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Recommended: Macbeth and murder
The twenty-first century judicial system goes back in time to solve murders in the past. Many high school students before they proceed to college will read the play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare, this play like many have very relatable universal themes such as greed, relationships, and good versus evil. If the play Macbeth was applied in today’s judicial system for killing Duncan the prosecutor would have to look at all the angels of the crime right down to the motivates and the purpose of what drove him to commit the murder.
Macbeth is guilty of first degree murder seeing that as the murder was premeditated and was done in order to gain control and or take an important position. Macbeth waited for the chance to murder the king and after he got the perfect chance to kill the king, he took control of the situation and took the weapon and plunged it into the king’s body. I think these actions fall into the category of first degree murder because first degree murder is the killing, which is deliberate and premeditated with felonies such as rape, burglary, arson, involving multiple deaths, the killing of certain types of people such as; a child, police officer, prison guard, and fellow prisoner. I would prosecute him with the first degree murder charge because it was premeditated and after the Duncan was killed, it then lead to several murders proceeding after the biggest calamity.
I give Macbeth the first degree murder in view of the fact that he needed to cover his track after the king was killed, so he started planning more deaths within the kingdom to keep his secret withheld. Macbeth was foretold by three fortune tellers that would be the king, but how was he going to be king if there was one already which lead to the ...
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...ce to happen and he had the chance to his mind. He could have avoided the whole situation; he could have just accepted the titles that were placed upon him. Greedy Macbeth wanted more power. He let his better judgment be tested by all of the motives that was placed in his way as an obstacle. Crimes were committed and the death of Duncan brought upon many more killings by the hand of Macbeth. Blood was shed over greed and the prophetic word of the three fortune tellers. Macbeth should be guilty in the first degree, and punished with the capital punishment.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. "Section 2 act 5." Macbeth. : Project Gutenberg, 1602. . Print.
Shakespeare, William. "Shakespeare Study Guides - Spark Notes - Spark Notes: Today's ...." spark notes. John Heminges, Henry Condell, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. . .
That murder was the killing of the king which he had to do since Duncan named his son, Malcolm as Prince of Cumberland which also meant that when Duncan passes away, Malcolm will be his successor and Macbeth knew that he had to murder King Duncan to keep his dream of becoming king, alive. This decision to murder the king backfires due to Macbeth regretting it because he became king in a sinful way and he also lacks the fundamental skills of being a king such as putting the people in your kingdom before himself which ruined his reputation.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, we have heard the defence glorify Macbeth in an effort to cloud the horrible acts of murder that he committed. The question that we are here to answer today stands, ?is Macbeth guilty of the murder of our beloved king, Duncan?. Many questions cloud our judgement today. Did Macbeth have a motive to kill the king? Did Macbeth meticulously premeditate the murder of Duncan? Did Macbeth carryout, then cover up the murder of King Duncan? Ladies and gentlemen it will be difficult, nay impossible for you to deny any of these allegations of murder against Macbeth, because simply put, he did commit these vicious acts of murder.
Say “Macbeth” and the first thing that comes to mind is probably the play by the
The witches play no part in Macbeth’s crimes except for prophesying that he could not be killed. This may have led to his overconfidence, but the death that this results in is only his own. Macbeth clearly has a murderous ...
Macbeth takes his first step toward becoming evil when he is confronted with the knowledge that he will be king. When the witches tell him "All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be king thereafter!" he makes the mistake of letting his ambition overrule his judgment. If his judgment had remained intact in the face of the witches' powerful prophecy, he certainly would have decided not to let his actions be dictated by a prophecy given to him by three strange witches who evade most of the questions he asks. With great trepidation and considerable pressure from Lady Macbeth, he commits his second mistake by proceeding to murder King Duncan. Driven by a persecution complex that starts with the knowledge that Banquo is meant to be the f...
I think that Macbeth is mainly to blame for the murder as he was the
Macbeth negates his moral responsibility as a person as well as a king. He doesn’t take into consideration that he will pay for all the evil deeds that he executes. Killing Duncan is the worst crime that is possible to commit since the kings were the closest in hierarchy next to god. It is evident that Macbeth is aware that this is an evil sin when he states, “ I dare do all that may be come a man, who dares do more is none.” (Act I Scene VII, Line 46-47) The previous statement shows that Macbeth believes that killing Duncan will make him nothing more than a beast. Nevertheless he goes against his morals and kills King Duncan. Sin is a prevalent theme in this play, Macbeth shows that he knows he has lived a sinful life, “Seyton I am sick at hearth, when I behold Seyton I have live’d long enough.” (Act V Scene III, Lines 20-22) Ambition takes over Macbeth when he decides to hire assassinators to kill Macduffs wife and children, “The castle of Macduff I will surprise; seize upon Fife; give to the edge of the sword in this line.”
This shows that he really didn't want to kill Duncan, but he did it in order to prove himself to Lady Macbeth, and to become the king. By the end he had no fear, and had killed not only Duncan but also many other people. He now had different views from which he had in the beginning of the play. Macbeth realizes that he is no longer afraid "no, nor more fearful. (Act V, scene vii, l 9). He is now considered a man, but he doesn't like the fact that he has killed all these people.
Macbeth is captured by his wild ambition at the opening of the play when he and Banqou meet the three witches. The witches tell Macbeth that he is the Thane of Cawdor, and later will be king. They tell Banquo that his sons will be kings. Instantly Macbeth started to fantasize how he is going to be king. He understood that in order for him to become king he has to kill Duncan. “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical”(Act 1 Sc. 3, p.23). He was pondering about the assassination until the moment that he could no longer control his emotions. “To prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which overleaps itself and falls on the other-“(Act 1 Sc. 7, p.41). Because of his “vaulting ambition” he killed Duncan.
Good day. Today I will prove to you that Macbeth, the king of Scotland, is innocent. It is outrageous that anyone in this courtroom should think otherwise. There are three key factors to consider before it is possible to make any judgment concerning the murderer of Duncan. First of all, before fingers are pointed at Macbeth, I ask you to consider if he is the only suspicious person? A murderer must have a motive and an opportunity. Obviously, there are several candidates that fit this category. Also, before you can reach a final decision, you must consider the character of the individual. Macbeth is a man of the finest character; he does not have the nature of a cold-blooded killer. I am sure you will agree with me long before you go into the jury room. Finally, the will of the gods must be taken into consideration. It is not within the powers of mortals, even important mortals like Macbeth, to change the future as determined by the stars. I am confident that you, dear jury, will consider the three factors I will shortly describe and realize that Macbeth is a most unlikely suspect.
When looking back on the recent decades or even last week, it is not difficult to find a Macbeth-like figure in mainstream American culture. In this it is meant that these individuals experience a downfall in an attempt to gain power. One such figure was former President Richard Nixon.
Macbeth’s first hallucination and sign of madness comes directly before his wife and he murder King Duncan. After hearing from the witches that he will become the king and conversing with his wife about this, the two of them decide they must kill Duncan. From the beginning of the play, we see Macbeth is a loyal warrior, albeit a vicious one with no trouble killing. It is in the first scene that Macbeth’s brutality is illustrated. An army captain reported:
Macbeth’s growing aspiration changed him from a honorable and respected man to that of a ruthless murder whose guilt eventually caught up with him. Macbeth is guilty of first degree murder because even though he was being manipulated by his wife, Lady Macbeth, he still murdered the king with his own bare hands. If he really didn’t want to manslaughter the king, he would not have gone through with the plan, but instead he chose to. He is guilty of slaying the beloved King Duncan and others as well.
Macbeth knows that killing Duncan is morally wrong as demonstrated in (I, vii, 31-32) where he states, “.we will proceed no further in this business: he hath honour’d me of late”. Yet it is his vaulting ambition that gets the better of him as he shows signs of wanting to kill Duncan. Macbeth says, “The Prince of Cumberland”. – That is a step on which I must fall down, or else o’erleap.
Throughout the play of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth is supposed to be a likeable character until he kills the king. By committing this heinous act, Macbeth instantly becomes a villain and continues to commit murderous acts, all stemming from his first terrible mistake. One of his motives consists of choosing power over integrity, therefore he kills the king. Another reason why Macbeth is a villain is because he continued to kill innocent people to hide his doings. Lastly, since Macbeth is a villain and murderer, he deserves to be condemned and disdained.