If good, why do I yield to that suggestion, whose horrid image doth unfix my hair."(I, iii, 132-134). .
Macbeth's eventual murder of the king in Act II, scene ii, sets off a series of heinous actions which see Macbeth as either directly, or indirectly being the cause of the murders of six other characters in the play. While the Three Witches may be accused of sparking Macbeth's ambitious desires to become king, they do not tell Macbeth to murder Duncan, nor do they force Macbeth to commit the subsequent murders which occur as the play progresses. The Three Witches, while influential, cannot be held most responsible for the bloody murders in the play.
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There is also strong evidence to argue that it is Lady Macbeth who drives and manipulates her husband to murder Duncan, which in turn leads to Macbeth killing several additional characters in the play. Lady Macbeth is portrayed as evil, manipulative, and shrewd. She demonstrates that she has a powerful influence over Macbeth, when she is able to get her husband to commit murder, despite the fact that it goes against his moral conscience. Macbeth wants to call the murder of Duncan off when he says, "We will proceed no further in this business"" (I, vii, 31). Lady Macbeth, however, will have none of this. She knows of her husband's all-consuming ambitions, and feels that they deserve to be king and queen. .
Lady Macbeth fears that her husband is too weak in character to fulfill his ambitions without her push, and she preys upon Macbeth's weaknesses, challenging his masculinity as a means to get him to commit murder. Lady Macbeth says, "I have given suck, and know how tender tis to love the babe that milks me. I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out, had I so swarn as you have done to this"" (I, vi, 54-57). In these lines, Lady Macbeth expresses her disgust towards Macbeth, and it is this type of manipulation, that eventually pushes Macbeth to react when he bludgeons Duncan.
