Death count! :D

I wanted to get a death count going for our good friend Macbeth, and better yet, I wanted to remember all the ways in which these nice folks died. After all, what's the fun in forgetting the good part of Macbeth? We've got to remember all the murder! Okay, so let's start.

First and foremost, Macbeth killed Macdonwald, right? Macdonwald was the leader of a rebel force, and for being against Duncan, Macbeth politely cuts him from his belly button all the way up to his jaw with a sword. Ouch, talk about savage. Though this first death was pretty barbaric, though, it was Macbeth's only honorable murder, as in he was fighting for the king and not for himself.

The second one to die to Macbeth was Duncan himself, the good old king of Scotland and a huge driving force of the plot. Duncan's death isn't hard to remember - he basically invited himself over to his own downfall, after all! With the help of Lady Macbeth's planning, Macbeth kills Duncan in his sleep, then blames the murder on the guards.

Funnily (Sadly?) enough, the next two to die are the king's guards! Pretending to be horrified and angered by Duncan's death, Macbeth goes and kills the guards ruthlessly. The plan was to make it seem like they did it, kill them, and get all the suspicion off of their shoulders, but unfortunately for the Macbeths, this only put more suspicion on them.

Macbeth's fifth victim was Banquo, Macbeth's own ally. However, technically, Macbeth did not kill Banquo himself. Instead, he hired murderers to do it, because Macbeth is a huge sissy. The murderers murder Banquo, but his son escapes, which is another major plot point in the play, considering the fact that Banquo's sons are to be kings for generations. Unfortunate, huh? Also, side note, this guy showed up as a ghost in Macbeth's house. I feel like he felt the worst about this one; after all, how would you feel to have to kill your own friend because he saw too much?

The sixth victim is more of a group. Lady Macduff and her family were the next to be slaughtered by Macbeth's word, and though he did not kill them himself, this one is truly in cold blood. Lady Macduff and the children did absolutely nothing to Macbeth, and yet he gets them killed because Macduff is a threat. It's horrible, and at this point, I feel like Macbeth has gone too far past his ambition. He's now at the edge of sanity.

Siward is Macbeth's seventh victim. He was in the final battle to kill Macbeth once and for all, and Macbeth easily killed him from the front just before his battle with Macduff. At least he wasn't backstabbed, right? He dies honorably in battle, so Macbeth at least tried to be slightly less terrible than usual. Good job, Macbeth. Proud of you.

Though Macbeth did not kill or want to kill Lady Macbeth, I feel like she should also be mentioned as the eighth victim to Macbeth's whims. If not for this whole Macbeth-being-king thing, she wouldn't have been driven to commit suicide due to her guilt of the whole murdering thing. So, I'm counting it here - you killed your own wife, Macbeth! Congrats.