Kiana Mclean
Macbeth Position Paper
English
Ms. S
April 15, 2018
Why Macbeth is Guilty (Macbeth Position Paper) Macbeth is guilty of triple homicide and any grounds that state otherwise are invalid. Macbeth has not only proven that he is fine with murdering to gain what he wants but he has also made it clear that he enjoys gaining power, which gives him a clear motive to murder King Duncan and his guards in this scenario. In addition to flat out admitting that he has killed two guards and already having a reputation of being a brave and ruthless war hero on the battlefield, this charge should honestly not be very hard to believe. Macbeth is a twisted individual who is blinded by power and possesses all the necessary skills (i.e. manipulation and fighting skills) to essentially get whatever he wants.
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In Act 1 Scene 3 when Macbeth states “..if ill, Why hath it given me earnest of success, Commencing in a truth? I am thane of Cawdor: If good, why do I yield to that suggestion Whose horrid image doth... make my seated heart knock at my ribs...Present fears Are less than horrible imaginings…” (Shakespeare). This shows Macbeth's inner acceptance to gaining power and how no matter what, when it comes to getting more, the good always outweigh the bad for him. Later on, Lady Macbeth questions his manhood when he starts having doubts about killing Duncan and tells him he would be far more of a man if he just does it anyways (Shakespeare Act 1 Scene 7) and he is persuaded to so it anyways. During this time period men were seen as the stability/people in charge of the house and of society in general. Macbeth must have viewed this statement to mean that he would no longer be in charge if his household if he did not do this. This is an unimaginable loss for men in this era so Macbeth went through with killing Duncan to remain in this superior