Who is to blame for the death of King Duncan?

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Who is to blame for the death of King Duncan?

   This essay will be analysing the question ‘Who is to blame for the death of King Duncan?’ This question however is rhetorical in the fact that Macbeth is the only person to blame for the murder of King Duncan. However there are many people whom contribute to his downfall as a loyal kinsman and warrior. Macbeth’s character experiences greed as a result of entailing premonitions, which dethrone him from the many titles awarded to him accordingly by the King.

   Macbeth is firstly recognised as the protagonist, after winning the tough battle for Scotland and being emphasised as a brave warrior furthermore. This label of Macbeth being the ‘brave warrior’ continues throughout the play but in retrospect can be seen to be diminishing with his fervent belief in the supernatural.

   Macbeth’s lustful greed is understood after his conversation with three witches as they awaited his presence on the ‘lonely moor’. The witches provided Macbeth with an insight into his future. The three witches hailed Macbeth ‘Thane of Glamis’, a title which Macbeth already had, followed by ‘Thane of Cawdor’ and ultimately ‘King of Scotland’. The latter two titles are the ones that had not been awarded to Macbeth, but were the ones which had left Macbeth’s conscience to lie astray. It’s important to remember that the words of the witches are like an axiom, not the end product of a process of reasoning, something which Macbeth did not understand during his time of delusion. I believe that the witches had manufactured Macbeth to be a pawn in order to gain salvation through cataclysmic events. As a result Macbeth’s greed started to dominate his life and generate anomie, serving the interests of the witches.

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   There are many antagonists who weaken the effect of Macbeth’s character, some of whom are good and some who are evil. Banquo is described a brave man like Macbeth at the start of the play. Banquo’s loyalty towards the King and friendship for Macbeth is justified as he starts to have suspicions about Macbeth’s dishonourable plans and therefore attempts to counteract them. Macbeth’s disillusionment with the witches’ future predictions only encouraged further tribulations. This made Macbeth more ruthless in his attempts to become King. Banquo seemed to be a threat to Macbeth’s increasing power and he was therefore ...

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