Essay on Macbeth: Who Is Responsible for Duncan's Tragic Death?

King Duncan’s death happens at the very start of the play. It is this event that causes the chaos and catastrophe to happen throughout the rest of the play. William Shakespeare wrote the play Macbeth in 1606 and the idea around the writing of the play is that Shakespeare wanted to be in the King’s favour, so he wrote a play about the King’s relatives. The play shows the chaos and confusion that could happen to a person who kills the King, to scare anyone who had thought of it at the time. Shakespeare uses many techniques throughout the play, to show the connection to a real life scenario and this play. The three characters, the witches, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are all responsible for the King’s death, but who’s MOST responsible for the act that caused the play to turn into that of a tragedy.

The witches are seen at the very start of the play, in the first scene, and are thought of as being evil and deceptive. They plant an idea in Macbeth’s head that he never thought he had, and for that, they are partially responsible for the death of Duncan. The stage directions at the start of every scene where the witches come in are always “Thunder and lightning; three witches enter”. The use of stage direction is helpful to the audience, because bad people can bring bad environments with them, as the witches do. Motif is also used as this particular stage direction is used throughout the play whenever the witches come in to symbolise that they are coming, and that the scenario may not turn out all good, which foreshadows the rest of the scene.

The witches are seen again two scenes later when they are coming to meet Macbeth on his way home from the battle. They turn up out of nowhere in front of Macbeth, and chant, “All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Glamis. All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor. All hail Macbeth, thou shalt be King hereafter”. Shakespeare’s use of repetition and rhythm helps connect the three chants together. This gives Macbeth and the...