Wednesday, May 7, 2014

In Macbeth, who is truly to blame for Duncan's death?

Macbeth is truly the one to blame for Duncan's death. At the beginning of the play, we begin to notice that Macbeth harbors "black and deep desires" that he tries to keep away from anyone. When the witches proclaim that he is to be the king, this only serves to encourage him to follow through with his plan, and the plan is to murder the king so that Macbeth could take the throne and obtain...

Macbeth is truly the one to blame for Duncan's death. At the beginning of the play, we begin to notice that Macbeth harbors "black and deep desires" that he tries to keep away from anyone. When the witches proclaim that he is to be the king, this only serves to encourage him to follow through with his plan, and the plan is to murder the king so that Macbeth could take the throne and obtain power and control.


We cannot deny though that Macbeth is manipulated into eliminating Duncan by his aggressive wife. However, neither she nor the witches make him commit the act of killing the king. He is the one who walks into Duncan's room and kills him. So, Macbeth is the one who acts on the witches' prophecy and who later desires to seek the witches out so that he could get information about his future. 


Macbeth is a tragic hero and his tragic flaw is his unrestrained ambition:



I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself
And falls on the other.



His unchecked ambition causes him to go against nature and normality, and his decision to embrace the darkness in his soul will cost him his life.

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