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Duncan's Greed In Macbeth

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I present a case where Macbeth committed murder with his greed being his main motivator. This cold-blooded murder was not one done without a conscious. No, Macbeth was completely aware of what killing King Duncan could bring him: power. Although Macbeth’s actions were based off another’s plan, we will see that Macbeth killed with a conscious, making him solely guilty for the murder of King Duncan due to Macbeth’s prevalent characteristics of being power-hungry, deceitful, and greedy. As was said, Macbeth’s actions were not based off of his own plan. Instead, it was Lady Macbeth, his wife, who had originally created the plan. “When Duncan is asleep / (Whereto the rather shall his day’s hard journey / Soundly invite him), his two chamberlains …show more content…

Macbeth was appointed as the Thane of Cawdor and Glamis. Macbeth wanted more power than just that; he wanted the role of the King. For this to happen, he would need to get past Malcolm, King Duncan’s son, who was crown prince. “The prince of Cumberland! That is a step / On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap, / For in my way it lies.” (1.4.331-4) What is understood from Macbeth is that another human being’s existence and position lies in the way of Macbeth to becoming King. From this we see a different side of Macbeth. We see that Macbeth has the kind of greed which overpowers him, and urges him to commit harmful …show more content…

This leads us onto another deceptive act, and that is where Macbeth frames King Duncan’s guards for the murder of King Duncan. “When we have mark'd with blood those sleepy two / Of his own chamber and used their very daggers, / That they have done't?” (1.7.555-60) Macbeth marks the clothes of the guards with King Duncan’s blood and uses the guard’s daggers to kill King Duncan with. Doing that would eliminate any suspicion of him having any involvement in the crime. Macbeth knew that if he had succeeded with framing the guards, he would be let off as an innocent man.
Macbeth’s greed, hunger for power, and deception lead us to the conclusion that Macbeth is solely guilty of this crime. We see that these characteristics all lead to the tragedy of King Duncan’s death. King Duncan entered Macbeth’s home with no clue that this would be the place of his death. Macbeth committed this crime with a conscious mind. It is necessary to point out that he did not kill just anyone, but he killed the king. Macbeth should suffer the greater consequences for murdering such a significant

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