"To what extent are the witches and Lady Macbeth responsible for Macbeth's actions?"

Macbeth by William Shakespeare is a play that portrays Macbeth, who is an ambitious character, being manipulated and motivated by female powers. Macbeth is initially depicted as a brave and capable warrior but his physical courage is joined by a consuming ambition- to become King of Scotland. It was his encounter with the witches, or otherwise referred to as the "weird sisters", that motivated and inspired Macbeth to murder Duncan and therefore become the King …

…played a major role in the play by influencing and motivating Macbeth into initially murdering Duncan, and then believing that he was invincible from anyone. The witches' prophecies had given inspiration and had exercised Macbeth's thoughts of becoming King whilst Lady Macbeth's evil nature had persuaded Macbeth by playing on his emotions and questioning his man hood. Therefore, it was to a great extent that Macbeth's actions were caused by the manipulation of female powers.