Understanding Lady Macbeth Would you do anything to be loyal? William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is about a husband and wife who force their way to the crown but suffer in the aftermath of their actions. Lady Macbeth is not a monster. She is a loyal though misguided wife, not without tenderness and not without conscience. Lady Macbeth’s willingness to sacrifice her femininity exposes her loyalty towards Macbeth. After reading the letter regarding the witch’s prophecies, she decides she must do whatever it take to make Macbeth King: Come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood. Stop up th’ access and passage to remorse, that no compunctious …show more content…
While the banquet was underway, Macbeth had graphic hallucination of Banquo, Lady Macbeth tried to calm Macbeth down and bring him back to reality: “O, proper stuff! This is the very painting of your fear. This is the air-drawn dagger which you said led you to Duncan.”(3.4.74-76). Lady Macbeth is trying to ease Macbeth by emphasizing that “this is the very painting of your fear” reminding him not to listen to the hallucination and that it only appears when he is scared. Another way in which she tries to settle Macbeth is by reminding him of the “air-drawn dagger” that appeared in front of him but was not real. Lady Macbeth could have left Macbeth to make a fool of himself at the banquet, but instead with her tender heart she rushed to help him even after all the wrong he had …show more content…
Lady Macbeth wasn’t involved in the death of Macduff’s family, yet she still feels the guilt for his losses: “The Thane of Fife has a Wife. Where is she now? What will there hands we’re be clean? No more o’ that. You mar all with this starting.”(5.1.44-47). Lady Macbeth feels like she is responsible for the death of Macduff’s family because it was Macbeth who ordered their death, “The Thane of Fife had a Wife. Where is she now” as if she is adding it on to the list of her wrongs she has done. Lady Macbeth knows she has released the monster in Macbeth but is desperate to stop him and beg him “n more o’ that, my lord, no more o’ that”. Lady Macbeth’s sadness and guilt resulting from Macbeth’s actions proves that she has a
“To know my deed, twere best not know myself.” (2.2.92) Another death caused by Macbeth was the murder of Macduff's family. Macduff was a nobleman who had suspicions about Macbeth's true intentions. He decided he would go to England to speak with Malcom, King Duncan's eldest son. Together they shared opinions about Macbeth's tyranny over Scotland.
Macbeth’s love for his wife deteriorated, alongside their relationship to the point where Macbeth does not even care about his wife’s death. Moving forward, Macbeth is not the only person who has undergone a major change. Lady Macbeth has also transitioned from a ruthless, power hungry individual, to someone riddled with guilt, which is shown when she states: “The thane of Fife has a wife. Where is she now? — / What, will these hands ne’er be clean?”
Throughout the scene, Macbeth is subjected to mockery, guilt-tripping, and dishonor for hesitating to kill the king. She brilliantly structures her arguments to focus on her husband, portraying her cause to be in his best interest. This succeeds, for Lady Macbeth knows her husband is an egocentric and, in his eyes, a valiant man. In the end, Macbeth decides to go through with the plan, but becomes more passionate about it than before. Lady Macbeth manipulated him into solidly committing to it.
This is seen in Act 2 when Macbeth is on his way to kill Duncan. “Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee” (II.I.42-43). In this quote Macbeth was overwhelmed with the thought of killing Duncan. The thought of committing such a evil crime is enough to make him see hallucinations.
“The castle of Macduff I will surprise; seize upon Fife; give to the edge o’ the sword his wife his babes, and all the unfortunate souls” (4.1. 165-167). This shows Macbeth’s complete disregard for human life and his willingness to commit crimes to maintain his power. He sees Macduff as a significant threat and is willing to do whatever it takes to eliminate him, including murdering Macduff’s wife and children. His ambition has consumed him, and he has lost touch with morality or compassion.
—No more o ' that, my lord, no more o ' that. You mar all with this starting” (V.i line 36-38). Even though, Lady Macbeth had nothing to do with the murders after Duncan, like Banquo and Macduff’s wife as well as his son, she still feels guilty because she created the monster, by manipulating Macbeth to kill Duncan. Another reason Lady Macbeth feels remorseful is because she had to do with some of the action in the murder, for example planning the death of Duncan and framing Duncan 's attendant. The guilt is causing Lady Macbeth to go insane because she is aware “All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.
As the Macbeth’s portray the opposite of social constructs and expectations in the play, they eventually fall into their belonged stereotype after Lady Macbeth slowly starts to spiral downhill. Once Macbeth feels as though someone is in the way of him becoming King, he instantly creates a plan to murder them like Lady Macbeth did with Duncan. As they eventually take up each others common behavior, Lady Macbeth drives herself to insanity due to her womanly feelings. “I have seen her rise from her bed, throw her nightgown upon her, unlock her closet, take forth paper, fold it, write upon ’t, read it, afterwards seal it, and again return to bed; yet all this while in a most fast sleep.” , she is seen sleepwalking and participating in strange activities due to the insanity driven from guilt (5.1.4-6).
Lady Macbeth has great influence on her husband in this play. Lady Macbeth is a manipulative, ambitious, and determined woman whose sole desire is to make Macbeth the Thane of Cawdor. She does not care about any consequences that may come from her plans. She is too blinded by selfish ambitions to consider the morality of her and Macbeth's intentions. When she is alone, Lady Macbeth embraces her evil thoughts and to the spirits states, "And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full, Of direst cruelty!
Shakespeare engineered a most impressionable character in Macbeth who easily succumbs to the extensive magnitude of opposing constraints. This character is Macbeth, who is the protagonist in the play and husband to a conniving wife, who in the end is the sole cause for Macbeth 's undoing. Conflicting forces in the play compel internal conflicts within Macbeth to thrive on his contentment and sanity as he his torn asunder between devotion, aspiration, morality and his very own being. He has developed a great sense of loyalty from being a brave soldier; however, his ambition soon challenges this allegiance. As his sincerity begins to deteriorate, his own sanity starts to disintegrate until the point where he cannot differentiate between reality
Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as a power hungry and vindictive women, whose character is against the stereotypes of a Jacobean woman. Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as a deceptive woman, who uses the fact that she is a woman as a weapon. ‘Why, worthy thane, you do unbend your noble strength to think.’ Lady Macbeth is talking to Macbeth.
William Shakespeare portrayed the character Lady Macbeth to be extremely ruthless, malicious and manipulative. Thus, being the reason she could easily convince Macbeth to do her will, yet still put on such a convincing performance in front of those who knew nothing of her and her husband’s actions. Lady Macbeth shows her complexity constantly throughout the story when she shares her view-point on masculinity by demasculinizing her own husband, when she strategically plans the murder of the King Duncan, and finally when she finally goes crazy because of the guilt she possesses for not only her own actions but also turning her own husband into a
Guilt has the potential to crumble even the most powerful of mortals. The Shakespearean tragedy Macbeth reveals the consequence of immoral action: guilt. William Shakespeare portrays the idea that the downfall of one may transpire as a result of this regret. Throughout the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are negatively affected as they are overwhelmed by the realization that they have violated their moral standards; this causes their guilt. The two attempt to conceal the remorse they experience, but despite this, their misdeeds take their toll.
The voices he hears that threaten: “Macbeth shall sleep no more” indicate a relationship between guilt and madness. Therefore, the manifestation of the dagger suggests that he feels guilty because of his attempt to murder Duncan. There are three major transitions of thought. First, he contemplates about the dagger’s existence; the second is the invocations of dark images; finally, there is the bell that cuts off Macbeth’s contemplations. The transitions between topics indicate that while Macbeth feels guilty for the murder, his determination makes him ignore
Like men, she has the trait to be gruesome and diabolical in nature. She has determined for herself the course to be pursued and nothing can hinder her. She does not need the prophecy of the witches to urge her. She is aware of her strength and she is resolute in her aim. Knowing Macbeth’s weakness,
Lady Macbeth takes on a “manly” role, which is surprising because of how patriarchal the society is. However, she “gradually falls apart, consumed by guilt, and eventually commits suicide”. (Klett) Lady Macbeth does not conform to medieval Scotland’s female stereotype of being a domestic wife.