unsure whether or not he should kill Duncan but still does it because of his ambition to become king and to please his wife. After the murder he realises what he has done is wrong. This is when Lady Macbeth tells him that now he has killed Duncan, he may as well carry on and become king instead of admitting to the murder.
The murder leads to Macbeth becoming king because Malcolm and Donaldbain think that they will get the blame for their father’s death. Donaldbain goes to Ireland and Malcolm flees to London. Macduff sees this as if they had done the murder and were now running away.
The second murder in the play is that of Banquo. Macbeth kills him because the witches also said that Banquo would not be king but his descendants would. This is the star of Macbeth’s loss of sanity. On one hand he murdered Duncan so that the witches prophesy would come true, now he tries to kill Banquo and Fleance so that their prophecy does not come true. He tries to kill Fleance so that he does not take the crown from Macbeth and he kills Banquo so that he does not have anymore children that could threaten Macbeth. Macbeth feels guilty about Duncan’s murder but commits this murder to make it worth killing Duncan. It would not be worth it if Macbeth were not king for a long time and if one of Banquo’s children took the crown from him.
The murder is very deliberate as he employs three murderers to do the job for him. It is not the murderers fault because Macbeth is their king and it is an order.
This is entirely Macbeth’s fault because apart from the murderers who actually carried out the murder, no one knew what he was planning. Lady Macbeth only found out about the murder afterwards and was devastated because Banquo was a close friend of Macbeth.
The only real motive for this was Macbeth’s enormous ambition to stay king. This was so big he was able to murder his best friend.
After the murder, the murderers go back and meet Macbeth at the banquet. Here they tell Macbeth that they have killed Banquo but Fleance escaped. At this point Macbeth cracks and sees Banquo’s ghost sitting in his place at the table.
“Macbeth: The table’s full.
Lennox: Here is a place reserv’d, sir.
Macbeth: Where?
Lennox: Here, My good lord. What is’t that moves your highness?
Macbeth: Which of you have done this?”
This quote says that at first Macbeth blamed someone in the room for his vision of Banquo sitting in his place. He then becomes so agitated that Lady Macbeth has to ask their guest to leave.
“I pray you, speak not; he grows worse and worse;
Question enrages him. At once, good-night:
Stand not upon the order of your going,
But go at once.”
The last murder in the play is that of Lady Macduff and her children. After the murder of Banquo and the escape of Fleance, Macbeth returns to the three witches. Macbeth asks them for more information, they call up three apparitions. The fist tells him to beware of Macduff.
“Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff;
Beware the Thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough.”
The second tells him that he should do what has to be done and that no one born from a woman can harm him.
“Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn
The power of man, for none of woman born
Shall harm Macbeth.”
The third tells him that he will stay king until Birnam Wood moved to Dunsinane Hill. Macbeth sees that this is impossible and after his encounter he believes that he is invincible / immortal.
He tries to find Macduff and discovers that he is in London with Malcolm. As Macduff is in London Macbeth cannot reach him. So he kills Lady Macduff and their children because he cannot kill Macduff himself. This murder is motiveless and is done in cold blood. Macbeth does this to get at Macduff and hurt him in the worst possible way. Like Banquo’s murder, Lady Macbeth knows nothing about it and the only other people that could be blamed for this is the witches for telling Macbeth to beware of Macduff and giving him the impression that he was invincible / immortal and could do anything.
For all the murders in the play I think that Macbeth should be held responsible. Some of the blame should lie with the witches though because they were the people who gave Macbeth the idea to carry out the killings.
The play finishes with Malcolm and Macduff camouflages their army with the branches from trees of Birnam Wood, so it looks as if the wood is moving to Dunsinane. Macduff and Macbeth fight and Macduff tells Macbeth that he was born by caesarean.
“ Tell thee, Macduff was from his mothers womb
Untimely ripp’d.”
At the time this was seen as unnatural and so Macduff was not women born. Macbeth gives in when he hears this and Macduff gets his revenge by slaying Macbeth. I think that Macbeth committed the crimes and in the end pays the price for his actions.
