Macbeth's Murder of Duncan in William Shakespeare's Macbeth

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Macbeth's Murder of Duncan in William Shakespeare's Macbeth

Various different influences act upon Macbeth causing him to murder

Duncan. The main ones are his ambition, his wife and the witches.

At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a brave warrior, described as

noble and valiant, who knows his place and is a loyal servant to the

king. Then a small seed planted in his very fertile head, grows very

quickly. In other words, Macbeth has a hidden desire deep inside,

which is unearthed by the witches, reinforced by his wife and then

acted upon to become king.

Back then, in the 1600’s, witches were believed to be real and that

their future-telling powers came from the devil. The watching audience

would have construed the weïrd sisters in Macbeth as scarily real

evildoers, whereas now they are just in stories. This is why Banquo

exclaims “What! Can the Devil speak true?”.

The witches start the ball rolling, by hailing him first as “Thane of

Glamis, which he is, then as “Thane of Cawdor”, which soon comes true

and then as one who “shalt be king hereafter”. One claim comes true

and so Macbeth logically presumes that the next will do too. However,

it is important to remember that they do not make any reference or

suggestion about killing Duncan to become king, yet they tempt him.

Macbeth is keen to hear of this “strange intelligence” as this is what

he wants to hear; they have touched upon a coveted ambition. The

witches also tempt Banquo, but he sees through them and warns Macbeth

that “oftentimes to win us to our harm, / The instruments of darkness

tell us truths, / Win us with honest trifles – to betray’s / in

deepest consequ...

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...meditated murder, with his wife, and partner, behind him. Lady

Macbeth knows her husband would like to be more powerful: “Thou

wouldst be great/ Art not without ambition”. Macbeth’s ambition is his

driving force and his weakness.

Fate is a minor factor to be considered. It seems that Macbeth feels

like an actor, doing nothing more than playing a part. This is

illustrated when he says “but a poor player,/ That struts and frets

his hour upon the stage”.

To conclude, whilst the influence of both Lady Macbeth and the witches

are strong, they would have never had power over him, without his

ambition. It is Macbeth’s ambition that leads the witches to him, and

it’s his ambition that leads him to corruption, treachery, betrayal,

murder, hypocrisy and the deepest evil – the killing in cold blood of

his honourable king.

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