Who is driving force in the play, macbeth, lady macbeth or both

Driving Force in Macbeth Play Affiliation Introduction In William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, thecontender of the play, Macbeth appears to be easily influenced and manipulated. He murders a few individuals even though he has no such intention to begin with. Nonetheless, Macbeth is not solely responsible for the murders he commits in the play mainly because he is, in several occasions, influenced by different individuals into committing the killings throughout the play. The various factors that contribute to the murders include Lady Macbeth, a cunning, influential and manipulative wife responsible for Macbeth’s judgment, and Macbeth’s ambition, which is triggered by his desire to become king.
During the first parts of the play, Lady Macbeth appears to be the driving force as she influences Macbeth through manipulation and challenging into engaging in wrong activities. She encourages Macbeth to kill the king, Duncan, mainly because she knows she has a chance of becoming queen if her husband becomes king after the king’s death. Both characters are driven by their own ambitions, Macbeth into becoming king and Lady Macbeth into becoming queen. However, Macbeth seems weaker compared to his wife who wants to pull through with the murder even when he hesitates. Due to Lady Macbeth’s manipulative character, she is able to drive her husband into killing the king by challenging his manhood. In addition, she uses guilt to manipulate her husband when she says that she is going to weigh the love he has for her through his willingness to become king. Therefore, it is evident that the wife drives the play during its initial stages.
Nonetheless, from the middle of the play towards its end, Macbeth is portrayed as being the driving force. His ambitious character initially was worthwhile as it brought victory to Scotland. However, as the play proceeds, it gets out of hand such that instead of being satisfied with the title he receives for Scotland’s victory, he aims for being its leader. He now wanted more power, became violent and greedy and would do anything to gain more power, including killing his own king, Banquo and later on, Macduffï’s family. His evil ambitions first come into manifestation when he starts entertaining the thought of killing the king and even shares it with his wife. Also, he accommodates his wife’s berating, does nothing when Donalbain and Malcolm are blamed for murder, which provides his with a free access t the thrown. In addition, he orders the death of Lady Macduff and children, leads the country to war despite the suicidal mental status of his wife or the country’s status. Lastly, without any intervention of his wife, he organizes the killing of Banquo and Fleance in efforts of turning the witches’’ second prophecy.
Conclusion
Therefore, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth acted as the driving force of the play. Largely, it can be based on the nature of their relationship, whereby, they not only loved each other, but also shared the same ambition, of becoming more powerful. Where Macbeth revealed some form of weakness, Lady Macbeth was there as his backing power whom, through her manipulative trait she always managed to convince him into proceeding with their evil plans. For example, Macbeth’s softness and inability to proceed with the murder of the king was met by scrutiny from his wife whose word steered him into committing the despicable act.
Reference
Zukerman, C. (2013). Equivocations: Reading The
Shakespeare/Middleton Macbeth. Shakespeare Survey, 6624-37.