Macbeth feels ambivalent about killing the king in Act 1, scene 7. He begins the scene with a lengthy soliloquy in which he outlines the many and varied reasons he has not to kill Duncan. Duncan is his friend and his guest, a circumstance that ought to require him to shut the door on whomever would do Duncan harm. Duncan is his king and his kinsman, relationships that ought to secure Macbeth's loyalty, and, finally, Duncan is a good person and just ruler. Macbeth acknowledges that the only reason he has to go ahead with the plan to kill Duncan is his "Vaulting ambition" (1.7.27), and he actually tells his wife that he doesn't want to go through with the murder anymore. However, she insults him repeatedly, wounding his pride, and he eventually recommits to the murder. However, he is presented in this scene as being largely ambivalent -- he needs a lot of convincing to go ahead with killing Duncan.
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