Macbeth And Lady Macduff

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 play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is one of William Shakespeare’s most dominant and frightening female characters, known for her ambitious nature. As Macbeth’s wife, her role is significant in his rise and fall from royalty. During Shakespearean times, women were regarded as weak insignificant beings that were there to give birth and look beautiful. They were not thought to be as intelligent or equal to men. Though in Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is the highest influence in Macbeth’s life. Her role was so large; in fact, that she uses her position to gain power, stay strong enough to support her unstable Lord, and fails miserably while their

Lady Macduff seems to be content to live her life as the wife of a thane with her health and her family. Lady Macbeth however, feels not only that her husband deserves a better place in life but also that by not working to attain that higher status he is a failure.

In the story, she says, “I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this (1.7.56-59)”. This greatly contrasts how Lady Macduff treats her children. Lady Macbeth was willing to kill her only child (who died in an unknown manner) if it meant keeping up her end of the bargain. This shows how cutthroat and ruthless she is as well as how she was willing to do anything to gain power. Another characteristic of Lady Macbeth is her aggressiveness towards her husband.

Many people who have read William Shakespeare’s Macbeth know that Macbeth is the tragic hero in the play, but there another character stands out as a much greater protagonist. Macbeth is the type of character who turned from a loyal warrior to the king into a violent, tyrannical, and conflicted person as he progressively commits crimes inside the kingdom without anyone’s notice, except for one person, who is Macduff. Macduff doesn’t have any flaws and remains sinless and heroic throughout the play. As Macbeth progressively gains power and prestige in exchange for the lives of his king, his friends, and his countrymen, Macduff meanwhile goes through great personal loss in his attempts to stop Macbeth’s tyrannical ruling and to restore justice and freedom to Scotland. It is ironic how Macduff acts so much more nobly than his king. Throughout the tragic events that have occurred in the play, Macduff serves as a heroic figure through his demonstrations of intelligence, loyalty, and righteousness.

Throughout history, woman have been designated limited roles due to their gender. In a traditional and outdated society, woman are usually restricted to the role of caretaker for their family. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the essential example of being a woman is Lady Macduff. She cares for her children and will do anything to protect them. Breaking this traditional role is Lady Macbeth who is depicted as unfit for the job of being a mother. She constantly challenges the role of gender through her actions and words. Lady Macduff and Lady Macbeth are designed to contrast each other in order to enhance certain qualities in their character. This relationship is called a foil and is frequently used by Shakespeare. Lady Macduff’s embodiment of a

Lady Macbeth is convincing herself to kill King Duncan. “unsex me here...Of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood"(1.5.48,50). Lady Macbeth’s misconstrued idea of what it means to be a man prevents Macbeth from truly comprehending what is important. While trying to fit into Lady Macbeth's ideal of manliness he himself becomes detached from reality and his emotions. Macbeth’s response to the witches prophecy coming true. “ I have almost forgotten the taste of fears”(5.5.11). He feels as though the mass of power he has collected has and will continue to protect him. He then hears of Lady Macbeth's suicide from her guilt.“She should have died hereafter”(5.5.17). This is quite significant because the correct response would be grief, but instead he feels nothing for someone he once loved further showing how the greed for power has corrupted him. The important thing he should have learned is loyalty should take precedence over want for power, or ambition doesn’t have to relate to cruelty. Macduff can be considered a foil to Macbeth; after his family dies “But I must also feel it as a man” (4.3.261). The idea given by Macduff is being a man doesn’t mean you are only cruel and don’t care about the consequences. It’s possible to feel feminine things and still be considered a man. It

We see her as a suppressed female clawing to power through men. The most notable scene where Shakespeare conveys this is Act 1 Scene 5. He has Lady Macbeth say, “unsex me here”, demanding elimination of all womanly attributes. She also says, “take my milk for gall”. This demonstrates she does not want to be a nurturing, mother figure. Lady Macbeth thinks her femininity is useless and that she could accomplish more as a male. In the Elizabethan/Jacobean era, women were often subjugated – made to submit to and follow men, regarded as weak and in need of protection. Given no control, women were forced to stay home and bear children. Lady Macbeth yearns liberation from these stereotypes and ideal standards of her time. Her authority cravings lead her to tell Macbeth, “Leave all the rest to me” – seeking dominance. Her husband is essential to succeed so she can be interpreted as somewhat manipulating him into committing larger crimes – namely

Lady Macbeth is more power hungry and ambitious then Macbeth is. She, through ambition she gives the finial push to Macbeth to kill Duncan the king of Scotland. Her power however, is not driven by the sisters, hers is greed. She wants to be Queen, she wants the power of being Queen. Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeths ambition is tragic flaw. Her ambition drives her to her to go crazy which ultimately drives her to her death. There is an instance where she is sleep walking, eyes open. She goes to her vanity and sits down, she looks at her hands a sees blood. Then she sticks her hand in the water bowl and attempts to wash them. When she pulls them back out the blood did not wash away. Only she can see the blood her maid and doctor see this happening and they just think that she is going crazy. This is only the beginning of her insaneness. Just before her death she vilely reads a letter that Macbeth sent to her, telling her that he was to be King some how. It is her guilt that kills her.

This shows that Macbeth has become very corrupt and that he will not let anything get in his way not even friendship for his desire to be king. “If the destruction of friendship is not a symbol of how strong Macbeth’s ambition is than the manslaughter of an innocent man’s entire family.” (The Ambition of Macbeth). Also learning that Macduff fled to England, Macbeth responds by killing his entire family. A wife and children symbolize purity and love in a man’s life, but killing Macduff’s family determines that Macbeth’s ambition is really corrupt.

Lady Macduff, a traditional medieval housewife to the Thane of Cawdor, follows the expectations of women of her time. Macbeth orders the execution of Lady Macduff and her child. When the murderers Macbeth hires visit her, she reveals her characteristics as a woman. Lady Macduff complies with the medieval gender stereotype of a woman when she states, “Why then, alas do I put up that womanly defense to say I have done no harm?” (4.2.75-78).

The women in Macbeth, namely Lady Macbeth, contradict these expectations through their commanding, and ambitious tones. During that second half of act one Lady Macbeth is portrayed as the ruling figure in the house. Instead of being a grateful and fulfilling housewife she instead pushes and commands Macbeth to commit assassination. She berates him when he falters and asked if he would rather, “live like a coward in thine own esteem.” (Shakespeare)

In the play Macbeth, many events happen that determine the outcome of its ending. In this play, Macbeth, an insane serial killer goes on a killing spree and offs many innocent people. A recurring theme in this work by Shakespeare is madness. Shakespeare creates both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to be characters that lose their minds by the end of the play. A big turning point in this play that changes its game is scene 2 of act 4. This scene starts out with Ross delivering a message to Lady Macduff, whose husband, Macduff has left her to escape Macbeth’s evil wrath. Lady Macduff’s young son wonders if his dad is a traitor. His mother answers yes. However, Macduff’s disappearance can be interpreted in many different ways; this goes to show the importance of this scene. The three reasons Act 4:2 of Macbeth is so crucial are: It draws all the major scenes into one, it is a pivotal moment of the action in the play, and in it, we realize how evil Macbeth actually is.

Lady Macduff’s first words are both a question and an allegation. She asks “What had he done to make him fly the land.”(IV.ii.1) This allows one to believe that she thinks the only way Macduff would leave is if he did something wrong. Lady Macduff then accuses Macduff of not loving him. The anger, hurt, and feelings of betrayal behind the words of Lady Macduff immediately makes the audience enamored and captivated by her presence and yearn for her to find out the truth; that Macduff is not a traitor, but a hero, trying to save the face of the crown. In the situation of Macduff’s son, he’s confused as to whether his father is a traitor or not and he denies his father’s death twice during this scene. Once when his mother insists and a second time, shouting to the second murderer “Thou liest though shag-haired villain!”(IV.ii.79) This demonstrates Macbeth’s son loyalty for his father, even he is confused as to what a traitor is and unsure if his father is alive or dead. Macduff’s son’s unwavering loyalty for his father warms the heart of those reading and allows them to feel horror at hid death commanded by no other than the tyrannical

The author includes characters in Macbeth that epitomizes the standard, obsequious woman. One such character is Lady Macduff, whom Shakespeare portrays as completely dependent on her husband. When Macduff left to dethrone Macbeth, rather than worrying for her husband, Lady Macduff complained that he left “...his wife… his babes, his mansion and his titles…” because Macduff “...loves [them] not.” (Shakespeare 119). Shakespeare eventually kills of Lady Macduff to highlight her weakness and naivety, traits people believed to be commonly found in women (Shakespeare 124). Another similar character is the Gentlewoman. The name “Gentlewoman” in its own serves to create an image of a feeble, meek person who only moves only for others. When the