How far do the Witches and Lady Macbeth Influence Macbeth’s Decision to Kill Duncan?
How far do the Witches and Lady Macbeth Influence Macbeth's Decision to Kill Duncan?
In this essay I am going to discuss the possible influences that encouraged Macbeth to kill Duncan. After I've done this I will be able to decide which is the biggest influence.
It is also important to bear in mind that not only the witches and Lady Macbeth, but also his own ambition has an influence on him. We are able to see how Macbeth's thoughts and actions develop as the play progresses, due to the effects of the three main influences: - the witches, his wife, and himself.
In Shakespeare's play "Macbeth", there are particular scenes that demonstrate the influences on Macbeth's decision to kill Duncan. I will look at the five most important scenes in order to reach a conclusion. These are the scenes in which Macbeth first meets the witches and they predict that Macbeth will become king. This then leads on to Lady Macbeth discovering her husband's plans and says that she will persuade Macbeth to become king "I may pour my spirits in thine ear". We can see Macbeth's nerves when he's about to kill his king, because he imagines a nightmarish dagger, and this shows his stress.
Duncan is however, not the only person Macbeth is willing to kill so that he can reach his goal. It appears that after this point he becomes less and less human.
The first scene I will be discussing is Act 1 Scene 3, where Macbeth has his first meeting with the witches. So far, Macbeth has won the title Thane of Cawdor through his own courage and not through some supernatural powers such as with witches claim they posses. Before Macbeth enters, we hear the witches talk about how they are able to make life miserable for men. When Macbeth does enter, the witches promise that he "shalt be king hereafter" (line 56). Macbeth is startled by the witches prophecies, whereas Banquo questions them. This shows that their predictions have made an impact on him; they have placed the initial idea into his head of the possibility of becoming king of Scotland, and it is from now on that it begins to grow and become more than an inconsequential prophecy. I think that the witches say this to Macbeth and Banquo, not because they believe it to be true, but because they like to see others suffer. Referring back to what they were talking about earlier - being able to make life miserable for men - this is a strong possibility.
When the present Thane of Cawdor is found out to be a traitor, Ross presents Macbeth with that title. He is shocked by this, having heard the predictions of the witches, and speaks aside to the audience about his feelings (a soliloquy). He describes that he is thinking about the future and murdering Duncan. He says how it is just fantastical, and not real life "... murder yet is but fantastical" (line 139). He then decides that if he is to become king, it will be not be through his actions, but by chance.
"If chance will ...
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When the present Thane of Cawdor is found out to be a traitor, Ross presents Macbeth with that title. He is shocked by this, having heard the predictions of the witches, and speaks aside to the audience about his feelings (a soliloquy). He describes that he is thinking about the future and murdering Duncan. He says how it is just fantastical, and not real life "... murder yet is but fantastical" (line 139). He then decides that if he is to become king, it will be not be through his actions, but by chance.
"If chance will have me king, why, chance
may crown me" (line 143)
At this early point in the play we can see that Macbeth is seriously contemplating becoming king, but he doesn't yet appear to be willing to summon the evil characteristics he would require to get to that position.
The second scene I will be looking at is Act 1 Scene 4. This is when Duncan hears about the death of the traitor. He entitles his son Malcom Prince of Cumberland. If Duncan were to die, without naming an heir, then the Scottish nobles would be able to elect a new king. Macbeth is shocked as he discovers that Duncan has chosen him. He then recognises that Malcom is an obstacle between him and the crown.
"...that is a step
On which I must fall down, or else o'er leap..." (line 49)
This means that he is having intentions towards murdering to reach the crown. He says this in soliloquy, so none of the characters hear what is said. He has noticed his dark and evil thoughts induced by the witches, but he doesn't want others to see that he is thinking this, "... Let not light see my black and deep desires" (line 51). He has discovered that he does want to become king, and is even contemplating murder, but I do not think that without the encouragement of his wife in the next scene, he would actually have done it.
In Act 1 Scene 5, Lady Macbeth receives a letter from her husband informing her of the witches prophecies. Lady Macbeth wishes her husband to become king, but has doubts about his character. She thinks, "It is too full of the milk of human kindness" (line 16). This means that she thinks that he is too attached to other people to get what he really wants i.e. the crown. He is not ruthless or self-centred enough to do it. She also recognises that he has the ambition needed, but is not evil enough. The phrase she uses to describe this is:
"Thou... art not without ambition, but
without the illness should attend it" (lines 17-19)
He wants to achieve the highest prize, but he is only willing to do it purely and honestly. Lady Macbeth also has to prepare herself mentally to help her husband. She would naturally have fears about murdering someone, so she has to combat these fears. She calls upon the supernatural to get rid of the qualities that make her human so she would be able to appear strong and cure her husbands doubts. To renounce her humanity she says:
"... Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts!
Unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the
Toe top-full of direst cruelty; make thick my blood" (lines 29-42)
She is asking to be made evil and be given enough courage to go through with the murder. She needs to be insensitive, feel no remorse and have no conscience in order to do this. Macbeth then arrives home and his wife immediately begins to start persuading him. He does not seem fully prepared to carry out her wishes, and she tries to toll him to be devious. She thinks that he does not look innocent enough, so he has to look like something he isn't and not show h real intentions. She says that he should:
"... look like the innocent flower
But be the serpent under it" (lines 64-5)
She tries to make things as easy as possible for him and takes control
"...put... This night's great business into my dispatch" (line 67)
Macbeth is very doubtful and asks her for more time to think about it, "We will speak further ". But Lady Macbeth is persistent. She tells him to act as normal leave all the rest to her. Lady Macbeth knows her husband so well; knows his weaknesses and fear, that she is able to convince him to kill Duncan in the next scene.
Act 1 Scene 7 gives Macbeth a chance to think about the murder of his king. He realises it is a sin, and considers all the duties he owes to Duncan as his Kinsman:
"I am his kinsman and his subject,
Strong both against the deed" (lines 13-14)
He sees Pity personified as a naked new-born babe. He tries to find a motive of his own to kill Duncan, but is unable to find anything except his...
..."Vaulting ambition, which o'er leaps itself
And falls on the other" (lines 27-8)
He has acknowledged that a leap, or vault, will inevitably lead to a fall. He has many, many doubts now, but they are all cleared-up, or pushed aside by his wife. Being as influential as she is, she plays on his weaknesses, mainly calling him a coward. She uses emotional blackmail, claiming that if he really loved her, he'd do it:
"...From this time
Such I account thy love" (lines 38-9)
She believes that if he doesn't commit a crime, he shall "live a coward in thine own esteem". She then insults his virility, by claiming that he isn't a man if he doesn't go though with is. She even declares that she would rather murder her own child while feeding at her breast, than break a promise such as Macbeth has suggested doing. Before he spoke to his wife in this scene, he'd convinced himself that he was not going to do it, but his wife's insults, scorn, persuasion and encouragement break him, and he agrees to murder the king.
At the end of Act 2 Scene 1 he commits the murder, although he does have doubts beforehand. We see that he has doubts because he creates a dagger in his imagination. He cannot make the distinction between reality and illusion, "Is this a dagger which I see before me...?" (line 33). Although he does initially fear his imagination he then appears to enjoy the vision. He seems to even think that it is calling him to murder Duncan, "I go, and it is done; the bell invites me" suggests that he feels compelled to commit the crime. Then he murders the king.
I think that Lady Macbeth is the biggest external influence, more so than the witches. But I do believe that without his own ambition, he would have gotten nowhere.
Lady Macbeth is more influential because she is much closer to Macbeth. In Act 1 Scene 7, he had resolved that he was not going to murder Duncan, but his wife is soon able to convince him to. The witches do place the initial idea into his head, but Lady Macbeth is the one who develops the idea. She is able to get under his skin due to their intimacy, and manipulate him for her own personal gain.
Although I think that she is the biggest influence, the final choice was up to Macbeth himself. He killed Duncan of his own free will, so nobody can be blamed; he just gave-in to the pressure.
