Macbeth : Act I

What role do the Witches and Lady Macbeth play in Macbeth's decision to kill Malcolm?

The witches give just enough information to confuse someone. They tell Macbeth that he is Than of Cawdor and future kind and then they vanish. Both the Thane of Cawdor and Kind Duncan are still alive; so how can he have those titles? When Macbeth does become the Thane of Cawdor his mind is set that he must be the future king and he gets thoughts of killing Kind Duncan!

At first I thought Lady Macbeth was a soft, sweet, "I won't let you do such a cruel thing" kind of wife. I was wrong! She doesn't think that Macbeth has what it takes to be king. He is to much of a softy and doesn't have a mean streak. But then she figures that both fate and witchcraft say that he is going to be kind so they must act upon this. She wants to know what is holding him back. Lady Macbeth makes plans of killing King Duncan and hints to Macbeth about her plans. When the time has come Lady Macbeth convinces her husband to commit the crime and has the plan all ready!