Who is responsible for the death of Duncan?
'Macbeth'
By William Shakespeare
Essay- who is responsible for the death of Duncan?
In this essay, I set out to evaluate the killing of Duncan and find out who is responsible. I will expose the role of each character during the killing and develop this further. The characters I will be assessing are Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and the three witches. The witches play an important role in the play and put a lot of impact on Macbeth towards the killing.
The opening scene of Macbeth implies evil and the word evil, is bonded to the whole play. Shakespeare opens the play dramatically and with great intensity. This easy for Shakespeare as his audience would believe the witches to be agents of the devil. To prove that Shakespeare's audience did believe in witches, they had regular witch-hunts to get rid of their 'evil influence.' Many innocent women were accused of being witches and burnt at the stake. Also, the audience see the witches before the humans, which sets the evil mood/atmosphere throughout the play. The witches are strong and powerful by the way the witches speak they speak in verse. Their lines sound like chants, for example, the first section in scene three is wound up with a charm...
'Thrice to thine and thrice to mine
And thrice again, to make up nine.'
The number three and multiples have a magical significance in demonology.
They speak in riddles and paradoxes, for example, 'Fair is foul and foul is fair.' We are convinced by this by the way Shakespeare uses his language and the great impact the witches have on the audience when they enter the scene. The witches are so powerful, that in scene 3, they can even control the weather ('I'll give thee a wind') and they hint at things to come...
'Sleep shall neither night or day
Hang upon his penthouse lid.'
When the first audience see the witches in scene one, they are shocked and to a certain extent, are scared.
When the stage first opens, there is thunder and lightning, and the air is not only 'foggy', but also 'filthy'. Then the three witches appear. They plan to meet again...
'In thunder, lightning or in rain.'
They will meet...
'When the hurlyburly's done,
When the battle is lost and won.'
How can this be, the battle can either be lost or it can either be won, it cannot be both. They decide to meet with Macbeth upon the heath.
The witches mention Macbeth in line 8, so early in the play, which clearly states that the witches are up to no good and they are set out to cause chaos and disorder. We know not know why Macbeth is mentioned, why they plan to meet him or what they want from him but we do know that somehow he is connected to the witches and will end in doing no good.
Shakespeare creates a hero in scene two who is praised by the Sergeant, the lords and none other than the king himself. Duncan awaits news ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
The witches mention Macbeth in line 8, so early in the play, which clearly states that the witches are up to no good and they are set out to cause chaos and disorder. We know not know why Macbeth is mentioned, why they plan to meet him or what they want from him but we do know that somehow he is connected to the witches and will end in doing no good.
Shakespeare creates a hero in scene two who is praised by the Sergeant, the lords and none other than the king himself. Duncan awaits news of a battle with his two sons and other attendants. They are told about brave Macbeth, who did not part from Macdonwald until he had ripped him open from the navel to the jaw...
'Which ne'er shock hands, nor bade farewell to him,
Till he unseam'd him from the nave to the chaps,
And fix's his head upon our battlements.'
A wounded captain returning from the battle tells us this news about Macbeth's bravery. The Thane of Ross confirms this information and also gives word of the Thane of Cawdor who was a traitor to the king and his country as he fought for the Norwegian king. His title was therefore removed, he was executed and the King declared that his title should be rewarded to Macbeth who does not yet know of these events.
In scene three, the private thoughts of Macbeth are exposed to the audience and they then have the opportunity to compare his thoughts to Banquo's. At the beginning, the witches gather and prepare for there surprised but very much-awaited encounter with Macbeth who is travelling towards the king's camp with Banquo. The witches tell Macbeth their prophecy about his future but he does not seem to react largely, instead he is composed, quiet and thinks about these thoughts and plays with the ideas in his mind. He thinks about the murder of the king. The witches have placed 'horrid images' of murdering the king in his mind. Although he doesn't seem as desperate as Banquo, he does say to the witches as they start to leave in lines 75-78... ...
'Say from whence,
You owe this strange intelligence? Or why
Upon this blasted heath you stop our way
With such prophetic greeting? Speak, I charge you.'
Banquo, who is with Macbeth, is very excited about the witches and is eager to know more about them and his own life. He asks about his future, as he knows they can tell the future because the witches quote the following...
'All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!'
'All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!'
'All hail, Macbeth! That shall be King hereafter.'
He demands the witches to tell his future who do not answer his question directly at all and to a certain extent they ignore him. He asks them in lines 58-61... ...
'If you can look into the seeds of time,
And say which grain will grow and which will not,
Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear,
Your favours nor your hate.'
It would be correct to say that the witches influence Macbeth and that they hold some sort of power or force over Macbeth as if they have put a spell over him. The witches have planted the idea into Macbeth's mind and the idea of committing murder to fulfil the witches' prophecy begins to disturb him...
'My thought, whose murder yet is fantastical
Shakes so my single state of man that function
Is smooter'd in surmise.'
At the end of the scene, Macbeth does actually decides to let everything happen by fate and without any effort of his own as he rightly quotes in lines 143-144... ...
'If chance will have me king, why,
Chance may crown me,
Without my stir.'
After the witches leave Macbeth and Banquo, Ross and Angus appear with a message from the king for Macbeth. The Thane of Cawdor has been executed for treason and his title has been awarded to Macbeth. Macbeth, Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth is shocked on hearing this news and cannot believe it. Macbeth questions Ross and Angus about this new title and says that the Thane of Cawdor is still alive and this is impossible. This confirms the witches' prophecy.
The outline of scene five is, Lady Macbeth first appears in the play reading a letter sent to her by Macbeth after his meeting with the witches. In the letter Macbeth describes the meeting with the witches and explains their predictions for his future. She doubts her husband's willingness to murder Duncan and knows that she must give him the courage to do it. A messenger arrives in advance of Macbeth to forewarn her of the king's arrival. She asks the powers of darkness to give her strength to carry out her evil intentions. Macbeth arrives. They discuss the situation. Lady Macbeth makes clear to her husband that Duncan must be murdered that night.
This is the first time we see Lady Macbeth in the play. She is seen on stage reading Macbeth's letter and the criticism is obvious which she gives to her husband whom is 'not without ambition' but does not want to get his hands dirty...
'What thou would'st highly
That would'st thou highly'
She also regrets that he is a man of honesty who 'would'st not play false meaning that he will not cheat.
On hearing the messenger's news of Duncan's arrival and intention to stay with them, she immediately decides to change her character. She wants to lose her femaleness by saying "unsex me here", and to be made up of nothing except sin...
'And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty'.
Lady Macbeth is determined to murder Duncan as she has the desire to become queen when she says,
'That which cries',
'Thus thou must do', '
'If thou have it'.
She is eager to carry out the deed, 'that my keen knife see not the wound it makes'.
Macbeth is too moral, too holy/good. Whenever Macbeth tries to back down the murder, she taunts his masculinity by calling him a coward. She says it was his idea first, and that he cannot love her. He needs to be persuaded because he is fear-full and Lady Macbeth feels it is her duty to do so and decides to do this by using powerful words, her speech becomes full of evil, double meaning and she uses emotional blackmail and then tries to make everything normal again. She seems to be the stronger character at this point, she has the power, and she is in control and all the rest are under her command.
'The raven himself is hoarse
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements'.
The person to be responsible for the tragedy is Lady Macbeth as everything bad, which happens in the story, is linked to her. Everything thing that happens always comes back down to her and she is always the culprit and a through out the play she has a guilty conscious. She does not show it at first, she acts strong and brave but then her conscious takes over her mind and body and kills her in the end. After the murder, Lady Macbeth gets up in the middle of the night and walks in her sleep. She dreams that she and her husband are murdering King Duncan.
She talks to herself out loud, 'Yet here's a spot.' She washes her hands trying to get the bloodstains off her hands.
'Out, dammed spot! Out, I say!'
She re-pictures the killing and the conversation with Duncan that night. All the things said, all the comments made, all the decisions made. She is guilty and her guilt kills her. She was desperate to become queen and her desires led her to killing the king, which led her to death. This is ironic as God places kings on the throne and those who try to remove anything put there by God will surely be punished as so did Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
In conclusion, I believe that Duncan's death was due to the witches' prophecy, Lady Macbeth's persuasion and Macbeth's incapability to control his on mind but mostly because of Lady Macbeth.
The witches trigger off ideas in Macbeth's mind about the killing and tell him of their prophecy but after that, it is up to Macbeth to decide whether he is to follow his mind and desires or to forget about any form of dishonesty and just continue to work for the king and country like a obedient and honest nobleman. The witches do not interfere with Macbeth or play mind games anymore. They leave Macbeth to decide between 'good' and 'evil'. Macbeth chooses 'evil' and the witches do not persuade him into it. The person, who does persuade Macbeth into choosing 'evil', is his wife, Lady Macbeth.
Lady Macbeth plays an extremely large part in the death of Duncan. Had it not been for Lady Macbeth's interference, Macbeth would not have murdered Duncan. She is determined to be the one to kill Duncan but she does not carry out the deed, as she also knows the consequences that it would lead to.
This is also another reason why she convinces Macbeth into killing Duncan. This is proved when Macbeth appears at his castle. When he and Lady Macbeth discuss the matter, it is Lady Macbeth who appears to be the stronger partner. She is determined that Duncan will not leave their castle alive. She then urges Macbeth to disguise his evil intentions.
Lady Macbeth uses the powerful image of dashing out her newborn child's brains in order to shame Macbeth. Macbeth wonders if they might fail. Lady Macbeth accepts the possibility of failure but urges that if Macbeth is courageous, they will not fail.
She then outlines her plan. She is the practical one and finally persuades Macbeth who says;
' I am settled, and bend up,
Each corporal agent to this terrible feat'.