Throughout Macbeth, we learn about Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s evil plot to take the throne of Scotland. Both of these characters are evil, but my questions are: Who’s more evil? Who’s more responsible for their cruel plot?
First off, I’m going to discuss Macbeth and his evil. Macbeth starts out as a very likeable character as he is promoted to Thane of Cawdor at the beginning of the book, a very respected position. After his big promotion, the Weird Sisters are the ones who encouraged Macbeth that he should not be satisfied with Thane of Cawdor, and instead, strive for King of Scotland. Macbeth’s mindset was also very influenced by Lady Macbeth, who also fueled his evil fire. Next, I’m going to discuss Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth was a very well-respected character at the beginning of the book, as she is referred to by King Duncan as a “honored hostess”. I believe that Lady Macbeth started to become evil when she realized that Duncan’s death would result in her and Macbeth inheriting the throne. She proceeded with her famous “evil” speech, where she said things like “Fill me to the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty” and “Take my milk for gall”. Both of these raise suspicion to what’s to come of the Macbeths’ evil deeds. Lady Macbeth is the character who influenced Macbeth the most to take the throne, with whatever it took.
Last but not least, I’m going to compare Macbeth with Lady Macbeth, and decide which character was more evil. Although Lady Macbeth greatly influenced Macbeth’s evil deeds, Macbeth shouldn’t have listened to his wife, and instead should have done the right thing. It’s tough to blame either one of them for their evil deeds, because they both could have prevented it if they chose to.
In conclusion, I believe that Lady Macbeth was the most evil of the two. As she expressed in her “evil” speech, it was her decision to turn evil, while Macbeth was a war hero who was told by the Weird Sisters that