Character Of Lady Macbeth

Throughout the play "Macbeth", by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth's character drastically changes from being sinister to feeble. Lady Macbeth was an evil, manipulative person whose greed and selfishness were eventually the downfall of her character and well being. During the beginning of "Macbeth", she used her twisted mind to convince her husband to murder, making him believe that it was the only way he could get what he wanted. But as the play developed and the murders started to increase, Lady Macbeth started to question whether or not they were necessary. Sadly, though possibly justifiably, she ended up committing suicide after her constant questioning of the murders drove her to insanity. Lady Macbeth was an unemotional person who only cared about what she could gain. She made her disconcern about other people well known when she said, "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 I, Scene VII, Lines 55-60). Lady Macbeth refers that she would have no problem taking the life of her son, if it meant getting what she wanted. The fact that she would even fathom the idea of killing her own child makes her morose and appalling. If only she knew that it would be her who would be taken out of this world so cruelly. Being able to manipulate her husband's mind and the minds of others was another one of Lady Macbeth's baneful traits. After Macbeth killed King Duncan, still reeling from the crime he had committed, he met up with his wife. Once again, she used her manipulative ways to make him think that she felt just as bad as he did. She said, "My hands are of your color, but I shame To wear a heart so white." (Act II, Scene II, Lines 63-64). Lady Macbeth appeared to her husband as if she felt just as guilty about the act of violence as he did, knowing that in reality she didn't care at all. Telling Macbeth that her hands were as bloody as his own was to try to give him comfort that he was not alone in his schemes. But Lady Macbeth had other ideas in mind. She couldn't care less about her husband's thoughts or worries. All she could think about was

Macbeth, written by william shakespeare displays a diverse range of themes and topics throughout the play. These themes are represented through a wide range of characters throughout the dramatic text. One that is strongly underlined throughout the whole play is the theme of the connection between ambition and manipulation and one of the main characters; Lady Macbeth. Throughout the sequences of the play, lady macbeth is depicted as a head-strong ambitious woman who challenges her husband's masculinity in order for him to commit actions in order to gain power.

In play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is one of William Shakespeare’s most dominant and frightening female characters, known for her ambitious nature. As Macbeth’s wife, her role is significant in his rise and fall from royalty. During Shakespearean times, women were regarded as weak insignificant beings that were there to give birth and look beautiful. They were not thought to be as intelligent or equal to men. Though in Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is the highest influence in Macbeth’s life. Her role was so large; in fact, that she uses her position to gain power, stay strong enough to support her unstable Lord, and fails miserably while their

In Medieval times women were viewed as innocent beings who must be controlled by the men in their family; however, in Shakespeare’s Macbeth a woman is the mastermind behind the start of several horrendous deeds. Lady Macbeth was a woman with determination. When it was prophesized that Macbeth would be king, Lady Macbeth wished that her husband would immediately be at her side so she “may pour [her] spirits in [his] ear” (1. 5. 25). Lady Macbeth wanted nothing less that Macbeth to be king. In order for Macbeth to ascend to the throne, it needed to be emptied of King Duncan. Macbeth was an ambitious man but he was not evil, he would not commit murder to gain the throne; therefore, Lady Macbeth took it upon herself to see her husband crowned king. By making Lady Macbeth the mastermind behind a murder, Shakespeare disputed the typical role of women which labeled them as innocent and harmless beings.

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.

We see her as a suppressed female clawing to power through men. The most notable scene where Shakespeare conveys this is Act 1 Scene 5. He has Lady Macbeth say, “unsex me here”, demanding elimination of all womanly attributes. She also says, “take my milk for gall”. This demonstrates she does not want to be a nurturing, mother figure. Lady Macbeth thinks her femininity is useless and that she could accomplish more as a male. In the Elizabethan/Jacobean era, women were often subjugated – made to submit to and follow men, regarded as weak and in need of protection. Given no control, women were forced to stay home and bear children. Lady Macbeth yearns liberation from these stereotypes and ideal standards of her time. Her authority cravings lead her to tell Macbeth, “Leave all the rest to me” – seeking dominance. Her husband is essential to succeed so she can be interpreted as somewhat manipulating him into committing larger crimes – namely

The tragedy of Macbeth is a story of greed and lust for personal gain that is still seen frequently today, for it is human nature. It’s seen in many instances, such as power-hungry politicians with corrupt practices or even teenagers that bully to gain social status. Lady Macbeth possesses these same qualities throughout the story, and it’s evident from the very start when the fate witches tell their prophecies to the time of Macbeth’s downfall. During all of this, it’s clear that Lady Macbeth is the one behind it all. The reversal of gender roles allows her to control her husband, and she uses this control to force Macbeth to commit the series of murders, which would not have happened without her

women, money, power. These were all three things that tempted Macbeth. Lady Macbeth seems quite the contrary to how women in Elizabethan England would have been, the only women were able to obtain power was by influencing their husbands. This was a great advantage of Lady Macbeth’s on which she played and used very successfully. She was able to influence her husband so strongly that she convinced him willingly into committing murder willingly; Shakespeare displays the strength of power that women have the ability to possess if they wish, he conveys women as sneaky and willing to result to extreme tactics to get their own way; it shows just how dangerous women can be. Shakespeare uses Lady Macbeth as an icon for powerful women.

Shakespeare characterizes Lady Macbeth as a woman full of masculine traits such as courage and ambition. She is the perfect and needed counterpart in order to push Macbeth to murder Duncan and take over the kingdom. The first trait that is shown to the reader is courage. When Lady Macbeth is planning how to convince Macbeth into murder, she describes herself as a courageous woman: "That I may pour my spirits in thine ear, / And chastise with the valor of my tongue/ All that impedes thee from the golden round" (Macbeth I. v. 26-28). In this passage, it is clear how she is full of valor and will stop at nothing to get what she wants. In fact, in Shakespearian times, being courageous was a characteristic reserved only for men since women were thought to be fearful and helpless. Even Macbeth himself recognizes this trait in his wife: "Bring forth men-children only/ For thy undaunted mettle should compose/ Nothing but males." (Macbeth I. vii. 72-74). Macbeth can see how his wife nature is too bold for that of a woman, so he thinks that she should only be the mother of men for her essence is in itself a good example of what a good man should be. This example is an undeniable proof that Lady Macbeth is a masculine woman. Another male characteristic that is given to Lady Macbeth is ambition. She is an ambitious woman and she fears that her husband will not be as motivated as she is to get the crown:

Lady Macbeth is one of the only women in the story, besides the witches who are really expanded upon. Throughout the story you really find out how manipulative she is. She is all but the only reason that Macbeth killed the king. She was the spark that lit the fire but she was also the wood that kept the fire burning. But its all started when she was told by Macbeth that Malcolm was to become the next king instead of him or his children. This drove her to manipulate Macbeth and to force his hand to kill the king. Lady Macbeth was so ambitious that if she had not been a woman or the fact that duncan looked like her father she would have killed him with her own hand and not Macbeth. She manipulated him by twisting his emotions and calling him less of a

Overall Shakespear presents Lady MacBeth as a dominating character who defines the stereo types and symbolic duplicity of an ordinary women in the 11th century she is also presented as a ambiguous character who try's to control there fate by choosing and controlling who they kill,however Shakespeare shows that power that is taken unfairly ultimately leads to madness guilt and unhappiness. Shakespeare uses Lady Macbeths character as a dramatic convention which captures the audiences attention Lady MacBeth Asks the "spirits" to "unsex" her , which shows that she wants to spirits to take away her femininity as she believes what women in the 11th century Era to be weak due to them maternal connection she also asked to spirits to "stop up the access and passage to remorse for the "deed" she has committed, though people who are truly evil would not hide from these dark deed , but except them.

Lady Macbeth can be said to be one of Shakespeare's most famous and frightening female characters. She fulfills her role among the nobility and is well respected, like Macbeth. She is loving, yet very determined that her husband will be king. At the beginning of the play, when she is first seen, she is already plotting the murder of Duncan, showing more strength, ruthlessness, and ambition than Macbeth. She lusts after power and position and then pressures her husband into killing Duncan. Upon receiving the letter with the witches' prophecies from her husband, she begins to think and knowing that Macbeth lacks the courage for something like this, she calls upon the forces of evil to help her do what must be

The women in Macbeth, namely Lady Macbeth, contradict these expectations through their commanding, and ambitious tones. During that second half of act one Lady Macbeth is portrayed as the ruling figure in the house. Instead of being a grateful and fulfilling housewife she instead pushes and commands Macbeth to commit assassination. She berates him when he falters and asked if he would rather, “live like a coward in thine own esteem.” (Shakespeare)

At the very beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is provoked by the letter she receives by Macbeth and starts plotting the murder of Duncan. She also wishes she were a man such that she could commit the murder all by herself saying so in Act 1 Scene 5, “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” (Macbeth 1.5.36-52). She appeals to these spirits to remove all aspects of her femininity and seeks to gain power through the prophecy of the witches. Her fear about the ability of her husband to commit the murder is subdued in her designated gender. Lady Macbeth manages her feminine power through her sensuality and pretended weakness through her fainting streak at the notice of Duncan’s death. Manipulation, usually through sexuality is often depicted as the source of women’s power still Lady Macbeth uses this power of hers to commit murder, a masculine demonstration of power. Lady Macbeth in her soliloquy about the planning of Duncan’s death refers to her husband as an individual who plays honestly and does not engage in wrongdoing.

Lady Macbeth’s burning ambition to be queen drives her to the point of insanity. She stops at nothing to gain power and uses Macbeth as the enforcer for her plans. This power is clearly illustrated as her husband follows her command to kill the king of Scotland, she constantly taunts Macbeth bringing him even further under her control. She is quite the opposite of how we generally assume feminine characters to act, and even begs the gods to remove her femininity at one point, “...Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here...Come to my woman’s breasts, and take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers...” (Shakespeare 12). As Lady Macbeth expresses her desire to become unsexed, we see the link that clearly exists between masculinity and murder. She believes that since she is a woman she cannot be capable of committing such evil deeds, and her reference to her breasts which is generally linked to the idea of nurture, is called upon in reference to her desire to do quite the opposite. Lady Macbeth presents a very strong character throughout the play, and through her actions a very clear picture of a manipulative wife is painted. Though Macbeth is the one to carry out many of the deviant plans, Lady Macbeth’s role is clearly portrayed as the evil mastermind behind the murders.