This should have been a sign to Duncan that Macbeth is a violent man, and not grant him more power than is necessary. The bloody man told Duncan about Macbeth carving through the battlefield with his sword and unseaming Macdonwald, beheading him, and placing his head on the battlements (I.2.17-23). King Duncan also knew of Macbeth’s capabilities of violence. Had the guards not drank so much, and the king allowed them to drink, they would have been sober and ready for Macbeth’s attack. King Duncan’s guards and King Duncan himself are also responsible for Duncan’s death. However, Lady Macbeth’s constant belittlement and demoralization, until the deed is done, makes her nearly as guilty as Macbeth for his actions. Had she not pushed him he may have not followed through with his plans to murder the king. Lady Macbeth is very responsible for nurturing Macbeth’s intent to murder the king. She continues to bolster their plans by saying that if she had made such a promise as he had, she would follow through with it, even if it was a promise to murder her own baby (I.7.54-59). She then goes on to challenge his manhood by saying that he was a real man when he said he was going to follow through with his plans, and if he actually follows through with his plans he will be even more than just a man (I.7.49-51). She first challenges her husband’s reliability when she asks him if he will live as a coward letting “I dare not” outweigh his “I would” the rest of his life (I.7.43-45). Once Lady Macbeth learns of her husband’s potential new position as king, she constantly challenges his masculinity and reliability to force him to kill King Duncan, which he has doubts about doing. Lady Macbeth knows her husband is too “full of the milk of human kindness” to murder Duncan with no persuasion (I.5.15-17). The next culpable character for Macbeth’s downfall is his wife.
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