Macbeth by William Shakespeare :: essays research papers

In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare there is a major conflict throughout the whole play. The main character Macbeth is faced with many decisions. The key decision that Macbeth makes that leads to his death is his decision to kill King Duncan. The opportunity cost would be keeping his loyalty to the king and his country. Macbeth, who is the Thane of Cawdor and already Thane of Glamis, has everything going for him. He has a good heart, but there is only one thing which keeps him from continuing to be a good person. The love of his life, Lady Macbeth, wants him to commit a heinous crime. She wants him to kill King Duncan so he could be crowned king and her Queen. Macbeth is manipulated and faced with the opportunity cost of killing the king. MACBETH. If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir† (1.3.34-36). This is Macbeth trying to decide whether or not he should kill the king, but in doing so he would be faced with other predicaments. The key decision Macbeth makes, which is to kill the king, leads to his own death and his moral downfall. Macbeth has a huge decision to make, to kill King Duncan or not kill him. The opportunity cost of killing King Duncan is Macbeth will get crowned king. The advantage of not killing him and waiting is he will gain king right away if he waits. The disadvantage of not killing him is he has to wait and could not get crowned king. He also may die before that happens. On the contrary the advantage of killing Duncan is he gets crowned right away and gets major status. The disadvantage is the murder could backfire on him and Macbeth could get killed while being king. People also would not respect him or his leadership if they thought he killed King Duncan. LADY MACBETH. 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 (1.7.48-53). Macbeth’s decision was based on Lady Macbeth’s manipulation. She would mess with his ego and threaten his love for her until her committed the crime. Macbeth wanted to obtain king the holy way or the right way, but Lady Macbeth had other intentions, such as, killing King Duncan.