by Puller

Created on: January 08, 2009   Last Updated: May 28, 2011

No one is born evil, evil is taught to you. Macbeth was not the evil, he "... never ... had the intention to murder Duncan, and ... throughout the play he never has any such intention." (H. W. Fawkner) If Macbeth never had the intentions to murder King Duncan, why did he? In Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth is a loyal thane to King Duncan. But his ambitions to become king are fueled by King Duncan, the three witches, and Lady Macbeth.

King Duncan makes it easy for Macbeth to kill him. By the end of the first act, "[Macbeth] is convinced he wants to murder Duncan." (H. W. Fawkner) Although Macbeth knows the dangers of killing Duncan, he is convinced by others to do it. Duncan himself convinces Macbeth that he can kill him because Duncan is very naive. In the beginning of the play Duncan was already betrayed and says, "He was a gentlemen on whom I built an absolute trust." (Shakespeare1.4.12-13) If Duncan had a friend whom he thought was a gentlemen and he gave him his absolute trust, then why did Duncan not see the betrayal coming? After this incident Duncan should have been more suspicious of whom his friends were, since a good friend already betrayed him. But Duncan is not suspicious, he is naive and goes to stay at Macbeth's castle and does not suspect a thing. Duncan made his own murder easily carried out. Macbeth's ambition is also fueled by the prophecy of the three witches.

The three Evil Witches deceive Macbeth by making him think of killing Duncan. The witches tell Macbeth that he will soon be king. For this prophecy to come true, Duncan the present king must be removed. Since the witches prophesied this, Macbeth believes it is his divine right to become king and therefore must remove Duncan. But the witch's prophecy is not true, it is a trick. "How did you dare to trade and traffic with Macbeth in riddles and affairs of Death?" (Shakespeare 3.5.3-5). Hecate says "riddles and affairs of death" because the witches do not actually tell Macbeth to kill the king. They hint at it, and Macbeth interprets and acts on his own accord. "The [witches] do not suggest Duncan's murder; they simply make a prediction, and Macbeth takes matters from there." (Mayard) The witches predictions fuel Macbeth's ambition to become king. Macbeth is influenced by the witches and "takes matters into his own hands" because he believes that is how he will become king.

Greedy Lady Macbeth tricks the hero Macbeth into killing the king. Macbeth at first thinks about killing Duncan to become king, but he quickly dismisses this evil thought. But his wife does not. Lady Macbeth then finds out Macbeth changes his mind, so she mocks him saying, "When you dust do it, then you were a man" (Shakespeare1.7.49). When she says, "when you dust do it" she is saying when he was going to kill Duncan he was a man, but since he decides otherwise he is not brave. Lady Macbeth slowly persuades Macbeth, but deep inside Macbeth still has doubts. But because, "Lady Macbeth who at the beginning is unaffected by imaginary fears and could laugh at apparitions..." (Miguel), her attitude calms Macbeth. He is calmed and less worried because Lady Macbeth does not show any fear about killing Duncan. Since Lady Macbeth shows no fear in the beginning and mocks Macbeth, she manipulates him to kill Duncan.

The strong warrior Macbeth has a clouded mind which is clouded by his own ambitions, which are fueled by others. The king is naive. The three witches tell him a fake prophecy, and his wife Lady Macbeth mocks him for thinking it is wrong to kill the king. All of these actions fuel Macbeth's ambitions until his ambitions are all he sees. Because of these factors, Macbeth murders King Duncan so he himself can become king.

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