ipl-logo

Why Does Macbeth Not Want To Kill Duncan

196 Words1 Pages
Macbeth gives many reasons as to why he does not want to kill Duncan. One reason he does not want to kill Duncan is because he is afraid of getting caught. He says that if he does kill Duncan, he needs to do it quickly because killing the king would be dangerous. Another reason he is hesitant to kill Duncan is because he is his kinsman. He feels like he will be going against a lot of rules by harming his guest. Lastly, Macbeth does not feel like the king deserves to die. He is afraid that he will not be as good of a leader as Duncan.
Lady Macbeth uses many strategies to convince her husband to murder Duncan. One strategy she uses is asking rhetorical questions. She questions Macbeth’s ambition and asks if he was drunk when he talked about his
Show More
Related
250 Words | 1 Pages

Lady Macbeth uses a series of rhetorical questions in order to make Macbeth feel cowardly and unmanly to influence him to kill King Duncan. Lady Macbeth asks her husband, “Art thou afeard to be in thine own act and valor as thou art in desire?” Lady Macbeth is questioning whether Macbeth has the courage to kill Duncan and is suggesting to Macbeth that he is weak and lacks the courage to kill King Duncan. This has a significant impact on Macbeth and it makes him question his masculinity in his decision. This is effective because Macbeth, being a powerful Scottish general, does not want to present himself as cowardly, and will want to prove Lady Macbeth wrong.

Read More
412 Words | 2 Pages

Kennedy Shank Mr. Samek ELA 10 18 May 2023 Lady Macbeth was talking to Macbeth about murdering King Duncan due to Macbeth considering backing out; Lady Macbeth uses ethos, pathos, questions, and imagery to convince Macbeth of killing King Duncan. In Act I Scene VII, Lady Macbeth addresses Macbeth regarding killing King Duncan. The thought came up when Macbeth received a prophecy saying that he would be King, which then led to him wanting to be King sooner rather than later. After Macbeth brought the idea up to Lady Macbeth, she was on board to go ahead with it and, at the time, so was Macbeth.

Read More
371 Words | 2 Pages

It motivates Macbeth actions by getting this man to kill King Duncan and fulfill the witches’ prophecy they gave him. I believe he thought everything they were saying was good to his ears. He wrote a letter to his wife telling her about the prophecies he heard from the witches. She felt like that was a chance her man can be king and she was not going to stop until he was.

Read More
663 Words | 3 Pages

In the play Macbeth, Macbeth is faced with the decision to kill King Duncan to become king or not. He first is told by the witches that it is his destiny that he will become king, but he brushes it off as nothing. This vision of him as king becomes brighter when his wife says that he should kill the king. Macbeth has many internal struggles over what he should do. Should he be morally sound and not kill the King or take the chance and do it.

Read More
831 Words | 4 Pages

When Lady Macbeth found out about the predictions the witches had for Macbeth, she started to pressure him, even guilt tripped him about their deceased son, and made him doubt the morals he valued. As act I of Macbeth, carried on, the image and principles Macbeth had for himself began to rot away. While Macbeth desired take King Duncan’s throne, he wanted to do it the in righteous matter. Whenever Macbeth had doubts about killing King Duncan, Lady Macbeth was always there to urge him otherwise, because she cared more about power than him "Great Glamis, worthy Cawdor." (1.5 52).

Read More
273 Words | 2 Pages

In Act 1 of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth decides to kill Duncan for the sake of solidifying his ego and completing his ambitions. At first, Macbeth was quite hesitant about betraying his loyal friend Duncan and killing him but after talking with Lady Macbeth his thoughts changed. Lady Macbeth made him question his manhood and in doing so attacked his ego, “And live a coward in thine own esteem” (1.7.47). To aid his ego and esteem after being diminished by Lady Macbeth he decides to kill Duncan. We can see proof of this in Macbeth’s response, “I dare do all that may become a man” (1.7.51).

Read More
479 Words | 2 Pages

Around Act 1 Scene 7, Macbeth argues with himself on whether he should murder King Duncan, “If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well It were done quickly” where he means that if it the assassination of the king could be done without it returning “...To plague th' inventor” as this “even-handed justice commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice to our own lips” then it should be done quickly if his murder would have no negative consequences and be successfully completed with his death (surcease), then Macbeth would risk eternal damnation however, he would gladly risk it. Macbeth is aware of the severe consequences that come with murdering King Duncan. He also could not find a reason beside his own ambition as King Duncan “Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been so clear in his great office, that his virtues will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against the deep damnation of his taking-off;” and also that he is his kinsman and his subject who should always protect

Read More
174 Words | 1 Pages

Shakespeare writing style varies to appease all types of audience members, he may use fights and death of characters to captivate the audience. Although, I believe that Macbeth should not kill Duncan because he did nothing to hurt or harm him in anyway. Of course there are pros and cons to both options. Obviously, one of the top reasons to murder him is he will then be the king. Despite being king there are no other major positives, there are more negatives thus overruling positives.

Read More
565 Words | 3 Pages

After he heard that he became the Thane of Cawdor, he believed he should do everything he can to make sure he becomes King of Scotland. This meant that he had to figure a way to take Duncan’s place and his sons. Macbeth was very uncertain about killing Duncan, because Macbeth knew it was a

Read More
495 Words | 2 Pages

She questions his ambition and asks whether Macbeth was drunk when he expressed the desire to assassinate Duncan. She questions his courage, asking if that which he had previously so bravely declared has now been overtaken by a lack of courage and

Read More
643 Words | 3 Pages

Macbeth realizing that it must have been his wife calms down and talks to her. She says she was scared of them failing and that attempted murder would ruin them. Lady Macbeth then reassures herself by saying that she has prepared everything

Read More
1129 Words | 5 Pages

”(2,3). He tries to come up with reasons on why he shouldn't kill Duncan,but nevertheless Lady Macbeth was able to manipulate him into thinking otherwise. After the deed was done Macbeth started to feel immense amounts of guilt and again started to doubt his actions. But as Lady Macbeth said it only gets easier with practice. As we will see with Macbeth as we get further along in the

Read More
2188 Words | 9 Pages

He now perceives that in order to become king he has to step over some people, kill them. For all intents and purposes, how can he become king if Duncan is already running the position? Executing Duncan was the only option in order for him to become king, at least to his regards. Despite his bad ambition, Macbeth is not happy about committing murder, not to the slightest. It's like if he'd close his eyes and reopened them (hoping to see things differently)

Read More
255 Words | 2 Pages

No he should not murder the king. He should not kill the king because the only thing he gets out of the situation is king. A con of the situation is that he will have to murder the people to be kind, so he will have to live with the guilt. A pro or reason of not killing the king is, " First, as I am his kinsman and his subject" (Macbeth Act 1 Sc 7 li 5). The quote is saying he is a kinsman, which means he is sworn to protect the king.

Read More
805 Words | 4 Pages

Macbeth states to Lady Macbeth, “we will proceed no further in this business” (I, VII) since he almost finally decides to refuse to kill Duncan. However, Lady Macbeth uses different manipulative methodologies towards Macbeth and persuades him to consult the killing of Duncan. “So green and pale” (I, VII), Lady Macbeth even called him a coward. From the same scene, she mentions, “From this time, such I account thy love”, implying that if Macbeth cant stay steady concerning the murder of the king, then she will consider his love for her to be as similarly conflicting. Later in scene, Lady Macbeth states that if she had made such a promise as Macbeth did to her, she would “dash the brains out” of her own child as “it was smiling in her fail”.

Read More

More about Why Does Macbeth Not Want To Kill Duncan

Related Topics

Open Document