Macbeth

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Macbeth | Why Does Macbeth Change His Mind About Killing Duncan?

At end of Act I, Macbeth declares, "I am settled, and bend up/Each corporal agent to this terrible feat" (I, vii, ll.79-80). Given the witches' prediction that he will become Scotland's king, we have ample reason to believe that Macbeth and his partner in regicide, Lady Macbeth, will succeed in their enterprise of murdering Duncan. What is most remarkable is that just fifty lines earlier, Macbeth has flatly told his wife that they shall proceed no further in the bloody business at hand; in the midst of Lady Macbeth's subsequent argument against such "unmanly" inaction, he commands her to...

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See Also:

• - For teachers, the Macbeth Lesson Plan.
• - Read the Macbeth text online.
• - Macbeth summary and study guide in the eNotes.

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