Macbeth-belief system...?

Question

in shakespeares macbeth, is the only time when macbeth changes his belief system, when lady macbeth forces/convinces him to kill duncan? or would it also somehow by when he listens to the 3 witches at the beginning? is there anyone else who changes there belief systems??? -THANKS!

Answer 1

It is doubtful that Macbeth truly believed that it was wrong to kill Duncan that his wife could have changed his mind. He planned and ordered of all of the other murders (including children) without her help.

Answer 2

Act I Sc iii ln 137

If good, why do I yield to that suggestion

Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair

And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,

Against the use of nature?  Present fears

Are less than horrible imaginings.

My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,

Shakes so my single state of man

That function is smothered in surmise,

And nothing is but what is not.

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This is right after Macbeth becomes Thane of Cawdor.  He is thinking about what the witches said will happen next (He will be King.).  The text above is basically him saying that he has been thinking about killing Duncan, though the prospect scares him.  This scene is before we ever meet up with Lady Macbeth.  She most definately encourages it, but the thought was there almost immediately.  Not once does he feel that it is wrong to do this, only that he is afraid to do it.

As for your other questions, you should be doing your own homework.   If you are having trouble understanding the language, here is a side-by-side modern translation:

http://nfs.sparknotes.com/macbeth