The Death Of Duncan Essay, Research Paper
`Although Macbeth did murder King Duncan, there were other
people responsible for his death. There were really 4 other people responsible
for the murder, the witches who Macbeth had communicated with, Lady Macbeth,
Macbeth?s wife, of course Macbeth himself, King Duncan had some responsibility
for his own death and Banquo. To show which person was the most responsible is
hard, as many people would think that because Macbeth did the task he was the most
responsible, but other people were influencing him very strongly and maybe the
key is to see who was the most influential on Macbeth to do the task. ??????? The witches were representing evil in
this play, at the beginning of the play they seem to have singled Macbeth out
and we are drawn to the conclusion that they have a purpose for Macbeth. They
seemed to plant the idea into Macbeth?s head when they gave their predictions, ????????? ????????? ? All hail Macbeth, hail to thee,
Thane of Glamis. ??????? ????All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor ??????????? All hail Macbeth, that shalt be
king hereafter.? ?????????????? But
we don?t know whether Macbeth was already thinking these thoughts and the
witches kind of supported his feelings as Macbeth was already considering being
king. Macbeth is already imaginative and superstitious so he believes the woman
are really witches and he believes their predictions are going to come true.
Banquo on the other hand doesn?t believe the witches. We get the feeling that
the witches? intentions are evil as they manipulate Macbeth as he is
superstitious and we feel that the witches are ?up to something?. The first
prediction is that Macbeth will be become the Thane of Cawdor which comes true.
This sparks Macbeth to believe that he?ll become king more. ??????????????? Lady Macbeth is probably one
of the most influential on Macbeth. She persuades Macbeth to kill King Duncan.
Even when Macbeth doesn?t want to go through with the killing Lady Macbeth is
pushing him to do it. She tells him that they were only altering fate and it
was going to happen anyway they were just quickening things up. She also tells
him that she shall do all the planning all Macbeth had to do was do the actual
killing because. When she came to murdering King Duncan she discovered she
didn?t want to go through with it as the king reminded her of her father.????????? ?????????? ?Only look up clear; To alter
favour ever is to fear. Leave ????????????? all the rest to me.? When
king Duncan tells Lady Macbeth that he want to stay at the castle Lady Macbeth
welcomes him. She is more ambitious for Macbeth than himself. To go through
with the murdering of King Duncan Lady Macbeth asks the spirits to defeminise
her,????????? ?Come, you spirits that tend on
mortal thoughts, ??????????? unsex me here??Lady
Macbeth also calls Macbeth a coward when he doesn?t want to go through with the
killing, ?????????? ?????????? ?And live a coward in thine own
esteem, Letting I dare ???????????? not wait upon I would?? ? she
thinks he is less of a man, as he is a great warrior but he won?t kill someone.
??????????? Macbeth was
for the death of King Duncan as he did the actual murder but as I have already
mentioned there were other people playing very strong roles in the murder. When
Macbeth meets the witches he is already thinking about being the king and the
witches support his feelings with the predictions and because he is
superstitious he believes it will happen, but he didn?t at the time think about
murdering King Duncan too seriously but when he tells Lady Macbeth she thinks
he should. King Duncan gives the title Prince of Cumberland to his son Malcom,
Macbeth is annoyed by this as he has won the king many battles and he thinks he
should be awarded more substantially. Macbeth seems to be a strong warrior and
has had many battle and killed many men, but these warriors are nothing
compared to the taunts that Macbeth?s wife makes when he doesn?t want carry out
the murder. ???????? Although King Duncan himself
obviously didn?t want to be murdered he played quite a big role in his own
murder. He was naÏve and trusted people too much. He could not see through Lady
Macbeth and he didn?t have any idea he was going to be assassinated. He also trusted
Macbeth. He thought that Macbeth wouldn?t be annoyed by the fact that he didn?t
reward him as much as Macbeth had liked but did make his son Prince of
Cumberland and consequently hier to the thrown. King Duncan also went to the
castle just when Macbeth was thinking of murdering him, which seems very
coincidental, and so if King Duncan hadn?t of done this maybe he would not have
been murdered. ??????????? Banquo was probably, along with
King Duncan, the least responsible for the death of the King and probably
didn?t feel any guilt for the death. However, he did have a minor role in the
death. Banquo was with Macbeth when the witches gave their predictions, Macbeth
told Banquo that he believed them, but Banquo said that he didn?t believe it.
Banquo indicates his suspicions yet he doesn?t act on them if he had told Macbeth that he thought it was a bad
idea maybe Macbeth might not have gone through with it, but still his wife
could have persuaded him otherwise. ?????? There were other contributing factors and
circumstances that were also responsible for the death of King Duncan.
Immediately after the witches predict that Macbeth shall be thane of cawdor,
Macbeth is awarded that title. Malcom becomes heir to the thrown, this makes
Macbeth angry and he wants to get revenge on King Duncan for doing this, this
is again King Duncan fault. King Duncan visits the castle just as Macbeth is
having these feelings, this is the perfect opportunity for Macbeth to do
killing. ???????????????? So coming back to the question
?Who do you think is responsible for the death of king Duncan? my answer is
that not just one single person was responsible it had to do with a lot of
people that were influencing Macbeth. I feel that Macbeth wouldn?t have done it
if his wife hadn?t of pushed him to do it, she seemed most influential and so I
think she is the most responsible for the death. On the other hand the murder
wouldn?t have taken place if it weren?t for Macbeth.