Macbeth: Who's to Blame? Cause, Effect, and Culpability. Was Macbeth really responsible for the murders committed? What is Lady Macbeth's role in the murders?

Macbeth: Who’s to Blame? Cause, Effect, and CulpabilityIn the play Macbeth, by Shakespeare, many readers of the play tend to think that Macbeth is the sole culprit for the numerous murders, but the truth is that Macbeth is blamed for murders that were not entirely his fault. Macbeth is enticed by outside people that make him turn into a murderer. Responsibility for Macbeth’s actions should be equally divided amongst the three witches, Lady Macbeth, and Macbeth himself.

At the beginning of the play, Macbeth meets the witches. The three witches have a very important role in what Macbeth does. The witches hail Macbeth, and tell Macbeth that they have the power to tell him the future. The witches tell Macbeth that he will soon become king. “First Witch: All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis! Second Witch: All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor! Third Witch: All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter” (I, iii, 48-50)! Immediately after the witches gave Macbeth the prophecy, news comes to Macbeth that he is being promoted to Thane of Cawdor.

Lady Macbeth by George Cattermole.

Macbeth Consulting the Vision of the Armed Head. B...

English: Poster of Thos. W. Keene in William Shake...

He becomes skeptical and wonders if the witches’ last prediction will come true. Macbeth is drawn in by what the witches promise and that there is the possibility of the prophecies coming true. The larger significance of this quote is that if the witches had never told Macbeth his future, he would never have committed the murders.

Later on in the play, when Macbeth asked the witches for his future again, they gave misleading riddles. “Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn the power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” (IV, i, 81-83) This quote is the witches’ second apparition telling Macbeth that no man born of woman will hurt him. This apparition...