Preview

Macbeth and King Duncan

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2211 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Macbeth and King Duncan
Lady Macbeth greatly influences her husband to kill King Duncan. Although the witches had planted a seed in Macbeth, he had changed his mind on killing King Duncan. In Act 1, Scene 7, Macbeth tells his wife that they will proceed no further in murdering King Duncan:

We will proceed no further in this business. He [Duncan] has recently honored me...

At this comment, Lady Macbeth is furious. She uses manipulation to control Macbeth. She insults his manhood by asking him if he is afraid to kill King Duncan:

Are you afraid To be the same man in reality
As the one you wish to be? Would you have the crown
Which you believe to be the ornament of life?

Lady Macbeth shames Macbeth by insulting his manhood. She challenges his bravery. She states that Macbeth was a man when he dared to kill King Duncan. This type of manipulation works on Macbeth. Moments after this conversation, Macbeth quotes that he will follow through with King Duncan's murder, claiming that Lady Macbeth has convinced him to commit the murder:

I’m convinced, and I commit
Every part of my body to this terrible event.

Truly, Lady Macbeth is the deciding factor in the murder of King Duncan. She gets what she wants. She is more determined than Macbeth seems to be in the devious plan to murder King Duncan and take his thone.

The moment Lady Macbeth receives the letter from her husband, she begins plotting the death of the current king, Duncan. This then leads to Lady Macbeth provoking Macbeth to gain the power, influence and status of king and queen. Lady Macbeth believes that Macbeth is too soft, which can be seen by the use of the metaphor, “too full of the milk of human kindness” (Act I, scene VII). This metaphor refers to the milk a baby drinks when it is young and innocent; thus Lady Macbeth compares Macbeth’s innocence to that of a baby. Because of his softness, she finds that she has to provoke him into agreeing on the murder of Duncan through manipulation. She does this by

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth’s ambition and ruthlessness is evident when she asks for the spirits to “unsex [her]” so her “manliness” will give her strength to be cruel and perform murder of Duncan without remorse and compassion. Her strength of purpose is in contrast to Macbeth’s “nature” as he is “is too full ‘o the milk of human kindness”1.4 p45” to commit murder. This is confirmed later by Macbeth’s admission that his only motive for the murder of Duncan is his…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth in the beginning of the play is a noble, humble and honourable person who, without question would sacrifice his life for the liberty of his King, Duncan. As the play progresses he attitude towards life in general changes completely, mainly due to the pressure that Lady Macbeth inflicts on him. However, Lady Macbeth has quite a surprising personality as she is not the stereotypical Elizabethan woman. Lady Macbeth is expected to be fragile, meek, innocent and comforting but in this unusual circumstance Lady Macbeth would very much rather “dashed the brains out” of an infant child. This is plain evidence to suggest that Lady Macbeth is of no stable condition. In addition to this surprising fact Lady Macbeth is cunning and bloodthirsty. She demands Macbeth in Act one, Scene Five to “look like th’innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t”. It is very common for a man to demand a female to pursue tasks but for a woman to demand a man, especially of something like sacrilege, is very unusual. This could mean two things, Macbeth is weak and is unable to depict his own decisions or/and that Macbeth is mentally deteriorating. Macbeth reason with Lady Macbeths orders in his soliloquy in Act one, Scene seven and from the things he…

    • 1055 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth is an influence on her husband in many different ways, for many different reasons. The reader discovers that as soon as she opens her husband’s letter she immediately begins to scheme and plot, showing her true evil and aspiration. One is immediately aware that she wants Macbeth to become King so she can solemnly become Queen of Scotland. She is unsure whether Macbeth is too kind and without the evil that needs to merge with his already prominent ambition. As said in her famous soliloquy, “I fear…is too full’o the milk of human kindness, to catch the nearest way,” For this reason, she influences him greatly into the prospect of murdering the king. The thought of becoming Queen pushes her and causes her to act outrageously. Macbeth is slightly doubtful of her plan to kill the King, however Lady Macbeth subtly bombards him…

    • 409 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth fears that Macbeth is “too full o’ the milk of human kindness” (I.v.15), that his kindness will restrain him from taking the necessary actions to make himself king; according, she vows to do anything she can to win him the crown.…

    • 1576 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the first two acts of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth shows herself to be a formidable woman with aspirations and a plan. She is clear about her desire to become Queen of Scotland and by way of her internal conversation, she plans her manipulation. By knowingly manipulating Macbeth and applying consistent pressure, Lady Macbeth executes her plan. She encourages Macbeth to see killing King Duncan as the only logical next step to fulfill the prophecy. Lady Macbeth’s intent, blatant disregard for life, and emotional manipulation of her husband make her morally responsible for the murder of King…

    • 803 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth starts to doubt whether he wants to kill king Duncan and almost talks himself out of it. Lady Macbeth quickly interferers and takes control of the situation and becoming the dominant role, this is important because in the times of the book women would normal (and nearly always) been told what to do by the man of the house hold and been made to cook and look after the children, so lady Macbeth taking charge of the situation shows her courage and somewhat Macbeth weakness not to stand up to his wife. She uses his manhood and pride against him saying he is not strong enough to kill king Duncan. After the conversation with lady Macbeth, Macbeth is persuaded to go ahead with the killing and lady Macbeth's plan on how it will happen.…

    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    She immediately reveals her ambition and desire for power; she is concerned that on his own, Macbeth will not have the courage to kill Duncan and become king. Lady Macbeth is unstable, controlling, and cruel. She manipulates her husband into committing several murders by playing on his sense of masculinity, she mocks him, saying that he is "too full o' the' milk of human kindness" to kill anyone. Lady Macbeth shows a chilling lack of remorse regarding her involvement in the deaths, going so far as to claim that given the chance, she would emotionlessly dash out the brains of a nursing…

    • 523 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth also plays a big role in Macbeth’s desire to kill. Lady Macbeth is the one who made Macbeth kill Duncan, because at first Macbeth was about to back out of the plan until Lady Macbeth got really furious with him. Lady Macbeth says, “But screw your courage to the sticking place and we’ll not fail” (1.7.70-71). Lady Macbeth doesn’t care about her husband’s weaknesses, once she wants something done, she would do anything to get it done.…

    • 460 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth's Choices Analysis

    • 1075 Words
    • 5 Pages

    She exploits Macbeth by influencing him to do immoral decision to kill King Duncan. These decisions lead to his downfall. As Macbeth is thinking why Duncan is a good King, Lady Macbeth enters and says “Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life / And live a coward in thine own esteem.” (1.7.40-45).She calls Macbeth a coward for not wanting to kill Duncan. She intends to manipulate Macbeth by humiliating his manhood. She uses her knowledge on Macbeth’s lack of bravery to her advantage. The influence of Lady Macbeth helps Macbeth come to the conclusion that he must kill Duncan. The murder is the error of Macbeth that makes him a tragic hero. In a tragedy, a tragic hero dies because of the error they make. Later in the play Macbeth fears that his throne is in danger, Lady Macbeth response is, “But in them nature’s copy’s not eterne” (3.3.43). This is Lady Macbeth telling Macbeth that the ones he fears will soon die. However, she only says this to distort Macbeth’s instinct, preventing him from following his beliefs. Macbeth’s lack of understanding that Lady Macbeth controls their relationship blinds him from seeing her manipulative approach. . She will do anything to get what she wants, even deconstruct gender roles .In the 16th century this is uncommon since men usually control the actions of a women since that is part the social construction in that period of…

    • 1075 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Macbeth declares that he no longer intends to kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth calls him a coward and questions his manhood by saying "When you durst do it, then you are a man." Lady Macbeth wanted Duncan dead, and was going to do everything it took to make it happen.…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    From the beginning Lady Macbeth is viewed as very controlling, strong, and certain. “First, she has very little regard for her husband's humanity and actually derides him for being "too full o'th' milk of human kindness” (Thompson 1). This shows how cold Lady Macbeth is, as milk is the food of new born children, she is implying Macbeth is too much like a kind child to murder anyone. Once Macbeth has the courage to tell her he does not want to continue with the murder she rallies, calling him a ‘coward’, saying that if he could murder Duncan ‘he were a man’. This to Macbeth, a proud and mighty warrior is a deep insult, and he soon is convinced that he will carry out the murder.…

    • 462 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth's Despair

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In William Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth influences Macbeth in a big way showing Shakespeare's message that going against one's better judgement can be destructive. After Lady Macbeth influences Macbeth to murder Duncan, Macbeth is left in his despair to kill innocent people around him. Macbeth also loses the respect and trust of his once-loyal friends and nobles. Before and after he kills King Duncan, which his wife manipulated him to do, Macbeth worries anxiously about the murder. Macbeth is a Thane that kills the then-King Duncan in order to fulfill a prophecy he was given by three witches. Because Lady Macbeth manipulated Macbeth into murdering Duncan, Shakespeare's message that going against one's better judgement is apparent.…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Corruption In Macbeth

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages

    As a result, her desire for power allows her to be stronger, more remorseless, and more driven than Macbeth. In fact, she is fully aware of this when she declares that Macbeth is "art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it.” This is why Lady Macbeth acts not only as Macbeth's confidant, but his also his controller. Consumed by her desire to become Queen, Lady Macbeth herself plots the murder of Duncan and when Macbeth questions the idea of regicide, she manipulates him with her powerful soliloquies. This is done by condemning her husband’s biggest insecurity; his manhood. She states that Macbeth would be “so much more the man” if he were to follow through with the plan. Lady Macbeth even points out that she herself would even kill her own baby as a means to reach her goals. This drives Macbeth to the point where he is “settled and bend-up” to prove himself. Her condescending inspiration is the first to trigger a change in his morals and attitude. However, as Macbeth’s own ambition starts to flourish and facilitate an obsessive and power hungry killing spree, Lady Macbeth’s character changes as well. She becomes helpless and is reduced to a weak figure that sleepwalks and is constantly trying to wash nonexistent blood from her hands. This is because she is so overwhelmed by the guilt of her treachery that a…

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the opening of the play, Lady Macbeth acts as an extremely manipulative individual who essentially controls her husband's actions. This is evident through the plot and ultimately the death of King Duncan. From the beginning, as soon as she has word of the witches’ prophecies, she starts plotting Duncan’s murder. Lady Macbeth targets Macbeth’s weak mind and his lack of initiative, “Art thou afraid to be the same in thine own act and valor as thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, and live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting ‘I dare not’ wait upon ‘I would. (3.7.35-44)” Through intimidation and criticism , Lady Macbeth orchestrated Macbeth’s transformation into a monster. Initially Macbeth was portrayed as a noble person and an independent thinker. He was a loyal subject of Duncan and a friend to Banquo. However, his desire to be king proved to be another flaw that Lady Macbeth exploited. His ambition was his downfall as he would do anything, including committing murder, to become king. In essence, the quote introduces a pivotal theme of the play:…

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    macbeth

    • 1152 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Lady Macbeth easily influenced Macbeth's decision of murder for no greater purpose than fulfilling greedy desire. Lady Macbeth began by persisting and repeating over and over again that she wants Duncan to die by Macbeths hand. “Was the hope drunk?Wherein you dress'd yourself? Hath it slept since? And wakes it now, to look so green and pale. At what it did so freely? From this time Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard To be the same in thine own act and valour As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that Which thou esteem'st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting "I dare not" wait upon "I would," Like the poor cat i' the adage?”(act 1 Scene 7 line 36) In saying so Lady macbeth lets it be known that she believes Macbeth should act on her desires. Its like saying a cat wants and enjoys eating fish but it is unwilling to actually dip its feet into the water to get it. which means that if Macbeth really wants to be ruler than he needs to do something about it instead of waiting. Lady Macbeth lets it known to him. Lady…

    • 1152 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays