More handpicked essays just for you.
Reasearch on shakespeare
The life and works of William Shakespeare
The life and works of William Shakespeare
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
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.
Members of the jury, King Duncan was ruler of Scotland in a kingdom which the Scottish lineage to the throne moves from father to first-born son. However a member from within the same bloodline could lay claim to the throne if Duncan had no living sons. Therefore a question ponders in your mind. Why would Macbeth murder king Duncan? Macbeth had no legitimate claim to the throne
However ladies and gentleman, what some of you may not know is that Macbeth was in-fact the King?s cousin. Before Duncan?s untimely death he stated to Macbeth: ?O valiant cousin! Worthy gentleman? (pg 32) which confirms that Macbeth was in-fact Duncan?s cousin. Therefore Macbeth was in the same bloodline as Duncan, and therefore could take the throne if Duncan had no sons who were able to ascend to the throne. But since Duncan had already named Malcolm as heir to the throne, Duncan had to be murdered. This was always in the back of MacBeth?s mind from the very beginning. The prophecy of the three witches, only fired his imagination to confirm the terrible deeds he was already planning, the death of king Duncan and tearing the throne from his dying hands.
Macbeth stated ?I am settled, and bend up each corporal agent to this terrible feat. Away, and mock the time with fairest show: False face must hide what false heart doth know.? (Pg 55) This demonstrates that he was resolute and determined to use all the powers of his body to commit that terrible murder. He was to deceive the world by framing two innocent servants and appearing distraught by Duncan?s untimely death. The death of a king, who was a kind-hearted man, was aided by the blatant mis-use of his own love, loyalty and trust for his closest friends
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.
We certainly know that the direct cause of Duncan’s death is Macbeth. However, this does not necessarily mean he is to blame, for his violent death is obviously the consequence of certain influences that forced Macbeth to perform his fatal deed. Furthermore, to unearth the truth about who is really the guilty for Duncan’s murder, we must explore the influences the different characters have on Macbeth’s impulses and the overall scenario of the slaying. Firstly, we shall consider Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, as they are the two who planned and performed the murder. Although after the witches told Macbeth that he was to be king and he was burning in desire to be so he, in first instance, decided that if fate had determined that he was to be the sovereign of Scotland he shouldn’t try to reach the throne by his own actions, that it would come eventually: “If Chance will have me king, why, Chance may crown me, / Without my stir”.
To begin, we look at the first prediction of the witches. They call him by the names of ?Thane of Glamis?, which he already is, ?Thane of Cawdor? (a title he does not know he has been given), and "King hereafter." As a result, the first two things the witches tell him aren?t prophesies because they have already happened. Look at the third and most important prophecy. The witches tell Macbeth that he will become ?King Hereafter?, there?s knowledge that this actually happened. ?If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me.? (1 3) Did it happen because of fate or did Macbeth make it happen? The witches tempted Macbeth to kill the King, however, it was his own ambition that led him to do that terrible thing. Macbeth, even though he was uneasy, he chose to kill King Duncan and ascend to the throne of Scotland. ?Nothing is
Though he is still with Banquo and the other thanes, this quote shows that Macbeth is already thinking about murdering Duncan. He uses his appearance to cover up his thoughts about killing the king from Banquo, even though he is clearly shaken by the idea. Another example is when Macbeth hides his plan to murder Duncan from the guests at his castle. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth know that Duncan is going to be murdered; however, they both act and appear normal amongst their guests. Macbeth describes how he must behave when he says, “False face hide what the false heart doth know.” (1.7.82). He has to hide his intentions behind a façade in order to appear innocent. He misleads Duncan and his guests into believing that he is still a trustworthy and loyal soldier before he murders the king. After the murd...
First of all, Macbeth is not the only suspicious person. After all, where were the sons of Duncan just minutes after their father’s brutal murder? You would think that sons who really care about their father would want to discover the truth. What kind of son just runs off and vanishes when he learns of the horrific death of his own father? Where were Malcolm and Donalbain? If anyone here in this court lost a loved one, no one would turn his back, especially to a father. But these young men, next in line to the throne, decided it would be a better idea to wait for the heat to go down. The only possible explanation is that they, themselves, felt guilty.
Naturally, Macbeth was third in line to become King of Scotland. Deep in his heart, he desperately wanted the crown, and all the power that came with it. Macbeth suppressed his feelings, however, until he heard the three witches' first prophecy. "All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter", were the witch's words. When Macbeth heard this, his desperate need for the crown revealed itself because he realized it was possible to take the thrown. When Macbeth's yearning to be king could not be overcome, he did not let anything stand in his way of being crowned, even if that meant he had to commit murder. The Three Witches ignited Macbeth's desire to be king with their prophecy.
This willingness to do whatever is necessary to become the king of Scotland is also what causes Macbeth to commit so many murders, the first of which is Duncan. In order for Macbeth to be king, the current king must die and his successors must be unavailable for the throne. Fate plays a huge hand in the way that Duncan's murder plays out. Duncan's two sons flee so that they will not be suspected of committing a crime that they did not, the murder of their own father. Because they have fled the country, it is Macbeth that is the one who may become king.
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.
This whole situation comes about because of three witches who wanted to cause trouble for Macbeth. They knew all along what would happen to him in the end. Macbeth is ambitious and the witches played upon that by promising Macbeth great things, such as becoming the king of Scotland, and Thane of Cawdor. Immediately after he talks with the witches, he is by chance entitled, Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth now believes in the witches’ words and honestly believes that the crown of Scotland will fall upon him by natural means. This idea goes awry when Duncan names Malcom his heir. Macbeth then, still believing in the witches, goes on with his plan to murder Duncan.
Macbeth did not have to kill all of the innocent people he had murdered. Instead, he could have turned himself in and said he killed the king. Like most people he didn’t want to die, so he decided to keep this as a secret and tried to live life as best as he could. In order for this to stay a secret he needed to murder a few people. He first had murderers go out and kill Banquo and Fleance. The murderers were able to kill Banquo, but Fleance escaped. Macbeth felt better that Banquo was dead since Banquo knew about the witches rules in order for Macbeth to become king. Therefore, Banquo would assume that Macbeth murdered the king. Now, there would be no assumption from Banquo that Macbeth killed Duncan. Macbeth wanted Fleance to be dead, since the witches said that Banquo’s sons will become the next kings after Macbeth, but Macbeth wanted his family to be the royal family forever. The next person that gets murdered by Macbeth is: Macduff’s family. Macbeth had people hired to kill Macduff’s family. This led Macduff and ten thousand soldiers from England to defeat Macbeth and ultimately kill the villain. All of the murders and the stress that people had to go through because of Macbeth made him a
The thoughts of killing the king only began after the three witches had made the three predictions. When Lady Macbeth had read her husbands letter about what the witches had promised. Lady Macbeth waited until Macbeth arrived home and pushed him to make the predictions come true. Macbeth knew the murder of Duncan is wrong but Lady Macbeth pushes him to act.
To begin, we'll address Macbeth's subsequent murders, following Duncan's. For Macbeth, he's just killed the King of Scotland and blamed it on his son. It worked and he became King, however he remembered the witches' prophecies. They claimed that Macbeth would be King, but it would be Banquo's children that would follow after him. This made Macbeth very angry, he risked everything to become King and after him none of his family will follow.
Macbeth is seen as a “valiant cousin, worthy gentleman” (I, ii, 24). He is a brave warrior who is well respected in his community, until the witches prophesied to him that he would one day be king (I, iii, 50). Macbeth interpreted that he must act to fulfill the prophecy. He sends a letter to Lady Macbeth asking what to do. She suggests that he should kill Duncan.
In order for MacBeth to become King, his wife told him that when the King visits their castle he must kill him. Before MacBeth kills King Duncan he doubts himself. Lady MacBeth challenges him and his manhood when she says “And live a coward in thine own esteem, letting ‘I dare not’ wait upon ‘I would’ like the poor cat in the adage” (page 29). She compares MacBeth to a cat which is willing to eat fish without getting its paws wet. MacBeth wants to become king without getting his own hands bloody. Later in the scene Lady MacBeth said, “Nor time, nor place then did adhere” (page 29). This suggests that MacBeth had planned to kill the King even before witch’s gave him their prophecies. When the King went to sleep
Duncan was not king, but Him and Macbeth were cousins in ( Act 1) when the Captain is telling Duncan about the battle, and all the highlights of the battle. Duncan responded and said “My brave relative! What a worthy man”! Lady Macbeth was a very special kind of woman she was the one who say no wrong in killing people as long she didn’t have to be the murderer. When the hour had come for Lady Macbeth to assist Macbeth in murdering Duncan she backed out and decided that she could longer be apart of the task at hand. She even uses her father as a crutch saying that when she tried to put the dagger though Duncan, she realized that he reminded her of her father, which left Macbeth to carry out the plan