“Two truths are told”
Banquo on the other hand doesn't believe the witches.
“What! Can the devil speak true?”
The witches could be responsible because they initially put the idea in Macbeth’s head.
Lady Macbeth is one of the most influential characters on Macbeth. She plays a large role in persuading Macbeth to kill King Duncan. Even when Macbeth doesn't want to complete the killing Lady Macbeth is pushing him to do it.
“They have made themselves, and that their fitness now
Does unmake you.”
She tells him that as Macbeth will become King soon, killing King Duncan is a small part of a larger plan. Lady Macbeth does all the planning:
“Th’ unguarded Duncan? What not put upon
His spongy officers, who shall bear the guilt
Of our great quell?”
Originally, Lady Macbeth was going to kill King Duncan herself however, when planning to murder King Duncan Lady Macbeth discovers she could not do it, as the King reminds her of her father. This quote shows this:
"… Had he not resembled
My father as he slept, I had done’t."
Lady Macbeth’s plan is very through as all Macbeth has to do was the killing.
When King Duncan tells Lady Macbeth that he wants to stay at the castle Lady Macbeth welcomes him. She is more ambitious for Macbeth than himself. To go through with the plan, Lady Macbeth asks the spirits to defeminise her,
"Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts,
unsex me here…"
Lady Macbeth also calls Macbeth a coward when he starts to have doubts about killing King Duncan,
"And live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting I dare
not wait upon I would…"
She thinks he is less of a man, as he is a great warrior but he will not kill someone. Lady Macbeth teases and provokes Macbeth into killing King Duncan.
Macbeth is obviously responsible for the death of King Duncan as he did the physical murder but as already mentioned there are other people playing strong roles in the murder. Before Macbeth meets the witches he is thinking about being rewarded by King Duncan in some way and when he meets the witches, they maintain his feelings with their predictions. As Macbeth is superstitious he believes the predictions will come true. King Duncan gives the title Prince of Cumberland to his son Malcolm, which irritates Macbeth as he has won the King many battles previous to this one and believes he should be awarded more substantially. Macbeth is portrayed to the audience as a strong warrior and has fought in many battles. He is also shown to have killed many men, but these warriors are nothing compared to the taunts that Lady Macbeth makes when he does not want carry out the murder. This is despite not being sufficiently rewarded by the King for his loyalty in battle. This shows that although Macbeth killed King Duncan, jealousy took over and had a large part to play in Macbeth killing King Duncan.
Banquo, along with King Duncan, was the least responsible for the death of the King and is seen not to feel any guilt for the death. However, he did have a minor role in the death. Banquo was with Macbeth when the witches gave their predictions, Macbeth told Banquo that he believed the witches, but Banquo didn’t agree. Banquo shows signs of his suspicion yet he doesn't act on them and tell Macbeth. If he had told Macbeth that he thought the predictions were unrealistic, Macbeth might not have gone through with it. However his wife, Lady Macbeth persuaded him otherwise. If Banquo had told Macbeth about his feelings Macbeth might have not killed King Duncan and therefore changed the outcome of the play. This is why some might feel Banquo is responsible for the death of King Duncan.
Macbeth is weak-minded and falls easily for Lady Macbeth’s persuasive techniques.
“If we should fail?
We fail?
But screw your courage to the sticking place,
And we’ll not fail.”
Macbeth has the chance to say no to killing Duncan but he doesn’t and therefore gets what he deserves by being overthrown by Malcolm.
Some could say that the line of events and circumstances could be to blame for Macbeth killing King Duncan. Immediately after the witches predict that Macbeth shall be Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth is awarded that title. Malcolm becomes heir to the throne. This makes Macbeth feel aggrieved and he wants to get revenge on King Duncan for doing this. King Duncan visits the castle just as Macbeth is having these feelings, this is the perfect opportunity and perfect timing for Macbeth to do killing.
In conclusion, many people contributed to the killing of King Duncan. The witches gave the predictions to Macbeth, which gave him the idea that he could be King. Lady Macbeth gave him reasons to kill Duncan and made a plan of how to kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth also exploited the witches’ predictions by claiming it was Macbeth’s destiny to become king and killing Duncan would for fill this destiny. Finally there was Macbeth himself who physically killed Duncan after being persuaded by Lady Macbeth. I believe the above shows; Macbeth is the most responsible for the death of King Duncan as he carried out the actual murder and was weak minded to be so easily persuaded. This shows that not just one single person was responsible for the Duncan’s death, but it had to do with many people influencing Macbeth, and all having varying degrees of responsibility.
