Monday 8 April 2013

The Murder of Duncan

Q: Who is responsible for the murder of Duncan?  The weird sisters?  Macbeth?  Lady Macbeth?


                I feel as though Lady Macbeth is responsible for the murder of Duncan. Macbeth was a kind, loyal man before the murder occured. He was rewarded from King Duncan for his courage and successful battle, and promoted to Thane of Cawdor. Lady Macbeth is a major contributer to the death of Duncan as she influenced and pressured Macbeth to kill him. Lady Macbeth purposes the plan of killing Duncan and continues to carry it out. Macbeth begins to second guess the plan, and decides not to kill Duncan as he says "We will proceed no further in this business" (Shakespeare I, ii, 31). Shocked by his agruement, Lady Macbeth calls him a coward, insults his manliness and declares she would have killed her own baby "and dash'd the brains out" (I,ii, 58) than break a promise to not kill Duncan. Macbeth is then defeated and gives into her plan to prove his manliness. Lady Macbeth is also indirectly influenced by the weird sisters prophesies because without knowing Macbeth would become King she wouldn't have had the mindset to kill Duncan. Therefore, Lady Macbeth is responsible for the death of Duncan because she persuades and encourages Macbeth by insulting and demeaning him.
            

5 comments:

  1. yeah its all her fault. he even says he doesnt wana be king but lady macbeth wants him to be and will do anything for him to be king. Man, if lady macbeth was my wife. Aint notbody got time for that'

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    1. You need to actually include the meme picture for the full effect.

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  2. I agree that Lady Macbeth is responsible for the murder of Duncan because she was the brains to the evil plan. Lady Macbeth was the one who thought of the plan and who persuaded Macbeth to follow through with his plan. I agree with you that Lady Macbeth said harsh things to her husband to make sure he would follow through with the plan and to show her that he could be manly. She was ultimately the one who persuaded and thought of the plan and didn't have to get her hands dirty. So I agree that Lady Macbeth was the one who is responsible for Duncan's murder by encouraging and persuading Macbeth by insulting and demeaning him.

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  3. I completely agree. The questions asks, "Who is responsible for the murder?" not "Who committed the murder?" As it is asking who is responsible, I believe that Lady Macbeth is.

    The witches suggest the possibility of the title. As they do this, Lady Macbeth becomes interested in the idea of her husband becoming King and begins to plan how he will receive such a title. She tells Macbeth that he will kill him and arranges how it will be done. Macbeth second thinks this but Lady Macbeth has no tolerance for breaking such a promise so she insults him. Macbeth now feels he must commit the crime. Lady Macbeth puts a lot of pressure on him to kill Duncan.

    Also, after the fact, Macbeth regrets his actions and says they will forever be with him where as Lady Macbeth feels no remorse and believes that they will just hide everything that has happened and move on.

    Therefore even though Macbeth did commit the murder, I believe his actions were solely based on Lady Macbeth's plans and ambitions. Without the force of Lady Macbeth, Macbeth never would have commit the murder.

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  4. I think Lady Macbeth played a key role in murdering Duncan, but I don't think can be held ultimately responsible. Like Mickey said in her post, Macbeth actually did the deed.

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