Macbeth Act 4
As you all may know, I live for murders and all things blood. But all of the murders in Macbeth are unnecessary. Does anyone else find this play comical? I always catch myself laughing while reading.
I want to pose a question: Is Lady Macbeth responsible for the murders in the play? Personally, I think she is the driving force behind the murders, but it is Macbeth who commits these heinous crimes. She should not be held accountable for Macbeth's actions. He is responsible for his own demise.
The Macbeth Murder Mystery is by far one of the most interesting yet strangest interpretations of literature I've ever read. First of all, Thurber is a classic nerd. I don't know why anyone would take such interest in scrutinizing Shakespearean literature. But, kudos to him for being a genius. I never would have even thought that Lady Macbeth's father would be behind all of the murders. It's interesting because he supports all of his claims, not matter how far-fetched they may seem.
To answer your question, I believe that Lady Macbeth is an accomplice to the murders since she herself did not commit the murders but helped Macbeth commit them. I think she should be help accountable because she could have talked some sense into him.
ReplyDeleteMacbeth is directly responsible for the murders, but they definitely would not have happened if Lady Macbeth didn't exist. She constantly roasts him for not being "manly" enough and causes him to be insecure and thus feel the need to prove himself. If she wasn't so power hungry, I really don't think anyone would be killed.
ReplyDeleteI think your question is a really interesting one, and one that can potentially be very controversial. It reminds me of The Milgram Experiment (google it- its scary) that basically aimed to show how someone's authority over someone can make them do corrupt things they wouldn't do otherwise, but even the experiment struggles to come to a conclusion about whether the person actually doing the action is less guilty, equally guilty, or more guilty than the person giving the orders. I think this experiment applies to your question and how Lady Macbeth was able to convince Macbeth to commit a crime he otherwise most likely would not have committed. In my personal opinion, I believe that Lady Macbeth is morally more at fault than Macbeth is for the murders, since her persuasion started the entire chain of effects.
ReplyDeleteI think Lady Macbeth could be considered responsible for the murders. Not solely responsible of course, because she didn't actually kill anyone, but she set up the entire plan and pressured Macbeth into doing it, so at the very least she would be an accomplice. I do agree that Macbeth is responsible for his own demise, however, because she never held a knife to his throat and forced him to kill King Duncan.
ReplyDeleteI think Lady Macbeth is at fault here but the ultimate weight of these sins is upon Macbeth. One might say that the one who orders someone to commit a crime is just as much at fault, if not more so, as the person who commits the crime; the difference here is that Lady Macbeth doesn't force Macbeth to do anything, and Macbeth is by no means subservient to his wife. Macbeth could have been like "wow, kill a brotha'? Calm down there sista'." But instead he was like "Alright, fine lets do it." Macbeth only acts upon the desires within his own heart; in a normal universe no one should be able to convince another that murder is the best possible route. That Macbeth is even susceptible to the pressures of his wife demonstrates that the murder of the king was something that he desired in order to obtain the crown. Looking at intentions, Macbeth is far worse than his wife and far more responsible for the actions that he himself commits.
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