Unchecked Power in Shakespeare's Macbeth and King Lear

This quote reveals that Lady Macbeth is an extremely ambitious and unscrupulous woman. However Macbeth contradicts to Lady Macbeth, as he is too kind by nature to complete what needs to be done even though he consists the ambition. Macbeth’s goodness does not allow him to act heinously and murder Duncan in order to seize the throne. As Lady Macbeth shows her anxiety towards Macbeth she also states ““That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top- full of direst cruelty”(1.5. 48-50). The quote shows Lady Macbeth’s no hesitation in murdering King Duncan. Her feelings contradict to Macbeth. Macbeth shows anxiety and extreme fear as he begins to feel mix feelings. The quote shows that Lady Macbeth’s ambition is strong to overcome her husband. Even after Lady Macbeth Duncan’s murder, Lady Macbeth states “ My hands are of your color, but I shame to wear a heart so white”(2.2, 82-83) while Macbeth was crying that he hears voices and states that he heard voices- “Methought I heard a voice cry “Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep”(2.2. 47-48). It is clear during the murder of Duncan that the two characters- Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have changed the ideal role between genders. Lady Macbeth contradicts to the expectation of women during the 11th century as she controls over her husband. She leads her husband who should have power over her to murder the loyal king of Scotland as well as

Macbeth was also affected by Lady Macbeth when she questions his manhood in, “When you durst do it, then you were a man// Be so much the man.” For a male at the time, to be questioned of their masculinity was the ultimate insult, especially from a woman. This emotional blackmail device from Lady Macbeth clearly worked, because Lady Macbeth was able to take full control of Macbeth hereafter. In the same manner that Lady Macbeth goads her husband, Macbeth then provokes the murderers by questioning their manhood, “Ay, in the catalogue ye go for men”. Both of these acts show that both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth equate masculinity with naked aggression, and whenever they converse about manhood, violence soon follows. Their understanding of manhood allows the political order depicted in the play to descend into chaos.

While Lady Macbeth believes that men are superior when it comes to power and warfare, the effect that she has on Macbeth’s actions manages to change the outcome of the entire play. This speech illustrates a prominent power relation in the text - Lady Macbeth and the power that she has over her husband. While Macbeth is the one carrying out the deeds, Lady Macbeth, at least at the beginning of the play, is the brains behind the operation and manages to maintain a certain amount of control over him. “When you durst do it, then you were a man.” - Lady Macbeth. Being a man is something Macbeth cares about strongly, and Lady Macbeth manages to harness this desire of Macbeth’s to keep the power in their relationship. This speech is revealing because it manages to expose the inner workings of the relationship between the two

When Macbeth questions whether he should kill Duncan, Lady Macbeth attacks Macbeth calling him a “coward” (16) and a “poor cat” (17). Unlike May in “The Canterbury Tales”, Lady Macbeth does not use clever analogies to manipulate her husband, instead, Lady Macbeth bullies Macbeth into going with the plan to assassinate King Duncan. Although women were still below men as they were during the time period of “The Canterbury Tales” as defined by the Great Chain of Being, Lady Macbeth acts like the head of the household instead of Macbeth. One of the reasons for the inconsistency between the traditions of the time period and the play is that Lady Macbeth, upon receiving the letter from Macbeth about his promotion to Thane of Cawdor asked for “spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty” (12). By being “unsex[ed]”, she loses the identity given to her by society and instead takes on the role as head of the Macbeth household and the equivalent of a man.

On the surface, Lady Macbeth’s attempts to erase the weakness of femininity and appear completely unremorseful seem to avail. Her monologue in Act 1, Scene 5 states her wish to be filled with cruelty and incapable of feeling guilt. This wish is seemingly granted when she participates in the murder of King Duncan. While Macbeth is feeling doubtful, Lady Macbeth takes control of their plans. She assumes the masculine role of the evil plot, and Macbeth becomes more of an accomplice. Although Macbeth does the actual killing, it is Lady Macbeth that persuades him to go through with it, telling him he will be less of a man if he does not. After the murder takes place, Macbeth feels too much guilt and paranoia to move the daggers. Lady Macbeth does so with no problem, accusing her husband

Shakespeare uses the character Macbeth’s hallucinations, self-isolation, and willingness to act without hesitation to show how unchecked power and violence lead to an overflow of psychological issues. A key example of this is when Macbeth's issues become visible in act two as he hallucinates while trying to murder King Duncan “Is this a dagger which I see before me, / The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. “(II.I.44-46)” (II.I.44-46).

In the beginning of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth takes on an extremely masculine persona when confronting Macbeth about killing Duncan and desires that, “Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe topful / Of direst cruelty,” (1.5.38-43). Lady Macbeth is so power hungry that she requests spirits to make her a man so she could have enough will to kill Duncan. While Lady Macbeth portrays a stable, confident woman on the outside, internally she battles against her own feelings of regret and remorse. During her nightmare, Lady Macbeth rambles about her guilt.

When Lady Macbeth was aware that her husband had second thoughts about following through with the plan, she decided to attack his masculinity in order to convince him. She said that killing Duncan will make him “so much more the man”, implying that he will only remain a “man” in her eyes if he does what she says. This surely convinced Macbeth to listen to his wife as he would not want to look less powerful in front of her, especially since he may become king in the near future. In order to uphold his “masculine” state and authoritative position in the relationship, he decided to continue on with what was discussed with his wife to prevent looking timid. This demonstrates the power Lady Macbeth has over her husband as her words greatly influenced his actions.

At the very beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is provoked by the letter she receives by Macbeth and starts plotting the murder of Duncan. She also wishes she were a man such that she could commit the murder all by herself saying so in Act 1 Scene 5, “Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty” (Macbeth 1.5.36-52). She appeals to these spirits to remove all aspects of her femininity and seeks to gain power through the prophecy of the witches. Her fear about the ability of her husband to commit the murder is subdued in her designated gender. Lady Macbeth manages her feminine power through her sensuality and pretended weakness through her fainting streak at the notice of Duncan’s death. Manipulation, usually through sexuality is often depicted as the source of women’s power still Lady Macbeth uses this power of hers to commit murder, a masculine demonstration of power. Lady Macbeth in her soliloquy about the planning of Duncan’s death refers to her husband as an individual who plays honestly and does not engage in wrongdoing.

However once they accomplish the deed, the torment that the guilt brings is too much for Macbeth but he gets used to the evil of killing people meanwhile the opposite happens to Lady Macbeth who becomes paranoid about killing Duncan. Shakespeare presents the play in such a way that the audience sees how more and more their relationship changes dramatically as a result of how they each handle their emotions following the murder of King Duncan. Although Macbeth was weak at first, it was the strong Lady Macbeth who helped him through the first murder, but in sacrifice to controlling Macbeth and his conscience, she lost control of her own and consequently became insane and committed suicide. Lady Macbeth repeatedly convinced her husband by questioning his manhood “When you durst do it, then you were a man, / And, to be more than what you were, you would / Be so much more the man” (Shakespeare 1.7.54-56). She is a strong, powerful character in comparison to her easily influenced husband, until towards the end of the play where he seems to take on her role.

The conformity to gender roles that Macbeth and Lady follow leads to the destruction of their relationship. At the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is more masculine than Macbeth and holds the power in their relationship. Lady Macbeth is aware that she is the assertive one in their relationship and uses that to manipulate Macbeth. In act 1, scene 7, Lady Macbeth questions Macbeth’s masculinity saying, “When you durst do it, then you were a man; / And, to be more than what you were, you would / Be so much more the man.”(54-56) in saying this, she is using Macbeth’s fragile masculinity against him because she knows Macbeth will prove his masculinity by killing Duncan. After they succeed and get away with the murder, Macbeth becomes more assertive and decisive. Macbeth begins to hide things from Lady Macbeth, like his plan to kill Banquo, this causes a strain on their relationship. In act 3, scene 2, lines 50 and 51, Macbeth says to Lady Macbeth, “Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, / Till thou applaud the deed.” about his plan to kill Banquo because he doesn’t want her involved. This furthers the strain in their relationship because Macbeth thinks he, a man, should handle these kinds of things where Lady Macbeth, a woman, should not concern herself with such problems. Furthermore, by excluding Lady Macbeth he has pushed a wedge between them by keeping secrets from her, losing her trust and leading to the downfall of their relationship. Closer to the end of the play, Macbeth assumes his role as a hypermasculine man and becomes violent, killing any possible threat to him. In becoming king, Macbeth becomes obsessed with having power because of the lack of control he had in his relationship with his wife. To Macbeth Macduff appeared as a threat,

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.

Most significantly, Lady Macbeth is able to emasculate her husband repeatedly, possessing the knowledge that in his desperation to prove himself and his manhood to her, he will perform the sinister tasks she wishes him to perform. Macbeth in turn, later echoes Lady Macbeth’s actions as he questions the manhood of the murderers hired to kill Banquo. Such ambitions are further seeded as she continuously builds upon the prosperity the crown would provide should Macbeth be willing to claim it: nobility, power, and vast riches. Her attempts to manipulate are proven successful as Macbeth gives into her demands, proclaiming that, “I dare do all that may become a man; who dares do more is none” in (1, 7, 46-47). This line suggests Macbeth fears losing his masculinity and thus follows the commands of his wife in order to reclaim its solidarity. It is this lurking anxiety dwelling within the two that the reader may observe

In Shakespare’s play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth’s destiny is formed by her own actions through mind and free-will. In act I, Lady Macbeth convinces her husband to murder Duncan, even though Macbeth was strongly against it. Lady Macbeth is very successful at persuading him to go against his better judgment. She entirely changes the stereotype of women being kind and caring in the first act. After Macbeth writes home telling of his murderous plans, Lady Macbeth begins talking to evil spirits. Because women often lack the ruthlessness to kill someone, Lady Macbeth asks the spirits to make her male. One of the most vivid descriptions of Lady Macbeth’s wickedness is directly after Macbeth announces to her he does not want to kill Duncan. This speech symbolizes Lady Macbeth’s evilness. She is ruthless, because of her evil accounts for the murders that occur throughout the play. Lady Macbeth convinces her husband to commit murders that will make them king

Lady Macbeth’s burning ambition to be queen drives her to the point of insanity. She stops at nothing to gain power and uses Macbeth as the enforcer for her plans. This power is clearly illustrated as her husband follows her command to kill the king of Scotland, she constantly taunts Macbeth bringing him even further under her control. She is quite the opposite of how we generally assume feminine characters to act, and even begs the gods to remove her femininity at one point, “...Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here...Come to my woman’s breasts, and take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers...” (Shakespeare 12). As Lady Macbeth expresses her desire to become unsexed, we see the link that clearly exists between masculinity and murder. She believes that since she is a woman she cannot be capable of committing such evil deeds, and her reference to her breasts which is generally linked to the idea of nurture, is called upon in reference to her desire to do quite the opposite. Lady Macbeth presents a very strong character throughout the play, and through her actions a very clear picture of a manipulative wife is painted. Though Macbeth is the one to carry out many of the deviant plans, Lady Macbeth’s role is clearly portrayed as the evil mastermind behind the murders.