The Witches could be blamed for the outcome of this play because they told Macbeth that his destiny was to become king. One of the witches says “All hail Macbeth that shalt be king hereafter (Act 1, Scene 3) .This is a quote from the play that suggest that it could have been the witches that could be blamed for leading Macbeth towards the outcome of the play. They got into Macbeths head that it was his destiny to be king. Although the witches might not be able to be blamed because they did not say in order to be king you must kill these people so they don’t get in your way whilst you’re trying to make this happen. Another reason for the witches to be blamed is the part in the play that Macbeth sees the dagger. The witches could have made the dagger appear before Macbeth which is a sign; the witches wanted Macbeth to kill King Duncan. “Is this a dagger, which I see before me, the handle towards my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee no, and yet I see thee still… a dagger of the mind, a false creation…” (Act 2, Scene 1). This quote which is taken from the play uses imagery to create what Macbeth is seeing through the audiences eyes. Macbeth says “the handle towards my hand?” which could mean that the witches are telling him to grab he handle, the blade could be an arrow of direction towards King Duncan.
Lady Macbeth could also be a suspect for the outcome of this play. She told Macbeth that if he didn’t kill King Duncan the he wasn’t a man and made him believe that he wasn’t committing a bad deed it was the best thing for them. Shakespeare’s uses character and plot construction to make Lady Macbeth at first seem like a loyal, kind and caring person, but he also uses the construction of the plot to make Lady Macbeth also look like she influencing Macbeth on his actions.
“And fill me, from the crown to the top, top-full of direst cruelty!” .Shakespeare uses language to create characters such as Lady Macbeth. In her monologue she says the word cruelty which has a negative connotation and makes her seem evil. She says “fill me… top full of direst cruelty” which means she wants to be as bad as possible so she can make Macbeth kill king Duncan.
Lady Macbeth was trying to get her way through Macbeth, she so desperately wanted to become queen and thought that it would be better getting someone else to do the dirty work whilst she sat back and relaxed. She wanted to be more masculine so she was more capable to take care of the situation herself. Lady Macbeth then realises after a while that the situation has gotten out of hand and she had taken it too far, she then committed suicide leaving Macbeth all by himself with no guidance.
Macbeth’s actions could be to blame for the tragic ending to this play but was he in the right state of mind to be blamed for it. Macbeth got the idea of killing king Duncan from the witches but then decides it is the wrong this to do ad he might get caught. Then Lady Macbeth comes along and says, no you have to do it, if you don’t you are no longer a noble man you once were. Macbeth then changes his decision to kill King Duncan. As you can see when reading the play, Lady Macbeth influences Macbeth a lot in this play by manipulating him and calling him names. Later in the story after lady Macbeth uses powerful language to deal with Macbeth’s uncertain mind, Macbeth sees a dagger right before his eyes. He knows that it is a false creation and is not truly there but he also knows that this could be a sign. It could mean that it is his fate to be king, or that it is his destiny to kill King Duncan. But it could also just be that Macbeth is not thinking straight and isn’t in his right state of mind. “…Come, let me clutch thee” (Act 2, Scene 1) Or maybe Macbeth wanted to kill all these people, maybe he was a cold blooded murderer all along.
I don’t think that it is possible to sum up who is actually to blame for the tragic outcomes of this play and all characters have reasons why they should or shouldn’t be blamed for the outcome. People may think that because of the actions someone makes it is their entire fault, but I don’t think that should be right. Macbeth could have had mental issues and just did what people told him to do. Or maybe he was too afraid to take control and listen to what his own brain was telling him. Shakespeare makes the audience question who is to blame throughout the play and I believe that this question cannot properly be answered. All together I believe that Lady Macbeth is to blame because she takes control of the matter, calls Macbeth names so that he has to prove to her that he is a man.
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