Reading the story of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth takes control and understands his state of mind. Lady Macbeth could not understand how Macbeth could fail, as he brings the daggers back with him. She had a plan, and prepared for the murder as well as set the daggers by the guards herself. She claimed that she would have killed the king herself, yet Lady Macbeth also states, "Had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had done 't." Lady Macbeth refuses to commit this murder being that she sees a resemblance between King Duncan and her father, which causes her to not be able to do the killing of Duncan.
The topic of whether Lady Macbeth should be considered as the third witch is a complex one with no definite answer but is open to interpretation. However, diving deeper into the problem one lacks any evidence to support the claim that she could be the fourth witch. We are first introduced to Lady Macbeth as she has just received a letter from Macbeth telling her of the encounter that he had with the witches and of the prophecies that they told Macbeth of. The first hint that Lady macbeth could be a witch comes when she states, “Come, you spirits that tend on the mortal thoughts. unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty”.
The gentlewoman tells the doctor that Lady Macbeth has been writing something whilst she has been sleepwalking. Perhaps this is a letter to Macbeth, or perhaps a confession. What do you think? Write what you imagine she might have written on the paper.
Macbeth is a perfect example of a Shakespearean tragic hero, who possesses a tragic flaw that leads him to his downfall. A tragic hero is one who is born in a noble family with heroic or potentially heroic qualities. A tragic hero has a tragic flaw, a character trait that leads the hero to his or her downfall when overused. A tragic flaw can also be known as hamartia. This is a fatal flaw that leads to the downfall of a tragic hero/heroine.
The poor lady has not had a restful sleep since Macbeth became king, what is causing her so must distress. She speaks of unnatural deeds which have happened to the kingdom of Scotland. Lady Macbeth will never be able to overcome her tortured mind which will not let her rest. The lady needs to see a doctor but I fear he will not be able to cure her. What does the lady mean by this, “Here’s the smell of blood still." My lady’s strength and dignity are her clothing so why is she having these horrific dreams.
Lady Macbeth has the power over her husband to persuade him into doing anything she requests. She manipulates Macbeth with incredible efficiency by overruling all of his thoughts and changing his perspective on the present. Even though the many tasks that need to be completed are difficult to understand why they need to be done, Lady Macbeth will always convince Macbeth to do it. Her husband often tells her that she has a “masculine soul” which is obvious due to her murderous and envious actions. When the time came to kill king Duncan, Macbeth believes that his wife has gone insane and tells her that the crime they were about to commit was a horrible idea. As a result of his questioning, Lady Macbeth says that executing the crime will show his loyalty to her. On the night of the assassination Lady Macbeth watched the guards of the castle become drunk and unaware of what was going on. Lady Macbeth sent her husband into the castle to kill King Duncan. The married couple fled the scene leaving the guards covered in the evidence. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are stained with the blood of their victims and the feeling of guilt in their stomach.
Secondly, Lady Macbeth’s blind ambition and false appearance take part in further altering Macbeth’s decisions. Lady Macbeth reads Macbeth’s letter and she immediately starts to plot King Duncan’s murder so the witches’ prophecies can her husbands desires can become true. She knows Macbeth is, “too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness/… That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false/ And yet wouldst wrongly win” (1.V.17-23). Lady is aware her husband Macbeth is too noble and innocent to hurt an individual for his own personal gain. She knows she will have to persuade Macbeth to murder Duncan in order for him to become king. Later, during the congratulatory dinner, Lady Macbeth convinces a hesitant Macbeth to execute Duncan. At first, Macbeth is hesitant because he thinks he is double crossing trust with the king, he is his kinsman, and tonight Duncan is his guest. Moreover, Duncan has done no wrong to deserve death. Macbeth confesses to Lady Macbeth he can not murder Duncan however, Lady Macbeth says, “Art thou afeard/…Wouldst thou have that/ Which thou esteem’st the ornament
Many people in today's society believe that they have to be on top in order to have power over people. So many people want power but only a few know how to handle it without letting it get to their heads. In the story “No Fear Shakespeare, Macbeth”, Macbeth became overly ambitious and wanted to do what it took to become king, even if that meant that he had to kill his own king for the throne. When someone is overly ambitious they will do anything and everything in their power to get what they
However, Lady Macbeth’s conscious shines through as she is not able to kill a poor vulnerable man who looks like her father. She is thrown off guard be her reaction to Duncan’s face. She does not expect to feel any remorse toward the old man but she does. After Macbeth kills Duncan, Lady Macbeth regains her cruel nature and quickly takes the dagger from him to frame the guards, “Give me the daggers. The sleeping and the dead/ Are but as pictures. ‘Tis the eye of childhood/ That fears a painted devil. If he do bleed, / I’ll gild the faces of the grooms withal, / For it must seem their guilt.”(68-72). Lady Macbeth shows no remorse or respect for the dead. Lady Macbeth cannot let her remorse control her because she knows that the only way to bring about the prophecy is to frame the guards. Lady Macbeth unsuccessfully attempts to block out the horrendous deeds she commits. The compassion Lady Macbeth shows for Duncan proves that the spirits did not remove her soul or kill her conscious, which will be her Achilles heel and lead to her death.
The Tragedy of Macbeth would be greatly different had Lady Macbeth not been apart of it. Lady Macbeth was the puppet master for the entire scheme; she had her fingers in everything without boasting about it. Macbeth had a lot of instruction from Lady Macbeth regarding what he should and should not do. The tragedy would not have been the same without Lady Macbeth. Every little choice in life matters, every little thing that one takes into consideration when making a choice will end up affecting the outcome. In the case of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth has a lot to do with how his life turns out once he encounters the Weird Sisters. Lady Macbeth is a key character in The Tragedy of Macbeth. She proves that a man is not necessarily in charge. If Lady
The tragedies in Macbeth can be blamed on various characters. However, the tragedies can be traced to the root of the story. In the beginning the witches came to Macbeth and presented a prophecy to him. The prophet gave MacBeth and Lady Macbeth motive to strive for the crown.
In the Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth may have just caused Macbeth’s death. Lady Macbeth caused Macbeth’s downfall in the story, Macbeth was forced to kill King Duncan because Lady Macbeth was calling Macbeth a coward and saying that she would kill her own baby if she swore to. Macbeth did not really have a decision because he wanted to become king. Macbeth tried talking himself out of killing king Duncan but Lady Macbeth did not listen and Macbeth ended up having to kill King Duncan.
were at and how they were living. They didn’t start to change until after the witches
A tragic hero is a great or virtuous character who is destined for a downfall. The ultimate fate of the tragic hero in a play is death. Most tragic characters are faced with their weakness, which brings about their demise. In the play Macbeth, Macbeth is portrayed as the tragic hero. He compromises his honor and ignores his moral responsibility in order to gain power and status. The witches prophecies, the influence of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s dangerous ambition lead to his tragic end.
Soon after, a letter is sent by Macbeth to Lady Macbeth it begins to show Macbeth the reader learns Macbeth may not be as heroic as he is on the battlefield. The letter that Macbeth writes to Lady Macbeth explained what the witches prophesied to Macbeth. Lady Macbeth comments by saying “ Yet I do I fear thy nature: it is to full of th' milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way”(1.5.16-18). Lady Macbeth views Macbeth as a coward and therefore would not kill the king for the throne. In fact, Lady Macbeth is the person who pushes Macbeth to commit the murder of King Duncan in order for her to for her to become queen. Lady Macbeth is the one who plans King Duncan's murder. “When Lady Macbeth enters, though, she uses her cunning rhetoric and persuasive techniques to convince Macbeth of the murders.” (Macbeth-Attitude Changes). Lady Macbeth is strong and likes to get her way. Macbeth continues to demonstrate his lack of heroism because he is Lady Macbeth's follower and does whatever she makes him do. Lady Macbeth treats Macbeth as though he was a ring on her finger. Lady Macbeth at first is shown as ruthless and has complete control over Macbeth and makes him do what ever she wants “Had he not resembled my father as he slept I don it”(2.2.13). This states though she is ruthless she has a
In this essay I will discuss the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. I will explain how their relationship is different to traditional relationships of the time. At the time, Jacobean people believed that the men were stronger then the woman. They believed that, when married, the husband would be in control and the wife would have no choice but to do what their husband asked. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship was every different.