Murder by Manipulation When in a predicament or plight, you usually turn toward a loved one for advice. For guidance and instruction and an opinion. Macbeth constantly turned to his wife, Lady Macbeth, for direction and counsel through the planning and entirety of the murder of King Duncan. Once Lady Macbeth learns of Macbeth’s prophecy to be king, she adamantly convinces him to commit murder for the crown. Macbeth would not have committed the crime without the manipulation of Lady Macbeth and the witches had they not put the thought in his head. The witches played a huge roll in convincing Macbeth to murder king Duncan. If Macbeth hadn’t encountered them then he would have never gotten the idea. It all started when the witches planned to meet Macbeth. “Elizabethans believed that witches were women who possessed the ability to predict the future. They were often accompanied my their familiars, evil spirits that were incarnated in animal form” (IOL page 112). They plotted to convene with him in a desolate place when the battle was finished. They filled his mind with the “future” and gave him the murderous thought. “All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!” (IOL page 120). “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none: So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo!” (IOL page 121). The witches creep into Macbeth’s mind by merely giving him the idea of king, giving him a taste of what could be. The witches are smart because they know the power they hold with their titles. They distract Macbeth with the idea of being king, which he desperately wants, so the consequences seem small and insignificant when really they outweigh greatly. Lady Macbeth is the killer behind the killer in a sense. She provokes, manipulates, and encourages Macbeth to murder King Duncan. She would batter him up and if he had doubts and she would smother him with pressure and guilt by calling him less of a man or a coward. “when you durst do it, then you were a man; And, to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man” (IOL page 137). This reveals Macbeth’s insecurities and he now feels a challenge from Lady Macbeth and her scornful attitude. Lady Macbeth is manipulating him by saying that he will be more of a man if he commits the murder, but less of a man than he already is if he does not. She threatens to call Macbeth a coward by saying, “wouldst thou have that Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem,” (IOL page 137). In other words, Lady Macbeth is asking if Macbeth wants the crown, and if he does is he too much of a coward to do what is necessary to acquire it? Through the journey of the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth is constantly feeling remorse