How Does Duncan Manipulate Lady Macbeth

A common cliche is that the company you keep around you does have an impact and influence on your choices”. In the play, Macbeth by Shakespeare Macbeth the protagonist after being heavily manipulated by outside circumstances goes down a dark path. This play takes place in Scotland with a young soldier who gets stopped by three witches. The witches tell him his prophecy of becoming King and with this grand news, he takes it into his own hands murdering the king. To some this exhibits his uncontrollable ambition to become King of Scotland, leading to his downfall. However, we must look deeper to discover that Lady Macbeth and the Witches are both outside influences who planted the idea to kill Duncan in Macbeth's head thus they are responsible

Lady Macbeth, his malicious wife can utilize this fact to effectively manipulate Macbeth, disregarding all of his hesitations and objections to killing Duncan. She rather continuously questioned his manhood until he felt the need to prove her wrong. She used reverse psychology to manipulate Macbeth and get what she desired, which was to be royalty. At the beginning of the play when Macbeth first develops the idea to kill Duncan he goes to Lady Macbeth for advice. He discusses his hesitation and fear of committing the murder. Lady Macbeth belittles him stating that he would be less of a man if he failed to follow through with the plan. On page 43 Act 1 scene 7 “when you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man. Nor time nor place Did then adhere, and yet you would make both”. This quote illustrates Lady Macbeth using Macbeth's lack of self-esteem to persuade him to follow through with the plan. She as his wife knows how to get into his head, therefore, she emasculated him claiming that he is currently not a man because he lacks courage; however, he would be more than a man if he did follow their plan to murder. This causes Macbeth to feel distressed and as a result, he believes it is right for him to kill Duncan. If Lady Macbeth wasn’t persistent with her desires, Macbeth would have never gone down the path of

Therefore Macbeth can be considered not responsible for his downfall due to the witches who sprouted and encouraged the idea of him becoming king. They knew Macbeth's weaknesses and easily took control of him. In this play, the witches were crucial in persuading Macbeth to kill King Duncan. Macbeth would not have developed the idea if he hadn't come across them. When the witches decided to tell Macbeth, which they aren’t supposed to, everything began. On page 17 act 1 scene 3 all three witches tell Macbeth he will become King of Scotland they state “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!”. In this quote, the witches are infecting Macbeth's head with the prophecies making him believe that he shall be king. When the first prophecy came to life “thane of Glamis” his perspective on the world flipped. Then and there he began developing ideas on how he can become king of Scotland. This is when the idea of killing Duncan sprouts and he makes his first bad choice. By telling Macbeth the prophecy the witches alter the course of the future. If they had kept the prophecy to themselves Macbeth would have never gone down the path of destruction. When Macbeth eventually does kill Duncan it becomes apparent to the readers that he has reached a state of insanity. Therefore it becomes