Persuasive Speech On Macbeth

I appreciate your eagerness to support Macbeth in all of his endeavors, and it might seem like a wonderful thing for a loving and ambitious wife to do, but I think your enthusiasm is both premature and overzealous. For your marriage’s sake, I think you should dial back your encouragement of your husband’s latent homicidal tendencies. You are starting to transition from embracing your husband’s aspirations to manipulating him into fulfilling your own, and that is not healthy.

Everybody wants to feel important. I understand why you the witches’ proclamation that Macbeth “shalt be king hereafter” (I.iii.53), is so thrilling for the both of you, especially after they correctly predicted that he would become the Thane of Cawdor. However, you should not let your fantasies and ambitions overreach your ability to cope with their consequences. Besides, Macbeth may not need to kill the Duncan in order to become King. If the witches are prophets and their words are prophecy, then it stands to reason that “fate and the metaphysical” (I.v.32) will assure that you and your husband to ascend the throne regardless of whether or not you

kill the current king. There is no need to waste your time and effort on such a daunting and treasonous task.
Another reason I want you to stop encouraging Macbeth to murder Duncan is that you are not allowing him to properly consider his own actions.

Macbeth may want to kill Duncan in order to become king, but if he, as he words it, has “no spur to prick the sides of [his] intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself” (I.vii.25-27), then he simply does not have the mettle to commit homicide in order to become the king of Scotland. That is not a bad thing! Your husband “a coward” (I.vii.47) for having second thoughts about a major decision or lifestyle change, especially one that would lead to major political upheaval. In fact, your husband’s reflection on his motivations for taking action, as well as the possible ramifications of doing so, shows that he is practicing careful decision making. I think it would not hurt for you to do the

same.
I am particularly concerned about your inability to accept and respect your husband’s decisions. People are allowed to change their minds, and Macbeth is no exception. Any reason is a good reason not to kill somebody. You should not discourage Macbeth from deciding against committing treason, whatever his reasoning is. Not wanting to kill Duncan because “he’s here in double trust: first, as I am his kinsman and subject… then as his host” (I.vii.12-14) is understandable and ultimately Macbeth’s decision to make. And if he feels he “dare do all that may become a man. Who dares do more is none” (I.vii.51-52), you should not reply with “When you durst do it, then you were a man” (I.vii.58), saying that he is less than a man for refusing to kill his king. You need to respect the boundaries that Macbeth lays out, just as he needs to respect yours. Belittling and emasculating your husband because he refuses to do exactly what you want him to will only foster resentment between you both and will likely lead to further quarreling. Furthermore, if you cannot kill Duncan yourself, then you do not get to condescend to your husband simply because he reached the same decision.
You and your husband have a remarkably healthy relationship, and, to be frank, I was shocked when the two of you approached me for couple’s counseling. Macbeth sees you as his equal. He even calls you his “dearest partner in greatness” (I.v.11). A man treating a woman as a person is almost a miracle in this day and age; one treating his wife as his equal probably is a miracle. Your marriage is sturdily founded on love and mutual respect, and that is reflected in the way you share power and the openness with which you communicate with each other. However, all of that will go up in flames if you continue to bully and berate your husband for the crime of careful decision making.
P.S. As a sign of confidence in and good will towards you and your husband, I will not be reporting your regicidal plan to the authorities.