In History It Is Often Taught That Even Events That Occurred

She was the character that finally convinced Macbeth to kill Duncan in his own castle, proclaiming “O, never shall sun that morrow see!” (1.6.71-72). She encouraged such betraying behavior as a reaction to Macbeth’s letter about being predicted as the next king of Scotland. Eager to become queen, Lady Macbeth completely disregarded the inner politics of Scotland, her and Macbeth’s morals, the sacred Great Chain of Being, and the Divine Right of Kings. She continues to violate the Chain as she reverses gender roles with Macbeth, verbally abusing him as only a man was allowed to do to a woman (so it was believed then). She consistently degrades Macbeth by calling him a woman, comparing his explanations to “a woman’s story at a winter’s fire, authorized by her grandma” (3.4.78-79). The common belief in 17th century England was that women were far below men on the social ranking scale, so Lady Macbeth’s numerous insults are completely out of line. Eventually she is punished for her interruption in the Great Chain of Being as she becomes insane from guilt. At last, the murder of Duncan comes back to haunt her, causing her to imagine blood on her hands and cry “Out, damned, spot, out, I say!” (5.1.37). In the end, all of her past actions catch up with her and she commits suicide as she wrestles with the burning question, “What, will these hands ne’er be clean?” (5.1.45). Shakespeare justly writes in her demise as she is

In Shakespare’s play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth’s destiny is formed by her own actions through mind and free-will. In act I, Lady Macbeth convinces her husband to murder Duncan, even though Macbeth was strongly against it. Lady Macbeth is very successful at persuading him to go against his better judgment. She entirely changes the stereotype of women being kind and caring in the first act. After Macbeth writes home telling of his murderous plans, Lady Macbeth begins talking to evil spirits. Because women often lack the ruthlessness to kill someone, Lady Macbeth asks the spirits to make her male. One of the most vivid descriptions of Lady Macbeth’s wickedness is directly after Macbeth announces to her he does not want to kill Duncan. This speech symbolizes Lady Macbeth’s evilness. She is ruthless, because of her evil accounts for the murders that occur throughout the play. Lady Macbeth convinces her husband to commit murders that will make them king

Macbeth is confused as he is arguing with himself on what he should do. He states reasons not to kill Duncan, because Macbeth is his noble kinsmen and the act would bring dishonor. However, he also states reason why he should kill him, because Macbeth will then become king and fulfill the witches ' fortune. Lady Macbeth, who appears in the beginning as the driving force for the murder of King Duncan, also develops internal conflict. At first, Lady Macbeth seems to be a woman of extreme confidence and will. But, as situations become more and more unstable in the play, guilt develops inside her. For instance, she exclaims; "Wash your hands. Put on your nightgown. / Look not so pale. I tell you again, Banquo 's / Burried; he cannot come out on 's grave" (Shakespeare V, ii, 65-67). Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and frets about her evil wrongdoings because she is extremely guilty of her influence on Macbeth to commit the murder. Lady Macbeth reacts emotionally and dwells on her actions as guilt eats at her soul.

“Lady Macbeth tutors her husband in the arts of deceit” (Kemp 95). She tells him to “bear welcome in your eye, your hand, your tongue: look like th’ innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t” (Shakespeare I. v. 63-65). She also portrays the perfect hostess. Duncan praises Lady Macbeth for being an “honour’d hostess” and a “fair and noble hostess” (Shakespeare I. vi. 10, 24). She drugs the guards who protect Duncan’s bedchamber by bringing them tainted wine. Lady Macbeth, unable to kill Duncan because he resembles his father, has Macbeth to murder him instead. After the deed is done, Lady Macbeth plays to be distraught over the King’s death. Later, following the murders of Duncan and Banquo, Macbeth acknowledges his wife as hostess, and she welcomes the thanes who have gathered after being summoned to acknowledge Macbeth as their new king (Kemp 95).

On the contrary, Lady Macbeth begins as a ruthless woman. She has a manipulative and controlling character, convincing Macbeth to kill King Duncan; she will do anything to gain power. When she says, “How tender ‘tis to love the babe…I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out” (I.vii. 55-58), she shows her ruthlessness and her “bad” ambition. In her “role reversal” with Macbeth, she gains somewhat of a conscience and realizes her guilt. When she tells him, “You must leave this” (III. ii. 35), she wants Macbeth to forget about his plan to murder Banquo’s family. She is very hesitant about committing another murder and does not want Macbeth to follow through with his plan.

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.

The conformity to gender roles that Macbeth and Lady follow leads to the destruction of their relationship. At the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is more masculine than Macbeth and holds the power in their relationship. Lady Macbeth is aware that she is the assertive one in their relationship and uses that to manipulate Macbeth. In act 1, scene 7, Lady Macbeth questions Macbeth’s masculinity saying, “When you durst do it, then you were a man; / And, to be more than what you were, you would / Be so much more the man.”(54-56) in saying this, she is using Macbeth’s fragile masculinity against him because she knows Macbeth will prove his masculinity by killing Duncan. After they succeed and get away with the murder, Macbeth becomes more assertive and decisive. Macbeth begins to hide things from Lady Macbeth, like his plan to kill Banquo, this causes a strain on their relationship. In act 3, scene 2, lines 50 and 51, Macbeth says to Lady Macbeth, “Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, / Till thou applaud the deed.” about his plan to kill Banquo because he doesn’t want her involved. This furthers the strain in their relationship because Macbeth thinks he, a man, should handle these kinds of things where Lady Macbeth, a woman, should not concern herself with such problems. Furthermore, by excluding Lady Macbeth he has pushed a wedge between them by keeping secrets from her, losing her trust and leading to the downfall of their relationship. Closer to the end of the play, Macbeth assumes his role as a hypermasculine man and becomes violent, killing any possible threat to him. In becoming king, Macbeth becomes obsessed with having power because of the lack of control he had in his relationship with his wife. To Macbeth Macduff appeared as a threat,

of the situation and to show that she now has the upper hand in their

Very few producers of art can actually let their works claim the appellation 'classic.' For to create a piece of work - literature, art, or poetry, that stands the test of time, that proves the author's premise relevant not just in the period when he created it, but also in the generations that follow, is not an easy task. The works of William Shakespeare (1564-1616) have, more than once, proved worthy of the title 'classic.' Not only does his work hold up, as he wished, a mirror to his own society, but manages to reflect what is going on much later, and indeed, may be relevant well into the next millennium, if civilization continues to peruse Shakespeare's writing. A

In the beginning of the play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare Lady Macbeth starts off as strong and manipulative character with a heartless attitude. However, as the play progresses she begins to feel guilty for the murder of king Duncan. Her husband, Macbeth is a strong and brave character who is manipulated by his wife into murdering king Duncan, although he felt hesitant about doing so. In a way they have switched roles and she seems to play the more masculine role in the relationship and Macbeth plays the more feminine role. The two leading characters are both at fault for the murder of king Duncan because although Macbeth actually did the deed they both were involved in the murder.

In addition, her tones shows she is the one who takes initiative and control of the murder while weak Macbeth is left to ponder on the conscience in Duncan’s murder. Shakespeare also uses this quote to express her powerful personality, which is different from the conventional female character in the Jacobean period. As Duncan enters she greets him in an elaborate manner, "God 'ild you," "We rest your hermits ever", again there is a difference between the language in the pervious scene, this intensify her ability to falsity her appearance. Knowing Macbeth’s weakness, when Macbeth hesitates, Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband’s emotions until the aim is achieved. She mocks and questions if he is a man, in which he immediately defends.

As the play continues, in the acts three and four the gender roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth make a big switch when Macbeth is planning on the killing of Banquo. Macbeth beings to act more masculine before this murder and in a sense leaves his lady out of what is going on this time, instead of her taking charge like before, Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, Till thou applaud the deed. Come, seeling night, Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day; And with thy bloody and invisible hand Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond Which keeps me pale! Light thickens; and the crow Makes wing to the rooky wood: Good things of day begin to droop and drowse; While night's black agents to their preys do rouse Thou marvell'st at my words: but hold thee still; Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill. So, prithee, go with me. (3.2, ).” As of now, Macbeth is portraying the actions of what society believes a man should act like. He is now telling her that he has a plan to kill Banquo but he is not going to tell her the details, he wants her not to worry because he believes he has everything under control. Macbeth is trying to be what it takes to be a man but when a person is power hungry they always seem to fail.

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 who is Macbeth’s wife withal kenned to be ‘dearest partner of greatness’ but at the terminus she is his ‘fiend-like-queen’. She is the most fascinating and involute character in the play; without her there is no play. She is a deeply zealous woman who lusts for power and position. Early in the play she seems to have a vigorous character- even more vigorous than Macbeths. Lady Macbeth persuades him to contravene his nature and more preponderant judgement. However by the terminus she is reduced to a piteous figure, trepidacious of the dark. Immediately after she culminates reading the letter, Lady Macbeth's mind goes to work. The words "shalt be" magically reflect those of the Witches' prophecy. Lady Macbeth’s phrenic conceptions turn to possible failings in her husband. He is "too plenary of the milk of human benevolence" to commit murder; he would be great, he would have a high position. Although he is a great warrior, he is sensitive and caring. “unsex me here” Lady Macbeth distributes these words after receiving Macbeths letter. This conjures an image of a character calling to the supernatural world to make her hard and ruthless. There are a plethora of references to male and female qualities in the play.

In this essay, I’ll discuss and scrutinize William Shakespeare’s biography and his historical significance, his personal background and how his work became the best of all times, and how influential William Shakespeare was in the development era of Elizabethan theatre. However I’ll also demonstrate a reflection on elements of Macbeth.