Examining the Indictment for Duncan’s Regicide with Modern American Law
The nature of criminal law is such that one can be guilty without having physically committed the alleged crime- one who participates in carrying out a crime as an accessory or principal via their counsel, role in conspiring, or manipulation qualifies for a sentence independent of the physical perpetrator, which can be more or less severe in comparison. The presence of actus reus - the wrongful act that constitutes a crime, as well as mens rea - the guilty mind that makes the act culpable, allows anyone to be liable for criminal activity. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the regicide of King Duncan is committed without the perpetrators being convicted in a court of law.
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Given the severity of her actions, it is definite that any sentence given to her would consist of many years of incarceration. Punishment can however, include more than incarceration- in a modern setting, one can be sentenced to death as consequence of their actions. In an article titled “Capital Punishment” from the Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court of the United States, the process of determining whether one can be subject to capital punishment, which involves the legal killing of one as consequence of their crime(s), is laid out: “After a jury finds the defendant guilty of “capital,” or first-degree, murder, it retests the defendant's liability against a still narrower “super-first-degree” murder law by deciding whether the offender or the offense exhibited certain “aggravating” factors” (Weisberg 262). Aggravating factors are facts of the offense that increase the severity or culpability of a criminal act. These factors are established in 18 U.S. Code § 3592 (Legal Information Institute). The perpetrators of Duncan’s regicide are guilty of several. Aggravating factor (9) can be used to punish unlawful acts committed with substantial planning and premeditation (Legal Information Institute). After speaking with a wary Macbeth about her intentions, Lady Macbeth speaks to herself, “That I may pour my spirits in thine ear/ And chastise with the valor of my tongue/ All that impedes thee from the golden round” (Macbeth 1.5.26-28). This exclamation of hers is evidence of a strong desire to convince her husband to carry out the deed. She wants to rid Macbeth of any moral obstacles via verbal manipulation. By doing so, they both are able to gain the highest status in society- that of monarchs. She desires to use Macbeth as a proxy for herself in doing what she wants but cannot bring herself
First is the actus reus, Latin for ‘guilt act’. This refers to the actual performance of a guilty or wrongful act or omission to act that breaks criminal law. In R v Silva [2015] the ‘actus rea’ is Jessica Silva’s physical committing of the stabbing of James Polkinghorne on 13 May 2012, eventually leading
Actus Reus Non Facit Reum Nisi Mens Sit Rea: An act does not make a person guilty unless the mind is also guilty. In the case of R. v. Pickton (2010), the Supreme Court of Canada convicts serial killer Robert Pickton of second degree murder and demonstrates that even if an individual was not the sole perpetrator of a crime, they are still held equally liable for the crime as long as they are an active participant or otherwise abetted the misconduct. The Supreme Courts made the correct decision in dismissing Pickton’s appeal.
Why is Lady Macbeth talking about the murder of king Duncan when that could get her and Macbeth killed or
“When Lady MacBeth receives the letter from MacBeth telling her that he wants to kill Duncan, she fears that he would not have the courage to go through with it” (Shakespeare 31). She brings out the worst in him and encourages him to kill King Duncan. She persuades him by constantly telling him negative things to get MacBeth to believe that he is doing the right thing. “Look like th’ innocent flower, but be the serpent under ’t” (Shakespeare 35). Lady MacBeth is the one who tells MacBeth to be this vicious creature and makes him think that killing King Duncan is okay. Because of Lady Macbeth’s behavior, MacBeth was led to become a murderer. Macbeth should not be held accountable for his actions since Lady MacBeth is the one who convinced him to commit the crime that started his madness and turn him into a monster.
She was the character that finally convinced Macbeth to kill Duncan in his own castle, proclaiming “O, never shall sun that morrow see!” (1.6.71-72). She encouraged such betraying behavior as a reaction to Macbeth’s letter about being predicted as the next king of Scotland. Eager to become queen, Lady Macbeth completely disregarded the inner politics of Scotland, her and Macbeth’s morals, the sacred Great Chain of Being, and the Divine Right of Kings. She continues to violate the Chain as she reverses gender roles with Macbeth, verbally abusing him as only a man was allowed to do to a woman (so it was believed then). She consistently degrades Macbeth by calling him a woman, comparing his explanations to “a woman’s story at a winter’s fire, authorized by her grandma” (3.4.78-79). The common belief in 17th century England was that women were far below men on the social ranking scale, so Lady Macbeth’s numerous insults are completely out of line. Eventually she is punished for her interruption in the Great Chain of Being as she becomes insane from guilt. At last, the murder of Duncan comes back to haunt her, causing her to imagine blood on her hands and cry “Out, damned, spot, out, I say!” (5.1.37). In the end, all of her past actions catch up with her and she commits suicide as she wrestles with the burning question, “What, will these hands ne’er be clean?” (5.1.45). Shakespeare justly writes in her demise as she is
Lady Macbeth gives Macbeth the first push to kill Duncan, and she wants to be ruthless, feel no remorse so that she and her husband will successfully kill Duncan. She desires to “stop up th’ access and passage to remorse” (Shakespeare 1.5.51) so that she will not feel bad about the murder. She persuades Macbeth to kill Duncan, but he struggles afterward when he does not follow the plan and forgets to put back the daggers he cannot face the evil act he has committed. Lady Macbeth is satisfied after Macbeth is king, but that is not enough for him any longer. Eventually the killings take a toll on Macbeth’s mental state, and the guilt he begins to feel is unbearable. Macbeth kills Duncan and then says “this is a sorry sight”
Richie Ting Macbeth is Guilty! Honourable Judge and gentlemen of the jury, we come here today to trial Macbeth. Macbeth is clearly guilty and should be charged accordingly. He violently killed King Duncan with his own hands.
Shakespeare's "Macbeth" holds many hidden themes within its already exuberant plot. The first of these surrounds the murder of Duncan and the role that both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth himself played. However, the true guilt of the murder can fall on either character. Although Macbeth physically committed the crime, it was Lady Macbeth that pushed him to his limits of rational thought and essentially made fun of him to lower his esteem. With Macbeth's defenses down, it was an easy task for Lady Macbeth to influence Duncan's murder and make up an excuse as to why she could not do it herself. The guilt of Duncan's murder can be placed firmly on the head on Lady Macbeth.
On a dark night Macbeth paced back and forth with the thought of murder going through his mind. It was this night Macbeth and his wife planned on murdering the King, Duncan. After committing the crime he confesses to his wife that it is done, “I have done the deed” (2.2. 14). Macbeth would be charged with first degree murder because of the following reasons. The murder of duncan was premeditated, he showed guilt, and continued to murder. Although he may be llusional now he was not at that state before he committed the murder, once he took action the mental torture began.
Good morning/afternoon everyone. It is my pleasure to represent Macbeth in this very important case. Today I am here to prove that Macbeth is in fact - INNOCENT and should not be punished for the accusation of the regicide of our beloved King Duncan, the murder of the two guards and the conspiracy to commit the murder of Banquo and his son Fleance.
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
In Act 2 of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth can be characterized as determined, by using any method to kill Duncan - even if it’s in his sleep, and also by doing whatever she has to do to cover up the very bloody evidence of the murder.
After Macbeth physically committed the murder with his own hands he felt immediate guilt and his mind was all over the place. He even took the murder weapon with him instead of planting the evidence on the chamberlains. When Lady Macbeth learned this information she was outraged. The record states that she shouted, Coward! Give me the daggers. Dead and sleeping/ people can’t hurt you any more than pictures can./ Only children are afraid of scary pictures. If Duncan/ bleeds I’ll paint the servants’ faces with his blood. We/ must make it seem like they’re guilty (2.2.50-55). Ladies and gentlemen of the court, the evidence clearly indicates Lady Macbeth made Macbeth murder King Duncan and set him down a path of crime and destruction. She is as much to blame as Macbeth. Not only was she an accomplice to the murder of Duncan but she tampered with the evidence; it is clear that she should be convicted of at least a
In the Tragedy of Macbeth, Shakespeare depicted the fall of a valiant general, who usurped the Scottish throne and eventually destroyed by his ever inflating ambition. During the course of regicide, his wife Lady Macbeth act as a powerful stimulant, who coaxed and pushed Macbeth to kill the beloved king Duncan. However,we can see from the play that though Lady Macbeth had a pivotal role to play in this evil deed, she did not bear chief responsibility of the murder. She was an intimidating and evil character from the beginning, while as situation developed, his husband became a much
On the surface, Macbeth in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” can be easily perceived as the leading criminal since Macbeth completes all of the murders directly. However, looking at scots law after the Union of Crowns, Lady Macbeth’s role in the murders of Duncan and Banquo can be seen as just as large. In the hypothetical situation where Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were tried, Lady Macbeth would be found to be just as guilty as Macbeth. The act of hiding the knives makes her a principal to a murder. Additionally, her action in Banquo’s murder makes her an accessory to Macbeth. Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking scene also reveals her true guilt from the murders committed. Lady Macbeth would be perceived just as guilty as Macbeth due to her role as a principal