To what extent can Lady Macbeth be responsible for the sequence of murders that is carried by her husband?
...r. The Witches’ prophecy for Banquo was a factor that led him to his death. ‘Lesser than Macbeth, and greater/ Not so happy, yet much happier/ Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none.’(Act 1 Scene 3) Banquo’s descendents shall be Kings but he will not be. When Macbeth became the King, this prophecy became a potential threat to him and so led onto the murder of Banquo. The death of Macduff’s family was also the result of the Witches’ evil doings. When Macbeth made his first and final visit to the Witches he gained the knowledge that he was to be careful of Macduff. ‘Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth: beware Macduff, Beware the Thane of Fife.’(Act 4 Scene 1) As Macbeth became the King through immoral ways, this prophecy scared him and after learning that Macduff had fled to England he planned to destroy Macduff’s family. The prophecies of the Witches’ were powerful sources that were not only seen as a starting point to the series of murders but also as the sources that allowed the murders to continue through out the play. The Witches, which these prophecies belonged to, can therefore be regarded as responsible for the sequence of murders in the play. The other factor that contributed the most to the murders was of course Macbeth himself. From the very beginning, as soon as Macbeth gained the knowledge that he had been crowned the Thane of Cawdor, he had been imagining the death of Duncan. ‘Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor, the greatest is behind.’(Act 1 Scene 3) He began to wonder about the truths of the witches’ prophecies and it seemed as if he was almost anticipating the third prophecy to come true. From here, Macbeth began to slowly lose his quality of being a faithful soldier to Duncan. ‘The horrid image which doth unfix’ Macbeth’s hair cannot escape his head and it was from this that Macbeth showed his desire to be the King. It showed how even a horrifying image such as murdering the King seemed appealing and attractive. One of the actions that Macbeth took that definitely contributed to the fall of Duncan was his writing to his wife, Lady Macbeth. His informing of his wife about the prophecies did two things; it showed Macbeth’s belief in the Witches’ prophecies and how serious he took them. And it was also the very action that prevented the idea of murdering Duncan failing in the end. Had Macbeth not written and informed Lady Macbeth of the prophecies she would not have developed the desire to become Queen and the plan of murdering Duncan would have failed. The other action that Macbeth took was his decision in killing Banquo. At this point, Lady Macbeth had no responsibility in helping Macbeth decide the murder of Banquo. ‘Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck till thou applaud the deed.’ (Act 3 Scene 2) Macbeth even made sure that Lady Macbeth remained ‘innocent’ about the decision to kill Banquo. This illustrated that Lady Macbeth had no responsibility in this part of the murder. Macbeth’s other decision to murder Macduff and his family was also a decision made by Macbeth alone; Lady Macbeth did not contribute to the series of murders following the death of Duncan. Through Macbeth’s fantasies of murdering Duncan and becoming the King and his own individual decisions to commit the other murders, Lady Macbeth can be regarded as responsible for every event to only a very small extent. Lady Macbeth was responsible for the series of occurred murders to a minor degree. Indeed she had prevented the whole plan of murdering Duncan from falling apart but she did not contribute at all to the rest of the murders carried...