Macbeth and King Essay

The witches are responsible for making Macbeth commit murder. Do you agree?

In Shakespeare play “Macbeth” the witches are not purely held responsible for influencing Macbeth in his decision to commit murder as they only showed insight to what Macbeth was to become. In addition to the witches, the real blame can lies within Lady Macbeth, as she can also be held accountable for prompting Macbeth into his actions, by manipulating Macbeth into killing King Duncan. Macbeth’s actions cannot be solely blamed upon others as his individual greed and desire to be king influenced his decisions.

The Witches are seen to be partly responsible for Macbeth's crimes because they led him to believe that in order to achieve the power that lies within the King, he had to murder others. However, that is not necessarily what they were intending. When the witches first meet with Macbeth, they say “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! All hail, Macbeth that shalt be king hereafter”. Macbeth understands these as prophesies, instead of simple greetings, and awaits them to come true. When the first two do in fact come true, Macbeth is anxiously wondering when the third will come true and how will he possibly become king. Macbeth gets the idea of murder, and comes to the conclusion that he must murder Duncan in order to succeed him. Macbeth seems to be impatient when it comes to the last prophesy finally coming true, which leads him to kill King Duncan because he sees no other way.

Lady Macbeth is also seen to be responsible for and has more influence on Macbeth's crimes than the witches, because she manipulates Macbeth to commit the murder. Although Macbeth did kill the king himself, it was Lady Macbeth who developed the plan to do so; "But screw your courage to the sticking-place and we'll not fail. When Duncan is asleep where to the rather shall his day's hard journey soundly invite him” After Macbeth told Lady Macbeth about the prophecies, she also obsessed for Macbeth to become King. Making the same mistake as Macbeth; thinking murder was the answer. Lady Macbeth was also very manipulative in making Macbeth commit the crime. She questions Macbeth's manhood by saying "When you durst do it, then you were a man". This also pushes Macbeth to kill Duncan because he does not like his manhood being questioned. Lady Macbeth has great control over Macbeth, which comes from the fact that she wishes away her femininity; "That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here”.

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