It can be easy to blame a murder one whoever is holding the weapon. Sometimes though, the true killer isn’t so easy to pin down. Behind every murderer may be an influential force driving them to act in the way they do. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, there is a scene where Macbeth kills Duncan, the current king of Scotland. From just that information, all fingers point to Macbeth being guilty, however the person who is truly responsible for the murder is his wife, Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is more guilty than Macbeth when it comes to the murder of Duncan through her verbal assault and manipulation of Macbeth, along with active participation. The first sign of Lady Macbeth’s guilt is how far she goes to convince Macbeth to commit the murder using verbal assault. At first Macbeth aboard with the idea of killing Duncan to become king, however he quickly changes his mind as he realizes all that Duncan has done for him. This sparks Lady Macbeth to being insulting Macbeth, saying things such as “Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem” (Mac. 1.7.42-43). In this quote Lady
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In her attempts to sway Macbeth to commit the murder, she reveals some harrowing actions she would take for Macbeth. Specifically, that, if she promised, she would take a baby she’s currently breastfeeding and “Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums And dashed the brains out” (Mac. 1.7.58-59). Essentially saying she would slaughter the baby for her husband. Lastly, and perhaps the most concrete case of who she really is was when she admits that she would have killed Duncan herself. As Lady Macbeth puts it: “Had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had done ’t.” (Mac. 2.2.12-13). She is saying that since he looks like her dad, she won’t kill him. But that’s all that separates an instigator and a murderer, to which Lady Macbeth is for sure guilty
In her attempts to sway Macbeth to commit the murder, she reveals some harrowing actions she would take for Macbeth. Specifically, that, if she promised, she would take a baby she’s currently breastfeeding and “Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums And dashed the brains out” (Mac. 1.7.58-59). Essentially saying she would slaughter the baby for her husband. Lastly, and perhaps the most concrete case of who she really is was when she admits that she would have killed Duncan herself. As Lady Macbeth puts it: “Had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had done ’t.” (Mac. 2.2.12-13). She is saying that since he looks like her dad, she won’t kill him. But that’s all that separates an instigator and a murderer, to which Lady Macbeth is for sure guilty