Lady Macbeth: The True Villain

The strive an ambition for power can seem to be true perfection, but one should be careful what they wish for, because that power might be exactly what causes their downfall. Lady Macbeth is the wife of the play’s tragic hero. She is more ruthless and more ambitious than her husband. Lady Macbeth constantly taunts her husband for his lack of courage, even though we know of his bloody deeds on the battlefield. When it comes to murdering the King, Lady Macbeth is driven to madness later in the play.

In the 7th grade I was suspended from school for being an “instigator.” I would cause disputes by persuading individuals who didn’t like one another, to hate one another. I’d gradually use my dynamic lingo to provoke the victims in the so called scuffle to get to that final step where they’d lose it and fight. I got what I wanted by manipulating the ones who were vulnerable and unsure what to do when placed in a troubling situation. Understanding the consequences, I received the same punishment as if I was in the fight myself. That same exact concept could be used to express how Lady Macbeth is more responsible for slaying King Duncan herself.

I am going to do an essay on a play called Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare. The play is a tragedy, believed to have been written in 1611-12. The play is about a man named Macbeth whom, at first is a kind, tender man who later gets tempted by three foul witches to commit a murder in order to become king. Macbeth’s wife, Lady Macbeth is thrilled by the prophecies given by the witches and is eager for Macbeth to commit the murder. Macbeth disagrees with his wife greatly about the murder, and later into the play we see how the two exchange views about life and death completely. The character I am going to be studying is Lady Macbeth, and throughout my essay asking the question, is Lady Macbeth fiend-like?

Shakespeare’s Macbeth introduces us to the character Lady Macbeth which is by far his most famous and terrifying female character. When Shakespeare’s Macbeth was performed in the early 1600’s the storyline was something familiar, something that was factual during that era rather than fictional. Not taking away from history or a good story, Shakespeare changed a few particular details of the story. Lady Macbeth character is one of the most important key changes we see in this play, not only is she ambitious, cruel, and dishonest but she also goes against the typical role of a woman governed by a patriarchal society. Lady Macbeth also uses her skills to advance her and her husband up the political scale while being a woman. How does Lady Macbeth 's performance differ from an Elizabethan woman? I as reader can conclude that Lady Macbeth differs from the typical Elizabethan woman because she is persuasive and male oriented, cruel, and more determined than her husband. Throughout the play Shakespeare gives a few details to support my claims.

Shakespeare, who was a writer born in Stratford-upon-Avon created many different plays, in which he always portrayed the woman as the “bad guy.” He was born in 1564 and he was a writer, actor and a dramatist. He wrote many plays, mostly revolving around tragedy such as: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Macbeth. Shakespeare was a respected poet, and writer who received recognition after he passed away, April 23rd. 1616. One of Shakespeare’s well-known tragic plays ``Macbeth`` describes how a greedy woman second guesses her husband’s manhood and convinces him to murder a King and take his place. The characters in this play make the readers` think the women back in the day were greedy, selfish and conniving. Lady Macbeth, who plays

Lady Macbeth is one of the characters in Shakespeare's Macbeth. She is the wife of Macbeth. Macbeth is from Scotland and is a very prominent man. During the play, Lady Macbeth’s aspiration is to become Queen of Scotland and will do anything to achieve that goal. Lady Macbeth tries to talk her husband into committing murder, in order for him to be King of Scotland and for her to become Queen. After the murder has taken place and she finally becomes Queen of Scotland, her conscious began to bother her and she felt very guilty for her part in the murder. (Cliffnotes.com)

In the play “Macbeth” we strongly agree about the statement “The most effective villain is one who attracts and repels.” Our essay includes or talks about the most effective villain which is Macbeth due to his crimes that he has committed and how he has changed throughout in the play. A theme that most supports this statement is “Appearance vs Reality,” of Macbeth. We will also include examples of the different appearances of Macbeth in different situations. To back up our statement there will be quotes which express the appearance of emotions on Macbeth’s face at time or situation and connect it with reality. “Did he really mean what he said or did?” The essay will also discuss about the different language features which are used in the quotes like, repetition.

Ever since Lady Macbeth’s debut in 1606, she has been one of Shakespeare’s most iconic female characters. The willing accomplice, the ruthless mastermind – indeed, her standard depiction as a conniving woman grasping for power in a man’s world has endured throughout the years. But who is to say that a depiction is immune to change? Most will generally see the Scotswoman as a typical one-dimensional villain, but in actuality, she was a strong woman able to overcome the limitations of her gender in order to become queen.

She is the one who carries out a plan of king's murder and prepares everything while her husband does not even know anything about it until the last moment. “Leave all the rest to me” (1.5.65), she says and arranges everything for the murder by herself as all Macbeth needs to do is to kill the king while he sleeps. She even leaves the daggers for him to find (2.2.11-12). However, Lady Macbeth is not able to commit the murder herself as “Had he not resembled / My father as he slept, I had done 't” (2.2.12-13) which again shows her cowardly nature. She cannot perform what she planned, instead she makes her husband do it for her. She manipulates him into murdering the king and thus fulfilling her plans by questioning his manhood (3.4.61-62) and his love for her (1.7.38-39) knowing it is offensive for a brave warrior and a loving husband. She does it in the critical moments when Macbeth wants to call the deal off. She uses the cunning and hypocrisy as her strategy pretending to be the caring hostess and a friend while carrying the plans on murder (1.6.14-20). She instructs her husband to “Look like th' innocent flower, / But be the serpent under ’t” (1.5.56-57) and acts accordingly smiling at the face of the king several hours before betraying him. However, when Macbeth is not able to finish what he started, she smears servants' faces with blood to make them look guilty (2.2.52-57). In the scene

Throughout the book, Macbeth. Lady Macbeth’s actions have showed that she is in fact evil as she’s filled with greed and ambition to be queen. This is shown when Macbeth first tells her of the news, or when she plans the murder of a king and finally she is who holds Macbeth together and tells him what they did was okay. With this Lady Macbeth is an eviller and all around lower person than her husband.

Throughout this essay I will be focusing on comparing the way Shakespeare and Orwell present ‘heroes’ and ‘villains’ in Macbeth and Animal farm. Both texts include indistinguishable characters either behaving with their utmost propriety or their ‘ambitions’.

     Macbeth by William Shakespeare is a recognized classic tragedy portraying the victory of good over evil. This paper will explore the various expressions of evil within the play.

Lady Macbeth is prepared to ruin lives to achieve her goal, in this case kill King Duncan and blame it on the innocent servants. “The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fate of the entrance of Duncan”. When Lady Macbeth says this she is planning on killing Duncan, she links a raven to this as ravens are linked with death. She uses this as if to call the evil spirits. She asks for them to ‘take away the milk from thy breasts and replace it with an evil substance, this is her saying that she needs to not be the generic wife in those times and act like a man. Before Macbeth had the meeting with the witches, he was a brave and well respected man, he was well liked by those around him, especially the king. Everyone wants to be king, but Macbeth was happy being a Thane, but when the witches told him that he was to become king, he desperately wanted power and was almost prepared to do anything to reach his goal.

“And thou shalt be what thou art promised.” The story, Macbeth, is embedded with the ambition of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to quench their desire for the throne of Scotland. Lady Macbeth’s quote about being what thou was promised tends to be interpreted as a reference to Macbeth and the fulfillment of the witches’ prophecies. However, the quote can also be related to Lady Macbeth. She is the driving force behind the murder of King Duncan of Scotland and therefore, she is promised the attributes of being a murder, evil and disturbed. Throughout the play of Macbeth, there is tension between the characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. This tension leads to the questions is Macbeth or Lady Macbeth more responsible for the murder of King Duncan and is Lady Macbeth eviler character than her husband.

Lady Macbeth’s changes a lot throughout the play. She is a very evil character. Her ambition to be queen leads to the death of her and her husband. Lady Macbeth is a strong, determined and evil woman.”That I may pour my spirits in thine ear And chastise with the valor of my tongue”(1.5.29-30). Lady Macbeth is introduced in Act 1 Scene 5 where she is told of Macbeth’s meeting with the witches. She shows multiple sides of her personality early on in the play. Her talent for being weird and manipulative were shown as soon as she asked for her womanly characteristics to be replaced with more manly ones “Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here”(1.5.47-48).