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Macbeth And Lady Macbeth By William Shakespeare

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In William Shakespeare’s epic tragedy, Macbeth, the concept of the every blurry line between good and evil is shown through the two main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. This husband and wife duo begins the play as polar opposites. Lady Macbeth’s maliciousness and drive is clear to the audience the first time she steps on stage in Act One Scene Five. She continues on with these same characteristics, yet in the middle of the drama, there is a distinct change in her attitude and overall role as Macbeth’s wife. This switch in Lady Macbeth becomes more evident as the audience grows more aware of the large difference in Macbeth. He begins the play as a meek, yet ambitious Thane of Glamis, who is promised the throne by the reigning king, Duncan. Quickly taking his fate into his own hands, Macbeth commits many crimes to ensure his ascension to the throne and his guilt is steadily decreasing, until he reaches the brink of madness. Throughout the drama, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth almost fully switch characteristics and roles in each other’s lives as the play comes to a close. In Act One of the play, the audience is first introduced to Lady Macbeth when she is reading a letter from her husband, which announces the news of his impending ascension to the throne of Scotland. As soon as the idea of being Queen is brought to her attention, Lady Macbeth begins to scheme a plan to ensure this. Yet, she is worried that her husband is too weak to carry out the plan that she visualizes.

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