Lady Macbeth is one of the most prominent and complex characters in Macbeth, much more than her husband, the bearer of the play’s title. Her tragic ending might come unexpected to some, but there are indications along the entirety of the play that hint towards it. In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth’s madness, and consequently her suicide, are a product of her isolation, lost purpose and womanhood. After the murder of Duncan, Lady Macbeth becomes completely isolated from the world around her. Macbeth finds himself occupied with his duties as king and securing his position. While he does struggle with the murder of Duncan at first, he grows accustomed to the blood on his hands as he kills anyone threatening his …show more content…
At the time, women were expected to be nothing but wives and mothers. Lady Macbeth is not a mother so all she is is a wife. She does not have her own name, only that of her husband. When she reads Macbeth’s letter, she speaks to him directly saying, “Thou wouldst be great...wouldst not play false/And yet wouldst wrongly win” (I.v.18-22). She does not mention herself when she talks about his promised greatness. Lady Macbeth never mentions her own future as queen, only his future as king. All she does is serve as Macbeth’s wife and as a host. She is the host when King Duncan comes over. She takes care of everything in the household. When Macbeth begins to shut her out, he slowly strips her of her roles. At the banquet scene, it was Macbeth who plans everything and takes over the role of host, not Lady Macbeth. “As soon as she is forced by Macbeth’s actions to give over her last role, she dissolves in confusion the very society upon whose continuance that role depends. With her husband out of her reach and society in shambles, Lady Macbeth no longer has any reason for being” (Klein 249). Since she has never thought of herself as an individual, only as the roles society has imposed on her, she does not believe she has a purpose anymore. Feeling lost and spineless, she succumbs to the madness that takes over her in her
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.
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
In hearing the prophecies of her husband, Lady Macbeth is intent on making Macbeth king
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.
Lady Macbeth believes that the only way her husband can assume the throne is if he kills Duncan. Macbeth and his wife truly thought that if he killed Duncan then he would be next in line for King. Macbeth was the one that hesitated on killing him because he thought it was a ridiculous idea, and people would find out. That’s when Lady Macbeth came in and was
Lady Macbeth, a leading character in William Shakespeare’s famous tragedy Macbeth, progresses throughout the play from a savage and heartless creature to a delicate and fragile woman, having no regard for mortality.
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
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.
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 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.
Lady Macbeth can be said to be one of Shakespeare's most famous and frightening female characters. She fulfills her role among the nobility and is well respected, like Macbeth. She is loving, yet very determined that her husband will be king. At the beginning of the play, when she is first seen, she is already plotting the murder of Duncan, showing more strength, ruthlessness, and ambition than Macbeth. She lusts after power and position and then pressures her husband into killing Duncan. Upon receiving the letter with the witches' prophecies from her husband, she begins to think and knowing that Macbeth lacks the courage for something like this, she calls upon the forces of evil to help her do what must be
Macbeth informs his wife Lady Macbeth of the previous events through a letter. She is ecstatic when realising one of the predictions from the witches has already come true. She sets her mind on obtaining the throne for her husband by any means necessary. Lady Macbeth also has a strong desire for power but can only gain this through her husband. She becomes the driving force behind the wicked deed of murdering the King. She summons upon evil spirits to make sure nothing will stand in the way of her plan:
Lady Macbeth is the wife of the main character, Macbeth in the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare. During
Lady Macbeth goes about as a person of evil motives and actions throughout the play. She is included strongly in Macbeth's issues to verify that he does what is important for him to become. At the point when figuring out that Duncan had planned to visit their castle, Lady Macbeth perceives this as a prime open door for Macbeth to take on the position of King: " Only look up clear; To alter favour ever is to fear. Leave all the rest to me " (I.V.69-71). Without Lady Macbeth's tirelessness in seeing the prediction through it is likely that the killings and the resulting confusion that takes after would never have happened. The three witches planted the thought into Macbeth's brain and Lady Macbeth took that temptation and made it actuality. Lady Macbeth is essential to the evil set in motion by the witches in light of the fact that she completes what the witches began. Lady Macbeth assumes the responsibility
In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth’s character develops greatly throughout the play. In the opening of the play she is illustrated as a dominant, devious woman who does not have to think second about conspiring to execute the King of Scotland. Nonetheless after the dirty deed is completed, Lady Macbeth breaks down at the end of the play. She endures a nervous breakdown and commits suicide, which displays how she went from a powerful woman to a remorseful maniac.