A desire for power leads people to do and do things they would not typically do. People choose to deceive, manipulate, or even go as far as murdering people. William Shakespeare Macbeth shows that people are faced with the unquenchable desire for power, they tend to exert influence over others to lead them to what they think is the most desirable outcome. This is shown in Shakespeare’s Macbeth as Lady Macbeth manipulates people throughout the play to gain and maintain power which causes her relationship with Macbeth to become toxic and leads to her ultimate downfall. Lady Macbeth’s unquenchable desire for power causes her to manipulate Macbeth in a way that creates a toxic relationship between the two. Lady Macbeth states in (2.2.70-71) "Tis …show more content…
How tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me. I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this. (1.7.63-67) Lady Macbeth is angered that Macbeth suddenly no longer wants to go through with the plan they had for getting rid of Duncan. She tells Macbeth a twisted example of how serious she is about making promises, claiming that she would be willing to kill her baby if she made the promise to do so. This shows how cruel Lady Macbeth is because she is willing to kill her child because of a promise. A mother killing her child is unheard of, to claim that you are willing to do this shows that you are not thinking normally, and are probably suffering from a mental illness. Lady Macbeth started losing her sanity because of her desire to gain …show more content…
She has so much guilt for the crime she caused that it causes her to have a mental breakdown. As she relives the night of the murder during her sleep, she recalls when she manipulates Macbeth by saying he should stop being afraid and be the warrior he is. She reassures him that after they are finished, they will be protected by the power they will receive from becoming king and queen which is ironic because Queen Macbeth is having a mental breakdown on the night of the murder. The interesting part of the quote is when Lady Macbeth asks “who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?” because it shows that Lady Macbeth had not yet considered the consequences of Murdering Duncan. She did not know that murdering Duncan would come with so much guilt and fear of being exposed which has such a huge effect on Lady Macbeth that she can no longer sleep
She’s more of the brains behind the plan to kill King Duncan rather than the actual murderer. In Act 1: Scene 5, she receives the letter from Macbeth and she says “Yet I do fear thy nature; It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness”, she knows that he will end up not wanting to go through with their plan. Although he could have said no she still pushed him to proceed. Maybe if Macbeth would’ve put his foot down instead of cowering down and doing whatever Lady Macbeth said, he wouldn’t be in the predicament of having to kill his friends that he is in now. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are much like Adam and Eve.
She knows just what she has to do to guarantee that if the King were to get killed that Macbeth would be the one to get the throne. "Lady Macbeth encourages her husband to seize the power of requisite to ruthless patrilineal order. "(Alfar 182). Killing all of King Duncans' heirs was one thing she knew she had to be done to guarantee Macbeth would be the next person in line for the throne. Lady Macbeth was a strong woman that when she had her mind set on something she was going to do whatever it took to do it without hesitation.
Lady Macbeth is heartless and cruel. She shows this in a quote that reads, "How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me. I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums And dashed the brains out had I so sworn as you have done to this." (Act 1: Scene 7: Lines 55-59). This quote illustrates how Lady Macbeth has no regard for anyone or anything else, proven by this quote when she talks about how she would rather smash the brain out of her child than have Macbeth not kill the current King and take his place.
The things Lady Macbeth has known started coming out in her sleep as she sleep walked towards the end of the story. She had spoken “The thane of fife had a wife. Where is she now? What, will these hands ne’er be clean?” Lord Macduff's’ wife had been killed by Macbeths hitmen and Lady Macbeth had figured out and this may have been the guilt that finally drove her past the edge of destruction and she ended her own
“Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here…”(1.5.43-44). Lady Macbeth trying to appear androgynous like the witches. As with the witches, Lady Macbeth is a manipulator. Often emotionally and physically manipulating others to gain more power, Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth by questioning his manhood, bravery, and by giving him the courage and ambition to commit murder.
First, Lady Macbeth is ruthless because she talks about how she would kill her baby while smiling at her if she said she was going to kill the baby. Next, “I have given suck, and know how tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me. I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out had I so sworn as you have done to this (Shakespeare 1.7.54-59a)”. Finally, She is talking about how she has nursed a baby before and she knows how it feels to love the baby and she would pull her nipple out of it’s mouth while it smiled at her and smash it’s brains in if she said she was going to do that. First, Lady Macbeth is ruthless and quickly comes up with a plan to kill the king even though he is a kind person to her and gives her gifts and her husband honorable titles.
When Lady Macbeth found out about the predictions the witches had for Macbeth, she started to pressure him, even guilt tripped him about their deceased son, and made him doubt the morals he valued. As act I of Macbeth, carried on, the image and principles Macbeth had for himself began to rot away. While Macbeth desired take King Duncan’s throne, he wanted to do it the in righteous matter. Whenever Macbeth had doubts about killing King Duncan, Lady Macbeth was always there to urge him otherwise, because she cared more about power than him "Great Glamis, worthy Cawdor." (1.5 52).
First, Lady Macbeth starts to feel guilt when she realizes that she was responsible for Duncan’s death. “Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, oh, oh!’’(Shakespeare 5.1.45-47). Lady Macbeth realizes that no matter what she will do nothing will erase Duncan’s death from her conscience.
Her ambition pushed Macbeth to gain more power in life and over his wife. At the beginning of the story, Lady Macbeth talks down constantly towards Macbeth; she calls him “a coward” and continuously spews hatred towards Macbeth’s masculinity. This sparks Macbeth’s killing spree, as Lady Macbeth’s final question clung to him: “Who dares receive it other, / as we shall make our griefs and clamor roar / upon his death”(I.vii. 89-91)? After feeling empowered and supported in killing Duncan, Macbeth’s personal and selfish need for power grows enormously, which in turn means taking Lady Macbeth’s power away in their relationship.
We are the most vulnerable to manipulation when we can’t see past our greatest ambitions. Which is exactly what happened to Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth manipulated and encouraged her husband, Macbeth, to kill the king, which led her to have internal conflicts that ultimately led to her fate. Lady Macbeth is manipulative toward making Macbeth, king.
Lady Macbeth is indeed the dominant one between herself and her spouse Macbeth. With ease she could have persuaded Macbeth to do her dirty work whenever she pleased to do so. She doesn’t show this power over him in public places or around people but rather when they’re behind closed doors in private. Her tactics consisted of using shame and or questioning his manhood to emotional corruption to control his mind to ultimately execute her idea or will. If not already obvious enough, Lady Macbeth is the snake in the garden corrupting Macbeth to become an evil character throughout the play slowly but shortly.
During Lady Macbeth's encounter with power she is an evil, manipulative person which shows the reader that power has the ability to
Come to my woman’s breasts and take my milk for gall” (Shakespeare I.V. 48-50, 54-55). It is clear that Lady Macbeth is requesting to be changed into a man. By switching to a man, not only is it socially acceptable to be ruthless, but Lady Macbeth could also go through with her plan without asking a man to do
Her ability to manipulate her husband, her ambition for power, and the guilt that she eventually experiences all managed to change the ending. Upon hearing that her husband was going to be king in the future, she immediately decided that the only logical next step would be to have Macbeth kill Duncan. Although her train of thought was simple, this drastically altered the final result, and ended with Macbeth being killed and Lady Macbeth committing suicide. After devising a plot to kill Duncan, she acts as the perfect hostess, king and diligent, knowing perfectly well that he would die in a few hours. She later helps establish an alibi for Macbeth, even going so far as to hide the knives by the attendants so that it seems as if they killed him.
Power can not only bring ambitious people honors, but also make them lose everything. In the play, Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, it demonstrates that the immoral power influences the life of Macbeth dramatically. Macbeth’s abuse of power destroys his relationship with his cousin, friend, and wife, which shows that Macbeth’s wild ambition causes him to be isolated. Macbeth’s abuse of power destroys his relationship with his cousin, Duncan.