Lady Macbeth is most to blame for Duncan's murder. Discuss.
             Macbeth is a 17th Century play written by William Shakespeare. The plot is written with current beliefs and society in mind at that time. The play involves the war hero Macbeth turning from a great faithful warrior, loyal to the king and his country to a cold-blooded power frenzied murderer due to evil within. This evil is sparked off by the witch's three prophecies given to Macbeth and Banquo. When the play was written it was at the time that James I was in power. He devised the Divine Right of Kings Act. This meant that God made people kings therefore the King was God's chosen representative therefore the King was always right therefore the worst crime in the world was Regicide. Shakespeare implemented this into the play as Macbeth killed the King in order to gain his own personal desires. In this essay I am going to investigate whether Lady Macbeth was most to blame for Duncan's murder or whether she was just another portion of the increased persuasion which unleashed the evil in Macbeth.
             The witches in Macbeth had two main purposes. First and most obvious, they were used as a means to start the chain of events which led to the murder of Duncan. Secondly, they were used as a symbol of pure evil for the audiences. Shakespeare used witches because, at the time, it was the one image that the audience could relate to. The play was written for King James I whose beliefs and hatred towards Witchcraft were very apparent. Because the King of England believed in such evil, so too did the common people of England. Therefore the audience would be very willing to believe that the witches could be responsible for casting spells, seeing into the future, planting evil inside of Macbeth. The general view at that time was that Witches were the human representation of the devil and his works and since religion played a major part in peoples lives the witches were see...