Macbeth was at first confused and bewildered by the intense and far-fetched statements. The witch’s prophecies would have had no achievements had it not been for the fact that the witches proved their genuineness. They called him by name however they had not met ever before. They also reassured their authenticity with the first two prophecies. “…hail to thee, Thane of Glamis.” The first one proved to Macbeth that the witch’s who he had never met before knew about him and possibly had supernatural powers. “…hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor” convinced Macbeth that the witch’s could see into the future since he only found out about him being the Thane of Cawdor after the witches had left. The final verification came in the form of the Witches exit where they vanish into air.
The witches may have planted the seeds in Macbeth’s brain, but it was his own ambition that helped these seeds to grow into thoughts of murder. Macbeth was the first character to think of murder. This is indicated in his first soliloquy by phrases such as “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?” (act 1 scene 3 lines 133-136) and refer to these murderous thoughts as “horrible imaginings”. (act 1 scene 3 lines 137)
His use of the word ‘yield’ indicates that Macbeth does not want to be thinking these treacherous thoughts. Despite his ambitions, he decides against murder, using the line “if chance will crown me king, why chance may crown me without a stir”. (Act 1 scene 3 lines 143-144) Macbeth has decided to leave the future to chance, but his thoughts of murder make this decision almost impossible to stick to. He is left vulnerable and impressionable, and so to persuade him to do the very thing he decided against would take less effort than it probably would usually. “Fair is foul, and foul is fair,” (Act 1 Scene 1 Line 12) ”So foul and fair a day I have not seen” (Act 1 Scene 3 Line 36)
Macbeth’s first words in the entire play almost replicate the words of the witches earlier on in Scene 1. This could be a sign that right from the very start Macbeth is under the witch’ spell and therefore his character is implanted with the evil from the witches and we never find out who the true Macbeth really is.
In Act 1 Scene 4 Duncan announces the heir to the throne will be his son, Malcolm. “The Prince of Cumberland: that is a step On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap, For in my way it lies.” (Act 1 scene 4 lines 48-50) Macbeth’s decision to let future to chance are already beginning to fade as in this quote “or else o’erleap” he is already thinking of different ways to achieve the kingship. These thoughts may have come from his own deliberation however they may have been projected from the witch’s evil and down to the fact that he is feeling much more open to these suggestions.
Macbeth is a loyal and courageous warrior. He is faithful to the king and has a reputation for being a good and honest general. We can see this from the much praise he receives. “For brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name” (Act 1 scene 2 line 16) A captain calls Macbeth brave when talking to Duncan. “hail most worthy Thane” (Act 1 Scene 3 line 103) Ross sees Macbeth as more than worthy to be given the title of Thane of cawdor. Even the king himself is more than happy to give Macbeth the praise all believe is due. “O worthiest cousin” (Act 1 scene 4 line 14) “My worthy Cawdor.” Act 1 scene 4 line 48)
Macbeth seems to have everyone on his side and be a perfect soldier, however his ambition, drove forward by the witches, and the love for his wife make him an easy target for the pressure put on him by Lady Macbeth.
For Macbeth, the thought of murder was repulsive and sickening, however no matter how hard he tried to rid it of his mind, his ambition kept on re suggesting it at any costs, even his own mortality. But his main downfall is his love for his wife as it is her who pushes him into the act. She did this by challenging his masculinity, accusing him of being a coward and saying he has no determination when Macbeth says he’s not going to go through with the deed.
All the pressure, guilt, and mental and emotional stress finally get to him just before the murder, making him hallucinate. He sees a floating dagger leading him towards Duncan’s chamber. “Is this a dagger I see before me?” (Act 2 scene 1 line 33)
During the murder scene Macbeth hears the servants say “God bless us” and “Amen”. “List’ning their fear, I could not say ‘Amen’ When they did say ‘God bless us’” Macbeth could not bring himself to say ‘Amen’. This could have been his sub conscious mind telling him that he is going against God and giving him a final last chance to back out and not condemn himself.
Macbeth was so overcome with guilt after the murder that he went into shock, unable to go back to the scene of the murder to return the daggers which he, in a state of horror and repulsion at what he had done, had forgotten to leave behind. “Will all great Neptune’s oceans wash this blood clean from my hands?” (Act 2 Scene 2 line 63) while he tries to wash away the blood. Macbeth was overwhelmed with guilt about the act he had just committed. Looking at Macbeth in this sad and sorry state, with only ambition driving him, it is quite clear Lady Macbeth must have played a part in the outcome of that evening.
Lady Macbeth knew her husband very well, probably better than he knew himself. She found it exceptionably easy to persuade him to murder Duncan because she knew his weaknesses and how to use them to greatly affect the decisions of Macbeth. An example of these weaknesses is his pride in masculinity and his inability to back down from a challenge. “art thou afeared to be the same in act and valour as thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, and live a coward in thine own esteem?” (Act 1 Scene 7 lines 39-43) Lady Macbeth is telling Macbeth that the crown won’t magically appear on Macbeth’s head. She tells him he is scared and is making it clear that they must kill Duncan. “From this time such I account thy love.” (Act 1 scene 7 line 38). This is almost a threat in such as that Lady Macbeth questions that if he is not willing to kill Duncan then he cannot love her because it is her wish that he kills Duncan. We can see from Lady Macbeth’s actions that she is pushing Macbeth towards murder, showing herself to be a real force behind the murder of the King.
Lady Macbeth is a loving wife, caring for the well being of her husband, and only forcing his hand when she knows he can’t do it himself however deep down I believe she is evil and only interested in her own personal gains. “look like th’innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t”. She is always putting on a front, acting in front of others to be the sweet, innocent housewife but deep down she is a ‘serpent’ slippery and clever. While Macbeth is having “horrible imaginings” of the future beyond the murder in his soliloquy at the beginning of Act 1 Scene 7, Lady Macbeth forbids herself this. She becomes entirely focused on the murder, not even contemplating failure.
Some would call Lady Macbeth thoroughly evil, however she shows compassion and sorrow as she cannot bring herself to kill Duncan because he looks too much like her father. This is the only time in the entire play that Lady Macbeth cannot carry out an evil thought into truth. However this act may have been more of an excuse than of anything. Lady Macbeth knew that if she did not kill Duncan, Macbeth would have to. Therefore if all went wrong and they were found out, she could wipe her hands clean of the deed, act the innocent housewife and let Macbeth take the full blame. This theory proves that while Lady Macbeth cares and loves her husband very much, the evil inside her would allow her to let her beloved solely take the blame for the worst crime in the world.
Her motivation is questionable. It could be because she is driven by the eternal thought of her being Queen. But it may be because she knows of her husband’s ambition and how much it means to him. She knows that even if he needs the initial persuasion, the benefits will be more than worth it.
In conclusion, Lady Macbeth played a great role in Duncan’s murder however I believe that it was just a ‘piece’ of the many events that led to Duncan’s death. The witch’s prophecies, Macbeth’s desires, Lady Macbeth’s pushing and pushing him. However Lady Macbeth’s persuasion was the most powerful and the most demanding of Macbeth. Just when Macbeth was all ready to stop everything, even putting ambition aside, Lady Macbeth turned him around just in time. After the murder Macbeth’s confidence seemed to rise considerably and it seemed he didn’t need his wife so much. Had Macbeth been in this state from the beginning he could have killed Duncan with no help from anyone, but he only got into that state in the first place by what had happened before. However I believe that all the events contributed to the murder and I think that they are all equally to blame as each other. They are dependant on each other, without one, the others could not of happened and therefore Duncan’s death would never have evolved into anything more than a thought. With this in mind it would be unfair to bias the blame to any side, whether it be the witches, Macbeth or Lady Macbeth.