Was Lady Macbeth Responsible For Duncan's Death?

432 Words1 Page

“MACBETH!!” Lady Macbeth shriek. Lady Macbeth wasn’t the greatest wife after all. She pressured Macbeth to kill King Duncan to be able to take his place to become king. Macbeth didn’t want to kill Duncan because it would be on his conscience for the rest of his life. Lady Macbeth is responsible for King Duncan’s death for a couple reasons, but you can still argue that Macbeth was also responsible as well. Lady Macbeth is more responsible for the cause of Duncan’s death. In Act 1, Scene 3 Macbeth was approached by three witches that told him that he was going to become king. Banqou was there as well when the three witches told Macbeth about being king, but he knew that something was ominous about this prophecy. Banqou was smart about it because

Show More
Related

  • Macbeth Banquo Quotes

    784 Words  | 2 Pages

    A lot like Macbeth, the character Banquo was also a highly skilled soldier, and very much trusted by their king, even though Macbeth respects Banquo’s bravery he also fears his wisdom. While Macbeth is quick to action and has little to no time for thought Banquo chooses not to turn his thoughts into action, Banquo is however a lot more cautious as shown when he and Macbeth met the three witches. Banquo actually considers the reasons for what the witches are offering and later realizes they are telling him his future and thinks that the witches are attempting to make him greedy for power. Macbeth however reacts oppositely. Banquo actually considers the reasons for what the witches are offering and rather than thinking about the outcomes of his

    Read More

  • Who Is Most Responsible for King Duncan's Death and Macbeth's Downfall?

    1418 Words  | 3 Pages

    Who is most responsible for King Duncan’s death and Macbeth’s downfall? The play ’Macbeth’ was written by William Shakespeare in 1606, although it was set in Scotland, around 1040. Shakespeare was the most famous playwright of his time, even though none of his work was published until seven years after his death in 1616. This essay will help to explain who is most to blame for the death of King Duncan, which started the series of events that led to Macbeth’s death in the play.

    Read More

  • Free Essay on Macbeth - The Guilt of Lady Macbeth

    617 Words  | 2 Pages

    After the death of King Duncan, Macbeth becomes the more controlling one, and Lady Macbeth’s guilt eventually becomes too much for her to handle which leads to her death. Lady Macbeth is in fact the one that performs the preparations for the murder of King Duncan, but still shows some signs of humanity by not committing the murder herself because he resembles "My father as he slept". After the murder has been committed, she also shows signs of being a strong person because she calms Macbeth down in order to keep him from going insane.

    Read More

  • Lady Macbeth's Influence Upon Her Husband in William Shakespeare's Macbeth

    1177 Words  | 3 Pages

    This immediately makes him forget all his attempts of loosing his part in the killing, and from then on there was no moans or disagreements between the two, with her clearly taking leadership. With all this evidence one could conclude that Lady Macbeth is 'partly' responsible for the death of King Duncan because she was the sole planner of his murder, but Macbeth is always going to be the one holding the knife when it pierced Duncan's throat, so he will also always be slightly responsible for the murder as he committed it. Macbeth was naive and is simple used by Lady Macbeth as a tool, which can gain access to the male dominated court of the time. ' It takes two to tango' would be an appropriate motto to this story.

    Read More

  • Shakespeares Development Of Power In Macbeth

    432 Words  | 1 Pages

    Although Macbeth had changed his mind and basically refused to murder Duncan, Lady Macbeth was able to eventually convince him to carry through with the plan. Even though Macbeth was the one who executed the plan, Lady Macbeth was the mastermind behind the scheme. Her greed for power was the one major factor that possessed her to convince Macbeth of the plan and carry through with it. Macbeth murdered Duncan at Iverness, and became hysterical after doing so.

    Read More

  • Macbeth’s Fault or Lady Macbeth’s Fault

    677 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lady Macbeth seems like the right person who the most at fault. It is true that Lady Macbeth is the one who tells Macbeth to murder Duncan, and with her words in her aside, “unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty,” (I.v. 391-392) along with many other horrible scenes Lady Macbeth gives. It gives the audience a purpose to accuse her for all the murders. Lady Macbeth is argued to be in control of Macbeth. John Turner, coauthor of two books on Shakespeare, says, “Until her sense of time dissolves and Macbeth seems crowed already,” (Johnson) which shows that the image of Macbeth being King and having power is driven by Lady Macbeth’s ambitiousness. This is not entirely true. Lady Macbeth does have an ambition for power but not to the extent to be killing everyone. She only wanted Duncan off the throne, she was not aware of the other men in authority, such as Macduff, suspecting her and her husband. She was not paranoid like Macbeth, which is why he killed so many people. It’s reasonable to argue that Lady Macbeth was the influence; therefore she is to be at most at fault. She also was not the one to kill Duncan and the other people, Macbeth did.

    Read More

  • Who's To Blame In Macbeth

    624 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although the witches play a large part in the death of Duncan, Lady Macbeth has equally as much of an impact on Macbeth’s mentality. From the moment she receives the letter of the witches prophecies, her immediate plan is to kill Duncan. She continously haggles and pushes the idea of murdering Duncan onto Macbeth. When Lady Macbeth says “Only look up

    Read More

  • Who Was Responsible For Duncan's Death In Macbeth

    530 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is with great grief that the nobles of Scotland announce the death of their leader, King Duncan, who was murdered on the night of Tuesday, September 3rd 1034, during his trip to the Castle of Inverness, where he was visiting one of his kinsman.

    Read More

  • Was Macbeth Responsible For Duncan's Death

    276 Words  | 1 Pages

    Who truly was responsible for King Duncan’s death in William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”? While yes we do know that Macbeth was the one who killed the king, had he not talked to the witches he would have never learned about the prophecies that would impact his life. On the other hand, it is said that these prophecies were destined to happen, so at some point in time fate “kicks in” at some point in the beginning of the story, I believe it happens when Duncan learns of the former thane’s treachery. After Macbeth learns of these prophecies he writes his wife, Lady Macbeth, telling her of the three sisters and what they told him. Ecstatic that she will become queen based off what Macbeth told her, she was the one to implant the idea of murder in

    Read More

  • What Role Does Lady Macbeth Play In Killing Duncan

    552 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth had their respective roles in killing Duncan, one of them must be guiltier than the other. Although both of them had their roles in the murder, Lady Macbeth did more than her husband. That doesn’t mean that Macbeth was innocent, as he did a lot as well. Lady Macbeth did much more as she was the one to get the guards drunk, and plan the murder as well as returning the daggers into the crime scene while being so cold and calm about it. Lady Macbeth’s part doesn’t end there as her biggest part in the murder was manipulating her husband into killing Duncan.

    Read More

  • Lady Macbeth's Role in Macbeth's Downfall

    739 Words  | 2 Pages

    While not the only contributing factor, Lady Macbeth does play a substantial role in the downfall of her husband. She is a like a catalyst for Macbeth and essentially pushes him to do what he would not have been able to do on his own. Macbeth himself highly ambitious and determined, but his wife is even more so. At first he refuses to kill Duncan but she persists and eventually gets him to do it. It is important to note here that Lady Macbeth pushes Macbeth forward by manipulating him. In this sense, she can be related to Cathy Ames from East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Also, being a woman, she is confined by the conventions of society which prevent her from doing much. At what point she even wishes that she were 'unsexed' so she could commit the murder herself. Because of this, she pours her ambition and desire for power into Macbeth. Again she accomplishes this through manipulation. For example, at one point when Macbeth is disagreeing with her idea of killing Duncan, she questions his manhood:

    Read More

  • Lady Macbeth Killed Duncan Analysis

    323 Words  | 1 Pages

    Macbeth and lady macbeth are both evil and want to killed duncan.Macbeth is a brave soldier and a powerful man. Is never comfortable in his role as a criminal, as know as the thane of cawdor because of his valiant fighting and general of the king's army known as the thane of glamis. Lady macbeth is the wife, but want to have power. She is ruthless and stronger and she is urges her husband to kill duncan.macbeth is the one who drunked the guards and he's the one who killed duncan. But lady macbeth is the one who made the plan up. She planned to kill duncan.So i think who is most responsible of king duncan's death is lady macbeth.

    Read More

  • MacBeth: Act 1, Scene 7

    837 Words  | 2 Pages

    If MacBeth had never been persuaded to kill Duncan, MacBeth probably would not have committed any other murder crimes throughout the rest of the play. One could blame Lady MacBeth for persuading her husband to become a killer --- blame women’s ability to manipulate men into having bad character. Though, one could also blame MacBeth, seeing as he was responsible for his own decisions. MacBeth had the option of how strongly he stood up to his wife for his moral beliefs, and he chose to barely defend his opinion. It’s clear that neither MacBeth nor his wife were solely responsible for his final decision to murder King Duncan. Without his wife’s persuasion, MacBeth would not have killed the king, but MacBeth could have chosen to not be so easily persuaded by his wife.

    Read More

  • Deadly Intelligence And Ambition In Lady Macbeth By William Shakespeare

    320 Words  | 1 Pages

    Lady Macbeth is the first to spawn the idea of killing Duncan to gain the throne for her husband, she then begins to slowly cultivate and persuade her husband into executing this plan along with her when Duncan comes over with his family for dinner. At first it seems that the plan was doomed to fail as Macbeth is very hesitant to commit the horrendous deed, for fear of being caught in the act and facing the repercussions of his action. It is Lady Macbeth that is able to set the plan into motion afterwards when she

    Read More

  • Lady Macbeth in William Shakespeare's Macbeth

    1715 Words  | 4 Pages

    Shakespeare manipulates the audience’s opinions on whom was most responsible for the death of Duncan in many ways, I feel he does this to create question and surprise to the play. Shakespeare leads you along one path of thought, to then divert your thoughts onto another. Many people have different opinions and interpretations to this play; A.C Bradley once wrote “Lady Macbeth is the most commanding and perhaps the most awe-inspiring figure that Shakespeare drew. Sharing, as we have seen, certain traits with her husband she is at once clearly distinguished from him by an inflexibility of will, which appears to hold imagination, feeling, and conscience completely in check. To her the prophecy of things that will be becomes instantaneously the determination that they shall be:

    Read More

More about Was Lady Macbeth Responsible For Duncan's Death?

Open Document