In committing Duncan's murder how far Macbeth is driven by his own ambition; how far he is dominated by his wife's; and how far he is influenced by the witches.

It is clear to the audience that during the play Macbeth is dominated by his wife. This all starts when Lady Macbeth receives the letter from Macbeth. From then on she plans the murder of Duncan. The first quote that shows the influence of Lady Macbeth is that when she says, “ Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it.” Lady Macbeth then questions Macbeth’s weakness and persuades Macbeth to have the strength to commit the murder. For Lady Macbeth to persuade Macbeth to commit the murder, she first had to use strategies. One of these strategies was praise. A good example of this is when Lady Macbeth says that Macbeth is brave and strong but still in the presence of his wife, Macbeth shows himself to be a weak man and basically, Lady Macbeth plans the murder for him. We also see that Macbeth does not know how to get rid of the blood on his hands but Lady Macbeth says,” A little water clears of this dead.” This shows that Lady Macbeth is washing the blood of her hands but at the same time is organised. Lady Macbeth is not feeling the same regret as she treats the blood on her hands not as a mark of something evil but something that will come off with the aid of water. For Macbeth though on the other hand, he will always have the vision of the blood on his hands reminding him of his crime:
“not even great Neptune´s ocean will wash the blood away”. This shows how important the blood is on his hands.

The Supernatural is an important theme in Macbeth because the witches are creatures of supernatural origin. In the beginning of the play, the witches are waiting for Macbeth and this seems that they have something in mind. The things that they have in mind are that of the predictions that Macbeth will be King. The witches appearances are deceiving because the witches show themselves to be evil by causing men’s deaths and not telling Macbeth the whole truth but one line says, “Fair is foul and foul is fair.” But Banquo thinks that the witches are not what they seem. We know this when he says, “ Things that do sound so fair.” Another point to consider is that in Elizabethan times, witches were thought to be servants of Satan and were dangerous.

We see that Macbeth is so influenced by the witches that he is hypnotised by what they tell him.

In conclusion it is clear that throughout the play, we find Macbeth´s character changes. At first he appears to be a brave and honourable soldier. However, his character proves to be more complex. There is a darker side to him; his weakness, his greed and ambition leads him to murder the king. The weak side of his nature lays him open to manipulation by his wife. His thirst for power drives him on. He is eclipsed by the ruthless side of his nature and is driven to commit more atrocious murders to further his ambitions. We have learnt that Macbeth was not a person who was predictable or to be underestimated. In conclusion, to make it easier to understand the play of Macbeth and what makes it a good play, you have to understand Macbeth himself and by describing how Macbeth is driven to commit Duncan’s murder by ambition, his wife and the witches, you can see that Macbeth was not an evil person at all but a person who was driven by forces.