The Decision To Murder Duncan In Shakespeare's Macbeth

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In the story Macbeth by Shakespeare, Macbeth is blindfolded by how own bitter ambition. One would think that it would be enough to be the nation's greatest warrior and Thane of Cawdor. Honestly what more could a man want ? There are key questions to ask while reading the story Macbeth. What compels Macbeth to murder Duncan? How did Macbeth's ambition affect him? And what drives him to continue committing heinous acts after his potential murder? Those are very intriguing questions that give a thorough and better understanding for Macbeth's own ambition.

One might ask what compelled Macbeth to murder Duncan? There were a lot of reasons for his decision to murder King Duncan. Early in the story Macbeth was told by the Three Witches that he will …show more content…

Macbeth was most certainly brought down by his own ambition, but it was also his ambition that was revealed and exploited by the Three Witches ("Luann W, 2008"). Macbeth was never even forced into even of these actions that occurred ("Luann W, 2008"). He always had the option of free will to choose his own actions. In the story the three witches basically gave him a desire that was already in him to start with ("Luann W, 2008"). In the First Act, Scene 3, when the witches delivered their prophecies towards Macbeth, Macbeth's response gave away that becoming the king was something he secretly had hoped for. When he said in his first aside, " The greatest is behind", he meant that the next step was to become king ("Luann W, 2008"). He also said that two truths were told which clearly showed that the thought of becoming king most definitely crossed his mind and even the thought of trying to murder King Duncan surfaced in his head ("Luann W, 2008"). All of this shows that he is acting off of ambition rather than fate itself ("Luann W, 2008"). The three witches power were completely limited, they do not have control of of a person's actions ("Luann W, 2008"). Macbeth soon realized he had a true weakness which was his vaulting ambition which he soon recognizes it ("Luann W, 2008"). But though Macbeth knew he had a flaw, instead of trying to control it he does not which shows it was his own ambition that causes the downfall ("Luann W,

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