Lady Macbeth Relationship Essay

Lady Macbeth is filled evil schemes, and knows how to achieve her goal of getting her husband into the kingly position. Lady Macbeth is very convincing in her ideas, and does not leave a lot of space to think otherwise. Macbeth is not left much choice but to conform himself to his wife’s mischievous strategy to get him to become king. He is very loyal, and wants to remain so to his king even knowing he would become king if Duncan, the present king, were to die. Lady Macbeth, however, has other plans for Macbeth, and she soon has him convinced to commit an act which will change their lives forever. Macbeth and his wife are truly opposite people, as Macbeth is laid back and easy going, while Lady Macbeth wants everything planned out and will go onward with plans no matter who they affect. She truly does make Macbeth a more interesting person through her evil schemes.

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’s wife, Lady Macbeth, was a woman who strived for a leading role in the kingdom and true power who would have done anything to get it. Lady Macbeth had the intention to kill King Duncan and take away the throne by convincing Macbeth to commit scandalous and shameful crimes in the kingdom. Lady Macbeth was a manipulative woman whom no one can trust. However, her relationship with her husband was much different and also much stronger than the relationship

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,

How the Relationship Between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth Changes and Develops During the Course of the Play

wife are - she is prepared to sacrifice all that makes her a woman in

Lady Macbeth understands Macbeth’s lust for the throne, and lusts for it herself. She also understands his ambition, but feels that her husband might regret and decide against killing Duncan to steal his throne, as she regards to Macbeth as “full o’ the milk of human kindness” (1.5.4). Since Lady Macbeth fears that Macbeth would turn against her and not go through with the plan, she decides that it must be up to her to get it done correctly. She asks that only the “direst cruelty” (1.5.33) fill her, as she gathers everything that is evil to her in order to murder Duncan. Even though Macbeth was hesitant over the idea of murdering Duncan, his wife convinces him that acting on his impulse of killing Duncan is the right thing to do. This shown when Macbeth starts to second guess the thought of murdering his king, and that it should not be done. However, his wife verbally harasses him into agreeing. Lady Macbeth questions his love for her, questions his masculinity, and criticizes his desire to be king by 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” (1.5.49-51). As his successfully offends him, he decides that he needs to prove his manhood, his love of his wife, and his ambition to be king, he agrees to murder Duncan.

     Lady Macbeth progresses throughout the play from a seemingly savage and heartless creature to a very delicate and fragile woman. In the beginning of the play, she is very ambitious and hungry for power. She pushes Macbeth to kill Duncan in order to fulfill the witches’ prophecy. In Act I, Scene 6, she asks the gods to make her emotionally strong like a man in order to help her husband go through with the murder plot. She says, “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!” Also, she does everything in her power to convince Macbeth that he would be wrong not to kill Duncan. In Act I,

The relationship among Macbeth and Lady Macbeth alters throughout the play Macbeth as they both in turn take on the role of the more dominant character. Their attitude to each other constantly changes throughout the play, although events in the play certainly draw Macbeth and Lady Macbeth apart their love for one another is evident throughout the play. Macbeth shows his love by saying a few compassionate words in his letter to Lady Macbeth about the meeting with the three weird sisters. Lady Macbeth shows that she cares for him by planning the murder of King Duncan so Macbeth can become king. By the end of the play Macbeth doesn’t care about his wife’s health that much, when she dies his taught was she was bound to die one day.

To me Lady Macbeth has been more evil than her husband. She is more ambitious than her husband, she does any and everything it takes to get to the top and she doesn't care who gets in her way. She is very manipulating when it comes to her husband. Her power she has over him is unbelieveable. In the beginning of the play everything seems equal, like this is an equal partnership between the two. But, later on in this play you can see how things change. Macbeth allows his wife to control him. She knows how to use just the right words when it comes to getting what she wants from her husband. Even when he questions himself about what she tells him to do, he ends up doing it anyways. When Lady Macbeth talks to witches she talks to them about how she thinks Macbeth will be too kind-hearted. She wants him to rule with an iron fist, she wants him to show no mercy at all. Lady Macbeth convinces her husband to kill the king, so Macbeth can take the throne as the king. Macbeth had been already next in line for the king, but his wife did not want to wait for his time to come. Macbeth shows remorse after he kills King Duncan. It bothered him so bad that he couldn't sleep later on that night because of what he did. She wanted him to take his place as king right then and there.

Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband into doing all that she wants to do, that she cannot do herself. When Lady Macbeth consults with Macbeth the witches prophecies she insinuates and awakens an evil ambitious side in him. This is very strange to see as in the beginning of the play (Act 1) Macbeth is the complete opposite. Lady Macbeth does this in such a devious way that she questions her husband 's masculinity. For instance; "What beasts wasn 't then,/ that made you break this enterprise to me?/ 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." (1.7.53-58). This strikes Macbeth as the unthinkable because as a woman in the Elizabethan Times (1603) Lady

Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most frightening and strong-willed female characters. It is she, being far more ruthless, mentally stronger, and more determined compared to her indecisive husband, who takes on the masculine role. After reading Macbeth's letter in which he describes meeting the Three witches and learning of their prophecies, Lady Macbeth's grows ambitious. Viewing such opportunity as grace and favour of the fates, Lady Macbeth embraces the idea of killing Duncan. However, Lady Macbeth believes Macbeth “Is too full o’ the milk of human kindness.” Macbeth is too gentle and weak to murder Duncan, an honoured guest, a fellow kinsmen, the king. At one point, Lady Macbeth wishes she were not a woman, and calls upon the murderous sprits to "unsex me here".

The relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is unusual for its time period. This is because females were looked down upon by males. A husband during this tame had great power over his wife. In this play, it appears to be the opposite.

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 is seen as evil, and there is lots of evidence for this. At points she also has a similar evil tone to the witches. This is seen when she says “Hie the hither,” this also shows her use an imperative. This is when she gives a command which no Jacobean wife would do, as it was their place to follow orders, not give them. The use of the imperative also shows how she is taking change. This is amazingly unusual for the time. The time that she sounds more evil than this is when it is her monologue after she has read the letter from Macbeth. When she says, “That I may pour my spirits in thine ear and chastise with the