Is Lady Macbeth To Blame

In many disastrous situations in life, people direct blame away from themselves, saying that their problems were caused by others. This happens in one of William Shakespeare’s plays, Macbeth; there is a great deal of debate over whether the witches, Lady Macbeth, or Macbeth was most to blame for the chaos that took place throughout the play. There are many things that influence Macbeth and his actions, but he himself is most to blame for the calamities that take place throughout the story because he willingly let himself become an overly ambitious, paranoid, corrupt, and murderous tyrant. At the beginning of the story, when Macbeth and Banquo are returning from battle, the witches prophesize that Macbeth will become the Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland. This causes Macbeth to imagine himself as king, and some might argue that this instigates Macbeth to murder Duncan. The thought flashes through his head, and even though he appears to forget about it
soon after the incident, the thought still lingers at the back of his mind. “Good sir, why do you start and seem to fear/Things that do sound so fair? … My noble partner/ You greet with present grace and great prediction/ Of noble having and of royal hope,/ That he seems rapt withal” (I, iii, 54-60). During that excerpt, Banquo notices the look of alarm on Macbeth’s face, which betray his momentary shock. This leads Banquo to infer that Macbeth was considering killing Duncan and taking the throne for himself. After Ross informs him that he became the thane of Cawdor, Macbeth starts to think that if the first part of the witches’ prophecy came true, then maybe the second half would come true, too. After some consideration, Macbeth decides that he would not wait for the prophecy to come true; he would forcefully make it come true. Macbeth’s decision to take matters in his own hand is one reason why he deserves the most blame, and it is also one of the first steps that lead to him to his downfall.
Some people argue that Lady Macbeth was the most to blame.
Although his decision was greatly influenced by Lady Macbeth, Macbeth would have chosen not to kill Duncan had he been more humane; it also cannot be Lady Macbeth’s fault because he was the one who actually committed the murder. Before he had encountered the witches, Macbeth had a hidden desire to become king, and he had just not realized it. After murdering Duncan, Macbeth tried to reassure himself that he did the right thing by thinking that the witches foresaw him becoming king, and that Duncan would have died either way; based upon that, Macbeth thought that he might as well speed up the process of him becoming king. If he was a good-hearted, kind person who truly was forced to murder his own king, then Macbeth would have tried to make up for his crime somehow, or at least try to change his character and become a good person. However, the fact that he believed that his actions were justified shows that Macbeth was the most responsible for his
actions. Towards the middle of the story, Macbeth’s paranoia started to fester and control his thoughts and actions; he kills the guards at Duncan’s room, Banquo, Banquo’s family, and Macduff’s entire household, just because of slight suspicions. Macbeth’s ruthlessness surpasses that of even Lady Macbeth, which is most likely because the murder of Duncan changed his mindset and eliminated the little humanity that he had at the beginning of the story. At one point in the story, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have a conversation regarding his overly ambitious plans, which goes as follows:
Macbeth. … Make our faces vizards to our hearts,/ Disguising what they are.
Lady Macbeth. You must leave this.
Macbeth. O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!/ Thou know’st that Banquo and Fleance lives. (III, ii, 38-43).
During this excerpt, Lady Macbeth is trying to convince Macbeth not to pursue the goal of killing everyone whom he perceives as a threat. When his wife instructed him to kill Duncan, Macbeth did it. But now, when she is asking him to stop, he doesn’t; he is forcing himself to kill more and more people. Ignoring his own conscience, Macbeth provokes his character to evolve and become more cruel and greedy. This is why he is most to blame for what happened throughout the story. Throughout the play, Macbeth performs a series of murders that eventually leads to his downfall. Although he was influenced by others, Macbeth himself was responsible for each of those murderers and is most to blame for the havoc inflicted throughout the whole ordeal. This concept of blame applies to many our lives today; sometimes, people have hidden desires or unconsciously harbor negative feelings. When they act based upon those feelings or desires, no matter how much they were influenced by others, they are to blame for the ensuing chaos.