Within the play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth is very manipulative of her husband’s thoughts and actions. During Act III of the play, Lady Macbeth begins to become upset with her husband. While Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have guests over, Macbeth suddenly sees Banqueo’s ghost at their dining table. Lady Macbeth then feels the need to create excuses as to why her husband is acting this way. She explains to them, “Sit, worthy friends. My lord is often like this, and has been since his youth. Please stay seated. The fit is temporary. In a moment, he will again be well. If you stare, you will offend him and make it worse. Eat, and play no attention to him.” Even though Macbeth is going a little crazy in this scene,
While suspicions are growing on who killed Duncan, Banquo starts to discover the truth as he was present for the witch’s predictions. Macbeth has become less regretful for his crimes and more eager to kill as he repeats,” O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife. Thou knowst that Banquo and Fleance, lives “(III.ii.30). Lady Macbeth’s persuasive ways over Macbeth start to fade as he is forming a deadly ambition of his own to stop at no cost for the protection of his tittle. However, Lady Macbeth becomes cautious of her husband’s actions and speaks, “I pray you speak not: He grows worse and worse; questions enrage him: at once, goodnight” (III.iv.118-119).
“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).
[. . .] to have seen Banquo's ghost at the banqueting table ... and persisted in her fierce mocking of her husband's terror would have been impossible to human nature. The hypothesis makes Lady Macbeth a monster, and there is no such thing in all Shakespeare's plays. That she is godless, and ruthless in the pursuit of the objects of her ambition, does not make her such. (118)
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.
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
Later in the play, when Macbeth is troubled by the presence of the ghost of Banquo at his palace, Lady Macbeth again uses insults to try to control his actions in front of the guests with the harsh words, "Are you a man?"(3.4.59). "What! quite unmanned in folly?"(3.7.74). Lady Macbeth seems to feed off the power she obtains over her husband by attacking his character, and she uses this to build up her own confidence.
What might a husband do if his wife is pressuring him into a devious act? William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” displays one of the main characters, Lady Macbeth, attempting to persuade her husband to murder King Duncan, the king of Scotland. Macbeth, married to her cousin King Duncan, is in a dilemma about what to do. Even though her husband and the king are related, Lady Macbeth, deep down, knows that Macbeth is a strong and ruthless individual, thus she appeals to his dedication and confidence in her to persuasion towards him to follow through with their plan to kill King Duncan. Eventually, her husband agrees to the plan, which leaves her attempt successful.
Macbeth is a tragic play that was written in 1606 and played a crucial role in the politics during that time period. The politics portion contributes the theme of the play, which is excessive ambition. That excessive ambition leads to horrendous choices that have gruesome consequences. Macbeth’s ambition advanced him to struggle with the choices between right and wrong. The excuses that lead Macbeth to descent into madness are the witches, Lady Macbeth, and himself.
The Importance of Lady Macbeth's Influence on Her Husband Lady Macbeth possesses the power to influence her husband‘s decisions in a negative manner. She is stronger, more ruthless and more ambitious than Macbeth. Throughout Shakespeare’s tragic play, the theme of ambition is raised constantly, and the character who shows most ambition than any other at the beginning is Lady Macbeth. Macbeth proves to be a man who is greatly influenced by his wife’s ideas and ambition at the start of the play. When Lady Macbeth is introduced, she is immediately starts plotting
“Macbeth” by William Shakespeare shows the effect of greed/power on a relationship. Is gaining power more important than a relationship? When Macbeth usurps the throne as King of Scotland, he puts aside his relationships to carry out his work as king, and his relationship with Lady Macbeth is, as a result, impacted. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship shifts somewhat and yet partly remains the same when Macbeth is crowned king of Scotland. Macbeth’s relationship remains the same in that he shows Lady Macbeth respect and continues to use words of love to call her by, but it shifts in that Macbeth becomes more independent and does not confide his plans to Lady Macbeth as he had previously.
Lady Macbeth is a very egocentric woman. She fails to have any concern over Macbeth’s interests, and she does not consider his decisions. This lack of care for her husband is shown many times throughout the play, and it is more predominantly shown in the first two acts. Lady Macbeth believes that Macbeth has the same viewpoints as her. Because of this, instead of asking if he wants to do something, she tells him what they are going to do. If Macbeth tries to protest against her thoughts or actions, she convinces him to believe in her and do as she says using a variety of tactics. Lady Macbeth does not have Macbeth’s best interest at heart because she manipulated him, she took matters into her own hand,
As ambition starts to take over Macbeth, Lady Macbeth begins to lose power and is not included in the plans to kill Banquo. “Be innocent of knowledge dearest chuck” (III. ii. 47). Lady Macbeth begins to lose her control of Macbeth; she has no more power nor say in what should be done. This lack of power opens a spot for vulnerability by taking away the one thing that makes her feel useful. Macbeth then begins to share a little of his plan of Banquo’s murder without telling her exactly what he’s doing.“Thou marvel’st at my words: but hold thee still./ Things bad begun make strong themselves ill” (III.ii. 56-57). Lady Macbeth is shocked at the words of her husband, as he elusively shows her a glimpse of his plan.
After murdering King Duncan, Macbeth returns ashamed of what he had done and becomes weak and morose. Lady Macbeth remains as bold and cold-hearted as she was at the moment she plotted to kill the king, but it was obvious that it would only be a matter of time before all of that bravery faded away and guilt would overcome her. She realizes that Macbeth is at one of the lowest points of his life and tries to give him that same sense of boldness that she has as she tries to cover up his weaknesses. Macbeth had a lot on his conscience that shortly after Banquo had been killed, he believed he saw the ghost of who was once his friend. No one else sees this apparition but Macbeth speaks to it as if it was
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have a start to the domestic tragedy. Lady Macbeth always puts Macbeth down making him feel useless. Macbeth shows domestic tragedy when he kills Duncan because Lady Macbeth controlled him. After Duncan's dead, Lady Macbeth has to hide the daggers because she didn’t give clear instructions to leave them. The Macbeths’ both have domestic tragedy issues.
persuading her husband to do bad she should push him to do good. Just like any other nonselfish wife would. No wife should not be unsupportive of her husband and make him look bad. Having no regret that it is all her fault.