To what extent do you feel sympathy for Lady Macbeth? Refer to at least two scenes from the play in your answer.
In the play “The Tragedy of Macbeth” written by William Shakespeare, we see a very complex character which is Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth's character throughout the play changes as she experiences the misfortunes that are brought to Macbeth and herself. This essay will explore how we as an audience feel sympathy for Lady Macbeth throughout the play, and how this feeling changes as we watch Lady Macbeth.
Lady Macbeth is first presented in the play when she receives a letter from her husband explaining that the weird sisters have prophesised his future as king. When she learns that King Duncan will be staying as their guest
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The depth of her want of evil is seen at the end of her soliloquy:
“…Come, thick night
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the the dark...“
The reference to hell shows that she is determined and willing to submit herself to total evil, and leave everything that is good. She asks for a “thick night” to come that is almost like hell, and to never see the light of heaven. Lady Macbeth already sounds like she has been possessed by demon spirits, like the devil, due to her wild comments on death and hell. Also, “my keen knife” indicates that she is desperate to kill. As the devil is known to be an evil character, Lady Macbeth is conveyed as evil and cunning, therefore little sympathy is felt for her at this point in the play.
The first time that we see a more compassionate side to Lady Macbeth is in Act2, Scene 2:
“...Had he not resembled
My father as he slept, I had done't.”
This shows that despite calling upon the spirits to unsex her, she still has tender feelings inside of her. It shows that she loves her father. However, this comment only just touches the surface of her fragile side, so it does not increase the sympathy felt by the audience for Lady Macbeth by very much. She is still desperate for murder and blood. In
Lady Macbeth in William Shakespeare’s play ‘Macbeth’ is a character who suffers greatly in because of her human weakness, which is her vaulting ambition. This ambition is not for her, but for her husband. This woman, who seemed so in control at the beginning of the okay, only cared for her husband and his success, later becomes so consumed with guilt and remorse that it results in her tragic death. Through the discussion of characterisation and lkey scenes, I shall reveal that Lady Macbeth’s human flaw is not only a major contributor to the ruthlessness of her husband but creates a huge influence in how the play unfolds.
I think that Lady Macbeth is presented as an innocent and loving wife but in act 1
What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?” [Act V, S I, L 32-35] Lady Macbeth is trying to get rid of the blood she thinks she sees on her hands. Also she talks about going to hell for what she has done. Lady Macbeth was persuading Macbeth to murder Duncan but as the story continues she has become smaller figure and Macbeth has became a bigger figure and thrived, Macbeth isn't weakened for what he has committed or done as Lady Macbeth feels. As she is being driven mad and over the edge with the guilt she feels, her part becomes less and less to the point where she kills herself hoping to end the suffering stress on her mind. "
Lady Macbeth likes to be seen as ruthless and cruel by everyone, yet we know that she must have feelings if she cannot bring herself to murder King Duncan because he 'resembled my father as he slept. ' This shows that she cannot possibly be as
A deadly combination of ambition and guilt poisons both Macbeth and his wife and leads to their deaths in the end. Ruined by her desire for power, Lady Macbeth’s descent into madness is more vivid and guilt seems to affect her more than her husband, even though he is responsible for more crimes. Her request to the spirits to “unsex [her] here,/ And fill [her], from the crown to the toe, top-full/ Of direst cruelty!” is contrasted as the more guilty she feels, the more weak and sensitive she become, a polar opposite of her usual masculine and bold self (1.5.44-46). As a result, she is unable to cope with the guilt and meets her ultimate demise by taking her life. This has an immediate effect on Macbeth: the almost always apparent tension of ambition and guilt disappears. He does not seem interested in living and is ready to face death in a manner more relatable to his former self rather than the murderer he has become. Moreover, Macbeth’s final remark is “Arm, arm, and out!”,
Lady Macbeth’s strength of will persists through the murder of King Duncan as it is she who tries to calm Macbeth after committing the crime by declaring confidently that, “a little water clears us of this deed,” (2.2.67). Afterward, however, Lady Macbeth’s strong and ambitious character begins to deteriorate into madness. Her first sign of weakness occurred when she confessed that she could not have killed the king, revealing a natural woman’s feelings, “had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done’t” (2.2.13-14). Just as ambition has affected her before more so then Macbeth before the crime, the guilt plagues her now more effectively afterward as she desperately tried to wash away the invisible blood from her sin, “Here’s the smell of the blood still: all the perfume of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand,” (5.1.48-49). Lady Macbeth’s
The banquet scene also reveals a few astonishing facets about her, as well as reinforcing her apparent cruelty and ambition. The first part of scene 7 shows a lengthy monologue of Macbeth weighing up the pros and cons of carrying out his wife´s wishes to kill the King. Although Macbeth wants to be King, he is unsure of himself, and it is obvious that he is cracking under the pressure already. Lady Macbeth however, when she sees him in such a state, immediately tries to rectify his weakness, using his pride to blackmail him to her will. It is impressive how she can bend him to her will so easily, to whatever she wished. She again uses veiled words to dupe him, stating that the crown is the "ornament of life" and it would be cowardly not to seek it. While Macbeth is in such an insecure frame of mind, these words infuse him with passion, while he lacks surety; his wife fuels him with pride in his cause. She makes it seem to him that murder is a small price for something so valuable as the crown. Although Macbeth said that he didn´t want to kill the King, I believe he was just trying to goad his wife into changing his mind, knowing that she would make everything seem all right, he does not reveal all his doubts to her, just enough to make sure
This is apparent when she deals with Macbeth leaving the gory daggers at the site of the murder, “Give me the daggers. The sleeping and the dead/ Are but as pictures; ‘tis the eye of childhood/ That fears a painted devil.”(scene 2 act 2 56-58). Macbeth is portrayed as emotionally unstable and soft as he is afraid to even go back into the room where the murder took place, “I’ll go no more/ I am afraid to think what I have done”(scene 2 act 2 54-55). This interaction between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth really shows the unusual roles one another play in there relationship because in a situation where someone is murdered or their is a serious crime, women aren’t usually the ones who are brave and strong minded about it, men are.
In the play, “Macbeth”, the character that stands out the most is Lady Macbeth. Her role in this story is significant, she is an evil, ruthless, and ambitious person. She is responsible for the murders that her husband commits because she was bloodthirsty for the crown. In fact, she then becomes more eager to get the crown than Macbeth himself and soon realizes that once you commit one violent act, there is almost no way of ever turning back. An analysis of Lady Macbeth reveals that she is a powerful character who adds complexity and depth to a play about murder, madness, and revenge.
Lady Macbeth is a complex and intriguing character in Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth. She is a difficult character to embody as her personality seems split between two sides, one that is pure evil, sly and conniving in contrast to her softer, vulnerable, weak and feminine side. In the play we see her in these two main ways. The reader may feel a certain animosity towards Lady Macbeth throughout the first few acts as her personality appears more and more distasteful, in spite of this towards the end she has a serious breakdown over the guilt that torments her, even in her sleep, regarding her hand in Duncan’s untimely death.
Lady Macbeth from “Macbeth” was a very powerful and influential character in the play. However, her traits are portrayed as bitter making her seem as an undesirable figure. Throughout the book she is interpreted as controlling, demanding, power seeking, and corrupt, but it will later come back and cause conflict. In the book she says, “ Infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers. The sleeping and the dead Are but as pictures… For it must seem their guilt” (Shakespeare 59). At this point in the book, Lady Macbeth is showing how controlling she is by taking the matters into
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.
Macbeth is Shakespeare’s shortest play containing 28 scenes in total. Of these, Lady Macbeth appears in or is referred to in 11 scenes. In the last two scenes, she is briefly discussed by Macbeth and the doctor, and then she contributes nothing more than a cry off-stage, and in two other scenes, she has a total of seven lines. This means she is on stage for barely one-third of the play, yet she ranks as one of Shakespeare’s greatest female villains and one of the most notorious female villains in Western literature. In a well-structured essay, account for the power of Lady Macbeth as a character and as a villain.
Immediately, after reading Macbeth’s letter, Lady Macbeth’s malevolence urges her to plot the murder for the king. She decides to encourage Macbeth and calls for evil spirits to aid her brutal plans, “Come, you spirits… you murd’ring ministers… You wait on nature’s mischief. Come, thick night”. Her talk about defeminising herself and making her the superior amongst the couple, “That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here”, suggests Macbeth is weak and powerless in her presence. She implicates her husband of not being physically impotent but soft hearted and sentimental. She confronts him of this and warns him of his manliness and cowardice. She uses these various, manipulative strategies (challenging his manhood, being more aggressive, and defeminising
The purpose of this essay is to describe Lady Macbeth’s role in the play and discuss why this makes her the most fascinating character. Her evil doings are the main reasons why she dominates the plot so greatly. These include the following: considers Macbeth to be a wimp not wanting to murder; letting Macbeth fulfill her plan; taking control over Macbeth’s thoughts and actions; turning Macbeth from a loyal man to a greedy, coldhearted human being. Also Lady Macbeth’s transformation in character and her relationship