Macbeth Murder King Duncan Macbeth example essay topic

Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, we have heard the defence glorify Macbeth in an effort to cloud the horrible acts of murder that he committed. The question that we are here to answer today stands, is Macbeth guilty of the murder of our beloved king, Duncan. Many questions cloud our judgement today. Did Macbeth have a motive to kill the king Did Macbeth meticulously premeditate the murder of Duncan Did Macbeth carryout, then cover up the murder of King Duncan Ladies and gentlemen it will be difficult, nay impossible for you to deny any of these allegations of murder against Macbeth, because simply put, he did commit these vicious acts of murder. Members of the jury, King Duncan was ruler of Scotland in a kingdom which the Scottish lineage to the throne moves from father to first-born son. However a member from within the same bloodline could lay claim to the throne if Duncan had no living sons.

Therefore a question ponders in your mind. Why would Macbeth murder king Duncan Macbeth had no legitimate claim to the throne However ladies and gentleman, what some of you may not know is that Macbeth was in-fact the Kings cousin. Before Duncans untimely death he stated to Macbeth: O valiant cousin! Worthy gentleman (pg 32) which confirms that Macbeth was in-fact Duncans cousin. Therefore Macbeth was in the same bloodline as Duncan, and therefore could take the throne if Duncan had no sons who were able to ascend to the throne. But since Duncan had already named Malcolm as heir to the throne, Duncan had to be murdered.

This was always in the back of MacBeths mind from the very beginning. The prophecy of the three witches, only fired his imagination to confirm the terrible deeds he was already planning, the death of king Duncan and tearing the throne from his dying hands. Macbeth stated I am settled, and bend up each corporal agent to this terrible feat. Away and mock the time with fairest show: False face must hide what false heart doth know. (Pg 55) This demonstrates that he was resolute and determined to use all the powers of his body to commit that terrible murder. He was to deceive the world by framing two innocent servants and appearing distraught by Duncans untimely death.

The death of a king, who was a kind-hearted man, was aided by the blatant mis-use of his own love, loyalty and trust for his closest friends In order to commit a murder of such beloved king Macbeth had to meticulously plan out step-by-step on how he would carry out this vicious deed. At every opportunity Macbeth conspired with his wife Lady Macbeth in how to commit and succeed with such a murder. Lady Macbeth stated: The unguarded Duncan What no put upon his spongy officers who shall bear the guilt of our great quell This phrase clearly states that they planned to murder Duncan and place the blame solely on the two servants guarding Duncans chambers. Macbeth also planned this murder so profoundly that he conspired with Lady Macbeth to drug the two servants guarding Duncan. Not only this but Macbeth also arranged a bell to be tolled whence the execution was to be committed. For when Macbeth hears the bell he states I go and it is done; the bell invites me I contend that, once the servants were drugged, Macbeth quietly crept into Duncans chambers while king lay peacefully in his sleep.

From the evidence revealed in this trial, the amount of blood on MacBeths hands after he committed the murder concludes that he not only stabbed Duncan once, but multiple times, hacking away at Duncans body. With the murder weapon in hand, MacBeth crept up from the blood stained sheets and left the scene of the crime and then proceeded the slaughter the two drugged servants giving them no chance to defend themselves. Acting as his accomplice, Lady MacBeth seeing MacBeth bearing the bloodied daggers of the murder proceeded to place the daggers back at the scene of the crime, and smeared the thickened blood of king Duncan onto the dead innocent servants. For Lady Macbeth stated, For if he do bleed Ill gild the faces of the grooms withal; for it must seem their guilt. However Macbeth did not just stop at the death of the king.

His own personal ambition consumed him, and he went on a bloody rampage and murdered anyone who stood in his way, after the two innocent servants, whom he drugged in order to frame them for the murder he committed. Macbeth knew that if the servants were not murdered then they would reveal the truth. Even if their tale hadnt been believed it still would create doubts in the minds of people close to the King. Most onlookers came to believe the imaginative story that Macbeth had fabricated. But the murder also aroused suspicion in some of the public, especially in the eyes of Banqou. Banqou knew that Macbeth had murdered the three, and went ahead and challenged him about it.

Macbeth simply denied the allegation. Macbeth then went ahead to ruthlessly plan Banques death at the hands two assassins. Macbeths personal ambition consumed him as he then planned the execution of Mac Duffs entire family to thwart any potential heirs claiming the throne. Innocent women and children were massacred during in their sleep while their father was away planning the resistance against Macbeth.

Today the defence has come to you with a plea of insanity. A plea that begs that Macbeth wasnt in a sane state of mind at the time of him committing the murder. However, I say Macbeth knew exactly what he was doing when he struck that dagger into the chest of the king, Duncan. For Macbeth to be judged insane while committing Duncans murder he would have had insane motives, be incapable of conspiring with Lady Macbeth on how to commit such a murder, commit a murder of a king in an insane or deranged manner.

However any insanity he suffered only came on when his guilt and remorse consumed him, which was after he committed Duncans murder. Conversely this trial should not allow shifting the blame as a convenient way out for Macbeth. We are not here to allow Macbeth to justify in his own mind that what he did was right. We are here today, to bring forth justice, to make Macbeth responsible for his own actions. Macbeth committed a crime, therefore he should be punished. Are you willing to let a man who took a king away from a country, who murdered numerous people, just simply walk away, or will this man bear the consequences of regicide and murder.

Consider the weight of evidence proving that Macbeth committed these heinous crimes in a sane, premeditated fashion. Given that, this trial presents us with only one conclusion, that Macbeth is guilty as charged. The grade made on this paper was an A-. However with more acting out and more expression this could be made into an A or A+. In this assignment we were asked to give an oral on MacBeth and whether he was guilty or not for the murders he committed.

We had a choice of either defending or prosecuting. I chose to prosecute MacBeth. Keep in mind this was the ORAL version of the assignment and the written version of the newspaper report follows this assignment. Hope this helps.