The actions of the character Macbeth
...Sons, kinsmen, thanes, and you whose places are the nearest, know we will establish our state upon our eldest, Malcolm, whom we name hereafter the Prince of Cumberland;" (Act 1, Scene 4, Lines 39-45) This action also belittles Macbeth’s achievement, since the procession of the throne is not necessarily dictated by bloodlines. Duncan is basically announcing that Macbeth, while noble, is inferior to his wonderful son Malcolm, and deserves a nice spot in the sun even though his actions were less. This is where Duncan provokes Macbeth to hate him and also points out what Macbeth must do to become King. After this provocation, Duncan proceeds to visit Macbeth’s home; blissfully unaware that anything might be amiss. "This castle hath a pleasant seat. The air nimbly and sweetly recommends itself unto our gentle senses." (Act 1, Scene 6, Lines 1-3) So, Duncan’s fate is sealed, and Macbeth slays him in order to become King. Let it never be said that Duncan did not hasten his own demise. The other side of Duncan’s murder is due to the contribution of Lady Macbeth, who begins plotting as soon as she finds out Duncan is coming to stay. Macbeth truly found his soul mate in this sense; she certainly does think along the same vein as he. However, the Lady doesn’t seem to be at all divided on the issue. When Macbeth first hears the prophecies, and when the first 2/3 of it comes true, he does think of killing the king, but also, towards the end of Act 1, Scene 3, he thinks that perhaps he doesn't need to do anything to become the king : "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me without my stir." On the other hand, Lady Macbeth, on receiving the letter telling her about the witches' prophecies, she immediately thinks that she and Macbeth will have to kill king Duncan. She also decides that Macbeth is too nice to kill the king, sayin that he "is too ful o' the milk of human kindness" and when she hears the Duncan will visit their castle that night, she immediately appeals to the evil spirits, to (ironically) give her the strength to kill the king. She completely ignores the first influence of Duncan (assuming that she knows it at all). Her influence is completely self motivated and originated in her own mind. She takes advantage of Macbeth’s original motivation, his ambition, and uses that to decide what he must do. She also appears to be made of sterner stuff than her husband, or at least is more committed to the deed. It should be noted that she doesn’t actually have to kill Duncan; so most of the strength she has to build up goes into convincing Macbeth that it is a good idea. Her influence on Macbeth in this matter is obviously great. He does not decide to murder Duncan; Lady Macbeth does it for him. He’s not too fond of the idea, but Lady Macbeth tells him he must commit murder to fulfill his destiny. Every time he reconsiders, she gives him a pep talk. She even instructs him during the murder, drugs Duncan’s guards, and advises him on every detail of his behavior once the deed has been done. She is the foundation of all of Macbeth’s actions in this matter, and it would not be a far cry to assume that she has always had an extreme influence on him. In short, Lady Macbeth uses Duncan’s presence and the opportunity to take his life to influence Macbeth into fulfilling the witches’ prophecy and sealing his destiny. This brings us to the witches themselves. The witches are the physical manifestation of evil itself, and they bring temptation, malice and disaster with their visitations upon hapless mortals. This best illustrated by the witches’ quote "Fair is foul and foul is fair," (Act 1, Scene 1, Line 11). This illustrates the idea that every aspect of the witches is a perversion of natural moral character. It may be said that the prophecy set forth by the witches is the single cause for the entire story of Macbeth. Without the witches, Macbeth may never have thought of taking Duncan’s life at all. In Act 1, Scene 3, the witches tell Macbeth that he is thane of Glamis, thane of Cawdor and that he "shalt be king hereafter". Immediately after hearing the witches prophesize that he will be king, Macbeth thinks that he must kill the current king to become king himself. (http://www.planetpapers.com/count.cgi?ID=215) Without the prophecy, even Lady Macbeth probably would not have thought of doing such a thing. It is not that the desire for Macbeth to become king would not have existed if the witches had not talked to Macbeth. The desire existed in both Macbeth and his wife naturally in their position as nobles. The significance of the prophecy is that it brought this desire to the foreground, and made it reality. The witches told Macbeth that he would be king. He took this statement for granted. For Macbeth, it suddenly changed from whether or not he would be king to how he would get to be king. And, of course, Lady Macbeth’s main reasoning in praise of the murder of the King is the fulfillment of prophecy and Macbeth’s own destiny. Without the witches to suggest the major ...