At the beginning of act 1, scene 7, Macbeth considers the myriad compelling reasons he has notto kill the king—Duncan is his friend, his king, his relative, his guest. Further, it is not as though Macbeth will simply commit the murder and then become king; there are more steps that will have to be taken. Not to mention the facts that committing this act would corrupt Macbeth's immortal soul and that Duncan has been...
At the beginning of act 1, scene 7, Macbeth considers the myriad compelling reasons he has not to kill the king—Duncan is his friend, his king, his relative, his guest. Further, it is not as though Macbeth will simply commit the murder and then become king; there are more steps that will have to be taken. Not to mention the facts that committing this act would corrupt Macbeth's immortal soul and that Duncan has been a good, virtuous leader. Moreover, if he murders the king, then Macbeth shows other people that one can, in fact, murder a king. Because "Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return / To plague th' inventor," someone may use that knowledge to murder Macbeth in the end (1.7.9-1). After Macbeth lists all his reasons not to kill Duncan, he says,
I have no spur
To prick the side of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself
And falls on th' other (1.7.25-28).
In other words, Macbeth has no impetus, no reason to move forward with the murder except for his great ambition, a quality which has a tendency to make people commit rash actions that lead to their downfall. He has many reasons not to kill Duncan and only one reason to do it: ambition.
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