The Murder of Duncan in Macbeth by William Shakespeare I believe Lady Macbeth plays a vital role in the murder of Duncan as she plans the crime and intimidates her husband into committing the crime. However, Macbeth's own ambitions, triggered by the witches, also play a vital role. Even before Lady Macbeth gets involved, Macbeth shows hidden ambitions. We can see this when the witches tell him that he will be the Thane of Cawdor and want the witches to tell him more about his future as king. "Stay, imperfect speaker." He has great ambitions. Additionally, we (the audience) hear about Macbeth's ambitions. When Macbeth is informed that he has been given the Thane of Cawdor, he thinks back to the witches' predictions. "If chance will make me king, well, chance can crown me." When Lady Macbeth reads her husband's letter and worries that Macbeth will be kind enough to follow through on the prophecies. evil spirits to take away her feminine sexuality and fill her with evil and guiltlessness. "Come, you spirits who orient yourself towards mortal thoughts! Desex me here, and fill me from head to foot with the most terrible cruelty; make my blood thicken, block the access and the passage to remorse, which are not embarrassing visits from nature. “When Macbeth returns from battle, she begins to intimidate Macbeth into committing the murder. She incites him to commit the murder by telling him that she is more of a man than he is and calling him a coward. “I would have, while he was smiling in my face, torn my nipple from his boneless gums and rushed away” Lady Macbeth says this to Macbeth to show that she is crueler than him as she tries to intimidate him for him to commit the crime. Macbeth is very reluctant to kill Duncan because he says he has been good to him and