The defence speech for Macbeth as a murderer

Essay by crispiesHigh School, 12th grade July 2004

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Ladies and gentleman of the jury. Sitting before you today is a man accused of the murder of Duncan, the King of Scotland. The prosecution will portray Macbeth as an ambitious man, one who plotted to murder his own cousin, so that he could lay claim to the title of the crown. But the issue in this case is not whether Macbeth murdered the deceased. This fact is not disputed. What you must determine is whether Macbeth was of sound mind when he committed this act. Evidence showed that this was not so. In fact, Macbeth was the victim in this crime. It was he, who was possessed and brainwashed by the evil witches. Then it was Lady Macbeth who took advantage of his state of mind. She pushed him over the edge to fulfil her ambitions of being queen. Macbeth, one of Scotland's most highly decorated generals, a loyal servant who for many years, faithfully served king and country, could never have committed this heinous crime, not without outside influences affecting his state of mind.

How did this occur? Well, you might ask. The meeting of the witches on the heath brought about a change in Macbeth. With their supernatural powers, they planted seeds of darkness into the mind of this noble warrior. Their words "All hail, Macbeth! Thane of Cawdor and the King hereafter" bewildered Macbeth. Both these men were alive and prosperous. How could these words be true? But when pronounced the Thane of Cawdor, the witches' prophecies were becoming reality. The suggestion of becoming king enticed him, but honour and loyalty to Duncan still remained as shown by the testimony when Macbeth quoted "if chance will have me king, why chance may crown me". There is no denying that Macbeth did have "black and...