Who was most responsible for Duncan's death? Shakespeare's Macbeth

Macbeth to instantly wonders if what he has been told about being king is evil or good and his thoughts seem fantastical and disturb him. He questions his thinking,

'If good, why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs, against the use of nature?'

In this line it gives some suggestion of thinking of some evil ways of becoming king such as possibly murder. This is the first time that Macbeth indicates his thinking of killing the king.

He snaps out of it when Banquo makes a comment on how his partner is so amazed in his own thoughts. Then he thinks to himself if what he has been told is to become true them he should let fate take its course.

'If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me.'

When Lady Macbeth receives the letter from Macbeth her first words are

' Glamis thou art, and Cawdor: shalt be what then art promis'd'

Her words show that she is ambitious and wants her husband to gain the title of King. However she is doubtful that Macbeth's personality is 'too full off milk of human kindness' and he would take something if it were laid on a plate to him but would not go and get it himself. And that she must use her words and 'valour' to persuade him into gaining his title. This hints that she is planning something evil and too herself asks the evil spirits to 'unsex me here' and fill her with evilness, 'stop up the access and passage to remorse' and to hide what she is planning in her head from her consciousness. However by having to call the evil spirits to help her do this evilness shows a weakness in her strength and ambition.

'That my keen knife see not the wound it makes...'

When Macbeth arrives she tells him that she feels that the future that he has written about in her letter seems in her mind already true and she welcomes him greatly.

' Great Glamis! Worthy Cawdor! Greater than both, by all-hail hereafter!'

Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that Duncan is coming to stay the night. She asks when is he staying till and when Macbeth answers 'to-morrow, as he purposes' she responds saying 'Shall sun that morrow see!' meaning he will not see tomorrow suggesting he will be dead.

She questions the look on his face when she says this and tells him that he must appear to be a welcoming host but let he must be deceitful behind it.

'Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye, your hand your tongue: look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under't.'

Macbeth does not react to what she has said dramatically, he just says that 'We will speak further' and leaves it and she leaves the conversation saying 'Leave the rest to me.'

In this scene Lady Macbeth plants her plan of killing Duncan into Macbeth's head cautiously by never mentioning the word murder and uses lots of euphemisms instead such as; 'This night's great business' I think she does this because she is trying to see if he has already thought of it. It is obvious in this scene that Lady Macbeth has the upper hand in their relationship as she seems to do all the talking and Macbeth just goes along with her.

In Act 1 Scene 7 lines 1 - 26, When Duncan comes to stay at Macbeth's Castle, Macbeth is doubtful of the idea of murdering Duncan. He thinks to himself that instead of plotting to murder the king, he should be totally against the idea of killing him and should be protecting the King.

'First, as I am his kinsman and his subject strong both against the deed....'

Another reason he believes he should not kill Duncan is that he is such a good king that the angels will make sure that everyone knows until ' that tears shall drown the wind' what Macbeth had done if he murders him. He finds that the only reason he has to kill Duncan is 'vaulting ambition' which is like a horse that tries to jump to high but falls on the other side of the fence. He also thinks that the deed may come back to him in a circle and if he murders Duncan, someone will murder him.

'That we but teach bloody instructions, which, being taught, return to plague the inventor.'

Macbeth at this point is now totally doubtful of murdering Duncan. However when Lady Macbeth enters he tells her that they will 'proceed no further with this business' because lately Duncan has honoured him and many different people have great opinions of him and that if they were to kill Duncan these opinions would be gone.

Lady Macbeth immediately asks Macbeth what has happened to his hope and is he too afraid to do what he wants to do.

'Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou art desire?'

She tells him that he would feel like a coward if he did not do it and says that this is his chance to do it now and if he didn't take the chance he would be no longer a man. On line 56 she says to him that if she had made a promise like he had then she would keep it whatever the situation.

'I would, while it was smiling in my face, have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums, and dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this'

Macbeth after she has said all this, seems to have been put back on track to murdering Duncan and is just asking what would happen if they were to fail, but Lady Macbeth cuts him off questioning him with ' We fail?' like saying there is no way we can fail. Giving him more confidence. She then tells him of how she will drug Duncan's two guards leaving the King unguarded so that Macbeth can go in and kill him.

At the end of this scene Macbeth is definitely confident about killing Duncan. His last line is

'False face must hide what the false heart doth know'

This is a different way of putting what Lady Macbeth said earlier to him

' Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under't.' (Act 1 scene 5 line 64 - 65)

Just before Macbeth goes into Duncan's chamber to kill him he sees visions of a dagger.

'Is this a dagger I see before me, the handle toward my hand?'

He speaks as though talking to the dagger asking it why it is leading him to Duncan's chamber; He seems to be unsure of what is real and not at this point and seems to be in a sort of trance state. In this scene he realises the horror of what he is about to do and says that he sees 'dudgeons gowts of blood' on the dagger's blade, but he protects himself saying that I have not yet done anything.

The last line Macbeth says 'Hear it not Duncan, for it is a knell, that summons thee to heaven or to hell.' Is a very powerful line and this is the last point where Macbeth has a chance to turn back and forget about everything however he does not.

Once Macbeth has killed Duncan he totally freaked out. He says to himself;

'Wake Duncan with thy knocking, I would thou couldst.'

This line shows that he regrets what he has done and wishes that he could wake Duncan from his eternal sleep. Macbeth feels that even 'great Neptune's oceans' would be unable to wash the blood from his hands. And instead of washing the blood clean from his hands it would turn the 'multitudinous seas incarnadine' from green to red.

I think that the bit about not being able to wash the blood away is also about how he can not just push the thoughts of what he has done and guilt out of his conscience. Macbeth is so scared of what he has done that he cannot go and put back the two daggers with the guards covered in Duncan's blood. So Lady Macbeth takes them back.

When Lady Macbeth comes back is acts all calm and practical. She thinks that Macbeth is being squeamish and pathetic and 'a little water' will clean them of the deed.

I think that both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth joint together are most responsible for the death of Duncan. Without Macbeth, Lady Macbeth would not have been able to kill Duncan as he resembled her father in his sleep.Macbeth without the persistence and persuasions of Lady Macbeth would not have been able to kill Duncan because in many points he had doubts which over ruled his ambition to become king. You can not just blame either one of them, as together as a pair I feel that they made a perfectly evil combination. One with all the ambition and thoughts in their head, the other with great persuasion skills and strength to keep their plans going.

Elizabeth Singleton 9S