English IV
Macbeth Essay
I believe that Macbeth is guilty because his ambition to become king was influenced by greed and selfishness. He was the main suspect in the killing of Duncan, Banquo, and Macduff's family. Macbeth should be punished for what he did because although he would have made a great king his way of becoming king was wrong.
The very first murder in this story was committed on Duncan. It all started when the witches told Macbeth that he will become king. Macbeth was so overwhelmed with this idea that he retold the witches tellings to Lady Macbeth. From that point on he allowed Lady Macbeth to influence his decisions. Macbeth has a mind of his own and didn’t have to listen to his wife. If Macbeth had kept the information to himself he wouldn't have felt the need to kill Duncan. In my opinion, Macbeth feared Lady Macbeth which put him in an awkward position. Lady Macbeth just talked about committing the crime, but she never actually went through with it.
Unlike the murder of Duncan, Lady Macbeth didn't participate in the murder of Banquo. At this point, Macbeth is stepping out on his own and making decisions. He was determined to do whatever it took in order to become king. Macbeth decided to kill Banquo and Fleance because the sons of Banquo would be kings down the line. Which means Macbeth had to kill them in order to speed up the process of becoming king. Macbeth knew that if Banquo and his son were killed they couldn't take the kingship from him. He even tells Lady Macbeth “Be innocent of the knowledge till thou applaud the deed." This meant that he kept the plans for the murder a secret from her until it was over and done with.
Macbeth had no real reason for going after Macduff which made his family's murder the most horrific. The witches told Macbeth to beware of Macduff. He didn’t know why they had told him this so he took