Was Macbeth Responsible For The Killings Essay

, Research Paper

In the play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare I feel that Macbeth is responsible for the killings. Even though Macbeth was persuaded by the witches, Lady Macbeth, and his own desire to be king he still ultimately responsible for the actions he commit. We could easily allow ourselves to say he has been convinced by the prophecy and his wife?s manipulation, but he is still in command of whatever he chooses to do, and must try to resist temptation.

At the beginning of the play Macbeth meets the witches. Their prophecy to Macbeth is that he will be Thane of Cawdor, Thane of Glams, and King. These prophesies put the idea of greatness into Macbeth?s mind. The witches introduce the idea of fate into the play. We can wonder if after meeting the witches Macbeth would ever do the right thing, but it is realistic to believe that he is responsible for his actions and he is the one that made the decision to kill. It was thought that the witches could foretell the future and they did add temptation and influence Macbeth, but he controls his own destiny. He must continue to commit more murders to cover up his murder of King Duncan.

Lady Macbeth is Macbeth?s wife. She was an ambitious woman who wanted her husband to become King. Macbeth loves his wife and wants to please her but is not initially sure he will kill the king. Lady Macbeth convinces him through flattery and domination to commit the murder.

Even before meeting the witches Macbeth is an extremely ambitious man. This will play a large part in his decision to murder King Duncan. Although before meeting the witches and hearing their prophecy he would not have thought about killing Duncan. The combination of his ambition and the prophecy makes him feel invincible. Macbeth wants to be king and the witches, his ambitions, and the influence of his wife convince him that he is right to murder King Duncan. Once he has killed King Duncan he must continue to kill to cover up what he has done.

Unfortunately in the end all the excuses and reasons for the murders still boil down to once conclusion. Macbeth is responsible for his own actions. In the beginning Macbeth was an honourable man, but his ambition and influence of others drove him to forget his morality and led to a disastrous chain of events.