Macbeth

Samantha Walton
Act 1, Scene 7:
This scene takes place at the end of Act 1, just before the murder of King Duncan. During the scene, Lady Macbeth is very determined and persuades Macbeth to not think about the consequences and get it over with. I feel that the scene is important within the play because it allows the audience to see some of the inner thoughts of the Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The choice of language is used to show the contrasting morality of the two characters. Even from the beginning of the scene, Macbeth's uncertainty about the murder is clear.
In the first few lines of this soliloquy, Macbeth considers "If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well, It were done quickly;" What Macbeth seems to mean by this is that if when he had killed King Duncan and that would be the end of it he would be more enthusiastic with their plan. However such actions do have many consequences and the rest of the speech makes it clear that Macbeth is very aware of these.
When, indeed, Macbeth refers to "bloody instructions", we can see that he realises what a terrible deed it is to murder. . It is also rather ironic, as this is exactly what happens to himself and Lady Macbeth later in the play, especially in the banquet scene.
I think it is noticeable how, throughout the soliloquy, Macbeth avoids using the words "murder" or "death". Instead, he uses other words such as "surcease", "assassination","the deed" and "taking off". I suspect that he wants to hide from himself the true meaning of his actions.
Macbeth's doubts continue, he looks for reasons against the murder.
Macbeth sees he has a duty to protect Duncan, both as his kinsman and as his host. He can see that to violate this trust would be to violate his own moral code.   He shouldn't really need these 'extra' reasons the reason he shouldn't murder Duncan is not because he has some duty to protect him, but because to murder is   wrong.
Macbeth however continues along the same lines, now considering...