Ambition In Macbeth

What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him”Lady Macbeth no longer wants to be accused of committing such a tragedy, that would transform her and her husbands life.

Lady Macbeth throughout the play shows her dominance in the relationship by challenging Macbeth's masculinity and making him seem weak. This tactic worked in her favour as it always resulted in the way she wanted. Act one scene scene 7 supports this through lady macbeth's statement; “Was the hope drunk Wherein you dress'd yourself? hath it slept since? And wakes it now, to look so green and pale At what it did so freely?”. Lady macbeth provides a range of rhetorical questions and allusions to motivate macbeth. By using the rhetorical question “to look so green and pale At what it did so freely?”, lady macbeth describes her husband as green and pale. These two adjectives alludes to the popular disease at the time of macbeth, anemia. Anemia was heavily popular during the time of macbeth, with it being most popular in young virgin girls. This insult encouraged macbeth to pursue through with lady macbeth's wishes. Lady Macbeth continues to fire insults at macbeth through her words in Act 3 scene 4 “This is the air-drawn dagger which you said Led you to Duncan. O, these flaws and starts,Impostors to true fear, would well become A woman's story at a winter's fire, Authorized by her grandam. Shame itself!” In this scene, lady macbeth uses a metaphor to convey the weakness of macbeth. She does this by calling macbeth's hallucination; a story made by a young girl, but had to be double checked with her mother to see if it was appropriate enough to say. Lady Macbeth describes these actions as proper shame, encouraging macbeth to fulfil his plans. Furthermore, lady macbeth uses this same strategy in Act 1 scene 5 , “your eye, Your hand, your tongue; look like th'

Lady Macbeth, a leading character in William Shakespeare’s famous tragedy Macbeth, progresses throughout the play from a savage and heartless creature to a delicate and fragile woman, having no regard for mortality.

He shows us the theme of appearance versus reality which helps to create dramatic tension. The conflict between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth causes dramatic tension to rise in the audience as they wonder what will happen later in the future. This scene is dramatic as the scene is ironic because the audience knows of the murder of Banquo and the king the Lords and guests are all confused. Shakespeare creates suspense and tension by foreshadowing events which is dramatic as the audience wonder how long Macbeth and Lady Macbeth will be able to continue to hold the throne before they fall for their own paintings of fear and

Macbeth’s voice was filled with fright, and he looked quite disturbed by the sight. Lady Macbeth reassured us that her husband had suffered from these “fits” since his youth and that we would offend Macbeth if we noticed him too much. Though she tried to keep a calm exterior, it was clear that Lady Macbeth was shaken by the sudden outburst. Her words were suspicious, and I was unsure of the truthfulness of her explanation. The once inviting atmosphere of the gathering had quickly dissipated, and it seemed as though an ominous darkness had filled the air. I remained quiet in my chair, but something seemed greatly amiss about the situation. Lady Macbeth pulled Macbeth aside and began talking quietly with him, and though I could not hear what was being said, it seemed as though she was more angry than concerned, which is different than what I would have expected her to be during her husband’s fit. Soon, Macbeth rejoined the table, but he looked pale and shaken, a far cry from the noble man I had witnessed at the beginning of the banquet. After he toasted Banquo, it appeared that the gathering had resumed, and I was looking forward to finally

“Come to my woman’s breasts And take my milk for gall.” One would assume here that if one of the two were to have the strength of mind to live through this evil tragedy it would be Lady Macbeth. Shakespeare is entering into this very interior of Macbeth’s mind allowing the audience to realise further differences between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Macbeth at this stage is going deeper and deeper into the world of evil. “Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse The curtained sleep.” Macbeth realized that in obtaining the crown by foul play he is devaluing as the king is meant to be appointed by God. By now, Macbeth is able to have the courage to look into the heart of fear; lady Macbeth on the other hand is unable to do this.

Lady Macbeth has the power over her husband to persuade him into doing anything she requests. She manipulates Macbeth with incredible efficiency by overruling all of his thoughts and changing his perspective on the present. Even though the many tasks that need to be completed are difficult to understand why they need to be done, Lady Macbeth will always convince Macbeth to do it. Her husband often tells her that she has a “masculine soul” which is obvious due to her murderous and envious actions. When the time came to kill king Duncan, Macbeth believes that his wife has gone insane and tells her that the crime they were about to commit was a horrible idea. As a result of his questioning, Lady Macbeth says that executing the crime will show his loyalty to her. On the night of the assassination Lady Macbeth watched the guards of the castle become drunk and unaware of what was going on. Lady Macbeth sent her husband into the castle to kill King Duncan. The married couple fled the scene leaving the guards covered in the evidence. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are stained with the blood of their victims and the feeling of guilt in their stomach.

Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, is a tragic tale about a Scottish general corrupted by power and greed. Throughout the play, the audience traces the disintegration of Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth has a profound influence on the play, as it is her highly ambitious and controlling nature that influences Macbeth to make the decisions that lead to his downfall. Lady Macbeth also says various of lines, that depending on the way the reader interprets them, can help the reader better understand the complexity of Shakespeare’s characters. A particular scene in act III serves as evidence to the beginning of the decline of power for Macbeth and his wife. The lines in this scene may subtly foreshadow either the dissertation of Macbeth’s allies, or the beginnings of Lady Macbeth loosing her mind.

Lady Macbeth goes to extremes for power, she states that the dead and the sleeping cannot harm you more than a picture can. Ambition has made her forget about who she actually is, and that how the motif unnaturalness is depicted. Ambition and her desire for more power has changed her attitude as a women. towards her husband, she disrespected him more than once, . afterAfter

”(Macbeth 2.1.47-50). Shakespeare uses these lines to express Macbeth’s mental state due to the idea of having to kill King

This is a metaphor for the guilt she is feeling over killing duncan. This lets us see that it is infact, she does feel guilt and fear over killing duncan, even though she shames macbeth for it. Also when she says “One: two: why, then, 'tis time to do't” it’s like she’s telling herself she can kill duncan it’s time now but, the way she’s counting it’s as if she has tried but can't bring herself to actually kill.

Upon this realization, Lady Macbeth indicates a newfound desire to be rid of her feminine qualities, seeking instead to replace them with masculine counterparts. Crying out, Lady Macbeth declares, “Come, you spirits. That tend on mortal thought! Unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top full of direst cruelty” (1. 5. 38-41). Her abstinence towards the limitations of gender thus set her down the road to madness.

“We will proceed no further in this business. He hath honored me of late, and I have bought Golden opinions from all sorts of people.” He has second thoughts about the plan and displays resistance, something Lady Macbeth would never. She is ruthless and has no hesitations while driving her husband towards this murder. She uses her words powerfully and emasculated her husbands by comparing his lack of resilience to herself.

By now, we are able to recognize Lady Macbeth’s nature. Her thoughts are bombarded with dark images and her mind is set on the murder of the King.

This scene is dire as it shows the inner workings of Lady Macbeth. Despite the fact that she knows she has more balls than her husband, she still calls on the spirits to “unsex” her. She wants to be stripped from the weakness of her female façade and be superseded with brutal male determination. Her ambition to climb the social ladder consumes her and she knows just how to manipulate her husband. Lady Macbeth knows exactly how to urge Macbeth down the murderous path they have set out on. She insults his manhood and insinuates that if he is hesitant then he is not a man and perhaps does not deserve to be King: