Macbeth Essay

Macbeth is fully aware of the consequences of killing Duncan where as Lady Macbeth does not. Macbeth knows that by killing the King he will be subject to eternal damnation in the afterlife and justice will be served in his life on earth. On the other hand Lady Macbeth does not know these consequences and is therefore adamant that Macbeth must kill Duncan. When Macbeth is not convinced that he should kill Duncan Lady Macbeth is quick to persuade him into doing the deed because Lady Macbeth provides her husband with a fool proof plan which she thinks cannot fail.

Macbeth recognises that Duncan trusts him a great deal which serves as a disincentive to kill Duncan. It is obvious that Macbeth knows the friendship he has developed with Duncan by gaining trust on two levels as a ‘Kinsman and his (Duncan’s) subject.’ Realising he has been loyal thus far to Duncan Macbeth acknowledges that ‘he (Duncan) hath honoured me’, which begins to make him reconsider killing the King. Macbeth continues to try and pin point his logic in killing Duncan when he feels as if he has ‘no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition’. This makes Macbeth begin to be determined to ‘proceed no further’ in plotting to kill Duncan.

Lady Macbeth knows her husband too well as she manipulates him by attacking his masculinity. Lady Macbeth is already aware that Macbeth has too much ‘human kindness’ in his personality so when she is told that Macbeth is ‘against the deed’ she knows how to manipulate him. She does this by providing a plan that reassures Macbeth that attempting to kill Duncan that they will ‘not fail’ when ‘you (Macbeth) and I perform upon th’ unguarded Duncan’. Macbeth quickly becomes ‘settled’ in killing Duncan when his wife starts questioning whether his ‘hope (was) drunk?’ when he contemplated not killing the king which shows how easily Lady Macbeth was able to influence Macbeth’s decision.

Macbeth is shocked by his act of killing Duncan but Lady Macbeth yet again reassures him. Here we see that even though Lady Macbeth couldn’t go through with killing Duncan herself she underplays the seriousness of the situation. She does this by reassuring Macbeth that ‘the deed is done’ and that that is the be all and end all when she tells him that ‘a little water clears us of this deed’. As Macbeth continues to realise that he is ‘afraid to think what I (Macbeth) have done’ Lady Macbeth carries on in reassuring him by saying ‘how easy’ it was to have successfully murdered Duncan.

The desire to achieve power Lady Macbeth is ultimately the force that drives Macbeth to murder Duncan. Despite being fully aware of the nature of his deed and the consequences of such an act he follows through with it primarily because Lady Macbeth was so adamant and persuasive that killing Duncan was the way to attain such power. Even when Macbeth convinced himself that murdering the king was unnecessary he was too easily persuaded by Lady Macbeth when she gave him the idea’s of how easy it would be to not only kill the man but to get away with it.

I am the original author of this piece.