Macbeth kills his own friend Banquo because he was afraid that Banquo's sons would end up taking the throne. His original plan to kill Banquo and Fleance was to have them killed while riding together. It didn't work because Fleance had a chance to escape. Macbeth's madness increases greatly and there is no choice but death. Fleance ran away and was never heard from again. Macbeth quickly changed and became even more mad from his power, and feared that Banquo would take the throne away from him. The heirs became scared thinking that they would be blamed for their father's death or that they would die later. It was then that they fled that day, so they no longer remained heirs to the throne. Lady Macbeth had nothing to do with Banquo's murder. Macbeth has decided to start making his own decision because he is changing the way he is, and his wife is no longer telling him what to do. Instead of telling Lady Macbeth his plans, he kept them a secret from her until the murder was done. Macbeth has killed, so he thinks he might continue to kill. Macbeth has gained his power by becoming king and no longer feels as guilty about the murder as he did when he killed Duncan. Now he thinks it's okay to keep killing people to ensure his place on the throne, and he no longer leaves any guilt inside him. He is trying to assert his manhood by killing Banquo and Macduff's family. The witches told Macbeth to beware of Macduff, so Macbeth wanted to make sure he couldn't get in the way of his throne. Macbeth sent his soldiers to kill Macduff, but when they arrived at his castle they realized that only his family was there, not himself. The soldiers instead killed his family. The soldiers returned to Macbeth, and Macduff was no longer... middle of paper... remembered for many good things in life. Instead, he will be seen as someone selfish and evil who only wanted to hurt everyone but himself. He cared so much about everyone and ultimately cultivated hatred for everyone even though he had no reason to hate them. Instead of taking matters into his own hands to become a king, he completely tore his life apart. He couldn't even live happily when he became king because he had to suffer with thoughts of guilt for the rest of his life. His wife Lady Macbeth suffered for even helping to cause the death of one person early in his journey to the throne. I guess his journey to becoming real wasn't what they thought it would be; it simply made Macbeth change drastically and ruined his life. Work cited Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. New York: Washington Press, 1992.