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Duncan's Regicide With Modern American Analysis

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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. …show more content…

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

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