King Duncan's murder marks the beginning of Macbeth's downfall. Who can be held most responsible for his downfall?
...acbeth is not feeling at all secure and comes to the witches demanding answers. They call upon three apparitions which reassure Macbeth and leave him feeling invincible. This feeling of security is essential to the witches plan. Macbeth’s second influence is his own wife Lady Macbeth. When Macbeth sends her a letter telling of his encounter with the three witches she instantly accepts the words in it and doesn’t at all doubt that Macbeth will be King, “And shalt be what thou art promised” The way she accepted the letter shows the audience that she will be supporting Macbeth along his road to becoming King. But Lady Macbeth does seem to be wary of Macbeth’s nature, “It is too full of the milk of human kindness” When she says this, Lady Macbeth makes it clear that she believes Macbeth is too kind and righteous to become King. He tells him to, “Look like th’innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t” When she says this she wants him to act innocently to hide his real intentions because she knows that people will be able to see right through him if he isn’t careful, “Your face, my thane, is a book.” To be able to assist Macbeth, Lady Macbeth calls on evil spirits to “unsex” her because she needs to do what a woman is not able to do. She also makes it known that she wants it too be pitch black when she kills King Duncan, “Nor heaven peep through the blanket of dark” This shows that she is doesn’t even want God to see what she is doing, because she knows how terrible it is. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth use euphemisms throughout the play, they never actually use the word murder; this is a sign of fear about what they are planning and later on, a fear of what they have done. Lady Macbeth uses the word “my” several times in the play. “My battlements” and “my dispatch” This shows that she is dominant and in charge in the relationship. This is reinforced at the end of scene 5, “Leave all the rest to me” It is clear throughout “Macbeth” that she is in charge and has a lot of power over Macbeth. When he is having doubts about the murder in scene 7 Lady Macbeth accuses him of being a “coward” and says that he has broken his “enterprise” to her. These are not very persuasive methods but she convinces him to go along with the killing. This demonstrates to the audience how much power she has over him. In Act 2 scene 2, Lady Macbeth fails to kill King Duncan because he looked like her father as he slept; this exposes a weak side of Lady Macbeth that the audience has not seen before. Macbeth kills Duncan but is then tortured with the amount of blood on his hands, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” Lady Macbeth also gets blood on her hands but she says, “A little water clears us of this deed” Their opposite views are interesting, as is the fact that although Macbeth is most affected at first, Lady Macbeth suffers with long term mental health problems over the murder. After the murder takes place, Macbeth begins to act independently and Lady Macbeth has little influence on him. In Act 1 scene 2 Macbeth is described as a “brave” and “noble” general, and is also bloodthirsty for his King. Because this tells us Macbeth is a good general, we know that he is capable of terrible things when fighting for his King. When Macbeth and Banquo meet with the witches, Macbeth responds very quickly to the witches’ greetings. Banquo remains calm and describes Macbeth as being “rapt” in the presence of them. This shows that Macbeth instantly lets himself be taken in by the mysterious witches. When at the end of this scene Ross and Angus name Macbeth the thane of Cawdor, to Macbeth it confirms that what the witches said was true and he is seriously considering being King, “Two truths are told, as happy prologues to the swelling act.” This tells the audience that Macbeth is really a bit naďve when he thinks that he can become King. And that perhaps his becoming King is caused by his own ambition because all the witches did was greet him, it was Macbeth himself that took it further. When Macbeth sends the letter to Lady Macbeth, he describes himself as being, “Rapt in the wonder” and “burned in desire” This reinforces the audience's knowledge of Macbeth being easily taken i...