Responsibility In Macbeth

Responsibility in the Killing of King Duncan Shakespeare, one of the greatest English poets of all time, wrote many plays. Macbeth is a tragedy that mostly takes place in Scotland, dealing with the physical and psychological effects of ambition. A pivotal point in this play is the murder of King Duncan. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth team up and kill him because they have a desire for power. While both of them are involved in the killing, Lady Macbeth is strictly responsible for the attack. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are equally evil characters, and Lady Macbeth is the one responsible for the murder because she convinces Macbeth to commit the crime and makes the arrangements for the killing. Lady Macbeth uses different tactics and words to

When she hears that Macbeth is contemplating the murder and deciding whether to follow through with it or not, she attacks him verbally. She questions his manhood when she says, “What beast was’t, then, that made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man” (I.vii.). Lady Macbeth is explaining how Macbeth’s masculinity is in question because he is wavering in his decision to follow through with the plan of killing Duncan. Macbeth is offended when she humiliates him. He does not want to be labeled with female characteristics because this would be a major insult towards him. He decides to follow through and commit the murder. Lady Macbeth also takes a shot at Macbeth’s courage. Macbeth has a problem believing that the plan will succeed. He has a strong feeling that the plan will fail and he will be the one to deal with the consequences. Lady Macbeth says, “But screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we’ll not fail” (I.vii.). She is telling Macbeth that if he is courageous then they will not fail. He is concerned that it will be the servants who catch him of this crime, but Lady Macbeth tweaks the plan to make Macbeth feel better. She tells him she will get the guards so drunk that they will not have any memory. When he hears this, he is reassured that everything will go as planned. Lady Macbeth uses words and persuasive techniques to assure that

Macbeth is constantly power hungry and has an excessive desire to be on the throne. He comes across as very greedy and selfish. Macbeth chooses to live a life of evil by making some decisions that are not considered virtuous. He says, “The prince of Cumberland! That is a step on which I must fall down” (I.iv.). Macbeth is saying how he either needs to accept the fact that Malcom is prince or he needs to do something to change it. He believes that he will have to murder people to change Malcom’s status. Macbeth also chooses to follow the evil witches. He adheres to the prophecies they make which tells him about the future. Macbeth demonstrates that he is an evil character because he kills people for no reason. For example, he kills everyone who is in Macduff’s family except for Macduff himself. They are innocent people who have committed no crimes towards Macbeth. He also kills people in order to make his way up the throne and gain power to become king. One that kills someone for no specific reason or to gain more power is very malicious and living a life of