The Character of Lady Macbeth
Lady Macbeth is a central character in Shakespeare's play, Macbeth; she provides a link between the unnatural realm of the witches and reality. Lady Macbeth appears to become the catalyst for the predictions of the witches. Perhaps the witches planted the seeds of dreams, desire and destiny but it is the unrelenting drive of Lady Macbeth that finally cajoles Macbeth into murdering the king.
Lady Macbeth is a woman of single purpose. On receiving word from Macbeth of his great success and his subsequent meeting with the, 'weird sisters,' their prophecy and its partial fulfillment, her mind is instantly engaged by murderous ambition. She is also aware that her husband, despite his...show more content...
Come to my woman's breasts
And take my milk for gall, you murd'ring ministers,'
The Lady becomes the dominant force in the partnership, as she schools Macbeth in the art of deceit, she warns him to hide any thought of their deadly intentions.
'Your face my thane, is as a book where men
May read strange matters. To beguile the time
Look like the time, bear welcome in your eye,
Lady Macbeth
Her purpose is clear; as she implores Macbeth to, 'put The night's great business into my despatch.' She shows no compunction as she endeavors to bring about what she now desires, urging him, 'Leave the rest to me.'
As she feared, Macbeth's resolve begins to weakens as he protests, 'We will proceed no further in this business,' Lady Macbeth berates her husband for his lack of conviction, she questions his love for her; she mocks him, saying that he is less than a man, accusing him of being drunk and a coward. She speaks of a smiling babe she once nursed and how she would have, 'dashed the brains out, had I so sworn.' Her loyalty to him is unfaltering as he procrastinates.
MACBETH If we should fail?
LADY MACBETH We fail?
But screw your courage to the sticking–place,
And we'll not fail.
Lady Macbeth's planning was meticulous; she drugged Duncan's guards and laid out their daggers ready for Macbeth. She
Character Analysis Of Lady Macbeth
Lady Macbeth is by far the most evil spirited lady Mr Shakespeare's has ever wrote about.
She is very aggressive,inhuman and very manipulative in the play Macbeth. In Shakespeare's
work she was very addicted and demanding to the idea of becoming a queen along side her
Husband. She was so determined that she did not care about anyone or anything else
Lady Macbeth has a very aggressive personality in the play Macbeth. Her husband described
that she acts more like a man then she does a women. Instead of being like most women at that
time she was the mastermind of most of the plans in the play and was involved in two major
murders. In Shakespeare's era women made little or no decisions due to the men being the
superior in the relationship. However this was not the case with her. Her motivation and
aggressiveness left her husband Macbeth without argument. She had total control of her
husband when she had the raging desire to kill Duncan. Even though Duncan respected Lady
Macbeth and trusted them both with his life. She was bloodthirsty enough to convince Macbeth
to kill Duncan in his sleep while the guards would be blacked out from all the alcohol they would
consume at the party.'' But screw your courage to the sticking place, And will not fail'' She stated
that she wish she was not a women so she could commit the murder herself. Her insanity would
soon follow after the murder when Macbeth is in total shock and paranoia Lady Macbeth is
unaffected by the lifeless body of the king. As Macbeth is walking around aimlessly with the
blood stained dagger she is still mocking her husband and calling him names. Her aggressive
motivation would soon follow when she wanted to take out all the possible competition of
becoming King, this led Lady Macbeth and Macbeth to send a group of murders to the road
where they would Ambush Banquo. If the plan she made would all workout the murders would
kill both Banquo and his son Fleance and this would make Macbeth and Lady Macbeth the only
alleged able people for the position. These actions in the play make me very shocked as a
reader. Usually women are the kind and loving ones of the relationship especially when the
husband is a
Lady Macbeth Character Analysis
Karin Thomson from the Shakespeare Institute in the University of Birmingham states very well in her analysis of Shakespeare's Macbeth that Lady Macbeth is not so much a criminal as she is a "victim of a pathological mental dissociation upon an unstable daydreaming basis". Thomson continues to mention that this is "due to the emotional shocks of her past experiences", which of course is the loss of her child. Lady Macbeth's mentally unstable state ultimately ends with with a tragic conclusion, death. Lady Macbeth's desires seem to be very clear, her ambition to be queen of Scotland. Lady Macbeth seems to go along with one of the major themes of the play, deception, even to go as far as deceive herself. After the murder of Duncan, Macbeth tells his wife "what hands are here? ha! ... Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? ... making the green one red" [II.ii.60–4]. Macbeth at this point is filled with guilt and emotion, while Lady Macbeth is doing the opposite by saying "my hands are of your colour; but I shame to wear a heart so white" [II.ii.65–6], implying that the murder is not a big deal for her and Lady Macbeth is being more of a "man" than Macbeth is. However in reality, as we will see later on in the play, Lady Macbeth is deceiving Macbeth, the audience, and even herself on her mental state, where as she may seem emotionally stable, she is really broken inside. The second part of the witches predictions is that the sons of Banquo will be king. Once Macbeth is king, this prediction is his biggest problem. Macbeth at the time has no heir, as we see from "he has no children" [IV.iii.201]. However, Macbeth seems to imply earlier that he has had children in the past by saying "and pity, like a naked new–born babe" [I.vii.21]. Macbeth saying this would seem to imply that he knows what a naked newborn baby would look like, because he's seen it, his own child. Lady Macbeth later brings further proof that the have had children in the past by saying "I have given suck, and know how tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me" [I.vii.54–9]. It is very clear from the text that Lady Macbeth at one point did in fact have children, and now she does not. While what happens to her kids are
Essay about Character Study of Lady Macbeth
Character Study of Lady Macbeth
Lady Macbeth comes into the play in act 1 scene 5, when Lady Macbeth is reading the letter from Macbeth. Lady Macbeth fears that Macbeth's heart "is too full o' th' milk of human kindness". She knows that her husband has is "not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it".
Lady Macbeth's immediate response to the letter is the thought of killing the king. "Hie thee hither, that I may pour my spirits into thine ear" she wants her husband to hurry back so she can talk to him about killing the king.
Lady Macbeth's determination to be queen is evident when she refers to "the raven" who "himself is hoarse" and "croaks the fatal entrance of...show more content...
She attacks his masculinity when she tells him "when you durst do it, then u were a man"
"I would while it was smiling me in the face have plucked my nipple from hi boneless gums, and dashed the brains out" here she compares her womanliness to her husbands manliness.
Lady Macbeth has no concept of failing. When Macbeth asks, "if we should fail" her reaction is "but screw your courage to the sticking–place, and we'll not fail. When Duncan is asleep... his two chamberlains will I with wine and wassail so convince, Shall be a fume, and the receipt of reason a limebeck only" she is arguing with Macbeth and has come up with a plan to plant the blame of the murder on the chamberlains. "What cannot you and I perform upon Th' unguarded Duncan". She sees herself as clearly playing a role in the murder of Duncan and she is very convincing to Macbeth that they are right to precede in killing Duncan.
Act 2 scene 2, the influence of alcohol has made her "bold" but still at this point she is nervous. When she hears Macbeth return she is concerned that he has not been successful stating: – "Th' attempt and not the deed confound us" this shows her lack of confidence in her husband. She clearly shows her first obvious sign of weakness, "had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done't". Therefore the seeds of her own downfall are clear
Lady Macbeth Character Analysis
Macbeth, written by william shakespeare displays a diverse range of themes and topics throughout the play. These themes are represented through a wide range of characters throughout the dramatic text. One that is strongly underlined throughout the whole play is the theme of the connection between ambition and manipulation and one of the main characters; Lady Macbeth. Throughout the sequences of the play, lady macbeth is depicted as a head–strong ambitious woman who challenges her husband's masculinity in order for him to commit actions in order to gain power.
Lady Macbeth throughout the play shows her dominance in the relationship by challenging Macbeth's masculinity and making him seem weak. This tactic worked in her favour as it always resulted in the way she wanted. Act one scene scene 7 supports this through lady macbeth's statement; "Was the hope drunk Wherein you dress'd yourself? hath it slept since? And wakes it now, to look so green and pale At what it did so freely?". Lady macbeth provides a range of rhetorical questions and allusions to motivate macbeth. By using the rhetorical question "to look so green and pale At what it did so freely?", lady macbeth describes her husband as green and pale. These two adjectives alludes to the popular disease at the time of macbeth, anemia. Anemia was heavily popular during the time of macbeth, with it being most popular in young virgin girls. This insult encouraged macbeth to pursue through with lady macbeth's wishes. Lady Macbeth continues to fire insults at macbeth through her words in Act 3 scene 4 "This is the air–drawn dagger which you said Led you to Duncan. O, these flaws and starts,Impostors to true fear, would well become A woman's story at a winter's fire, Authorized by her grandam. Shame itself!" In this scene, lady macbeth uses a metaphor to convey the weakness of macbeth. She does this by calling macbeth's hallucination; a story made by a young girl, but had to be double checked with her mother to see if it was appropriate enough to say. Lady Macbeth describes these actions as proper shame, encouraging macbeth to fulfil his plans. Furthermore, lady macbeth uses this same strategy in Act 1 scene 5 , "your eye, Your hand, your tongue; look like th'
Lady Macbeth Character Analysis Essay
Character Analysis
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...show more content...
Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband with such effectiveness and overrides all his objections.
She repeatedly questions his manhood, courage, and his love for her. She knows he is too weak to kill Duncan so she has no choice but to manipulate him to win him the title of King. She does this until he feels that he has no choice but to commit the murder to prove him to her.
Was the hope drunk
Wherein you dressed yourself? Hath if slept since?
And wakes it now to look so green and pale
At what it did so freely? From this time
Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard
To be the same in thine own act and valor
As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that
Which thou esteem'st the ornament of life,
And live a coward in thine own esteem,
Letting "I dare not" wait upon "I would,"
Like the poor cat I' the adage? (lines 36–45/act 1/scene 7)
As the strong hold in the relationship, Lady Macbeth shows remarkable strength up to the point of Duncan's murder. She is the comforter of Macbeth immediately after he commits the crime. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth later lose the ability to sleep because if they do, they have terrifying dreams but she still shows more strength during the day than her husband. To help keep Macbeth from feeling guilty and to help keep him calm in the night, she once again questions his manhood. That is until she cracks and her conscience becomes too much for her to handle. She was the one who had more
Lady Macbeth Character Analysis
Katrina Ngo
Mr. Michael
English HL
18 November 2017
Lady Macbeth: An analysis of power association with the male gender in Macbeth In his tragedy, Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, the central protagonist, Macbeth, is cajoled by a prophecy received by supernatural witches in which he will hold the title of King. However, his wife, Lady Macbeth, becomes consumed by the foretelling of royalty and incites Macbeth to execute immoral manslaughter without malicious forethought. Macbeth becomes increasingly avaricious in maintaining his title which ultimately leads to his demise.
Shakespeare develops the assertive character of Lady Macbeth to manipulate Macbeth's actions to convey the power associated with the male gender. Lady Macbeth makes her first appearance in the play reading a letter of her husband's encounter with the witches and promise for attaining titles of royalty. Her initial response is to question Macbeth's "nature" (I.5.16) in being too "full o' th' milk of human kindness" (I.5.17) to have the truculency to fulfill the prophecy regardless of Macbeth's bloody efficiency on the battlefield. Lady Macbeth's immediate lack of faith in Macbeth shows her ambitious character to be Queen. In addition to her nature, she appears to have planned out an elaborate scheme to assassinate King Duncan. As shown in her speech of avoiding terms of murder and replacing the actions with the use of subtle diction such as,"that" and "it" (I.5.25–26). This subtle and ambiguous
Character Analysis Of Lady Macbeth
When Lady Macbeth hears of Macbeth's news, King Duncan is coming to her castle; she instantly starts planning the murder, she speaks to her husband about her plan and when he refuses to carry out the murder she calls him a coward. 'Yet do I fear thy nature; it is too full o' th' milk of human kindness.' She is basically saying he is too nice and calling him a coward. She is calling him a coward to try and get him to do it. In a sense, being called a coward by a lady would be total humiliation so she calls him that to persuade him to do it. She also says that he has ambition, and wants to be powerful but doesn't have the mean streak required to strike at the first opportunity. Macbeth is very happy to wait until he becomes king but Lady Macbeth wants it NOW. She is prepared to do whatever it takes but Macbeth is a coward. He wants to be King, but he's afraid of what he needs to do to get the crown. Lady Macbeth tells him to 'hurry home so I can persuade you' she tries to talk him into taking the crown. 'After all, fate and witchcraft both seem to want you to be king' she mentions the witches to add more persuasion, like saying that because the witches were right about you becoming Thane of Cawdor they would be right about you becoming king as well. She is trying to manipulate her husband and will try whatever to become queen.
When the servant comes in saying that King Duncan will visit tonight, Lady Macbeth starts plotting, she wants to become less like a woman and more like
Character Of Lady Macbeth
In Shakespeare's play Macbeth, he displays the clashing character of Lady Macbeth. After getting her husband's letter about the witches' predictions, she endeavors to resemble a man keeping in mind the end goal to radiate the quality expected to increase extra economic wellbeing as sovereignty. Lady Macbeth has all the earmarks of being exceptionally persuasive in arranging – choosing when and how they should murder King Duncan – and reprimanding her better half for not acting more like a man; yet, in spite of these abilities, she is the primary explanation behind the noteworthy of the Macbeth's part in the usurpation of the position of royalty. The power that ladies had is depicted in the play so as to show that notwithstanding when...show more content...
While insight from a male character would be viewed as a valuable quality, man controlled society characterizes Lady Macbeth's knowledge as an imperfection and as a pointer that she is unnatural and "unfulfilled" as a lady. Man centric culture urges Lady Macbeth to put herself in the part of mother. Lady Macbeth is viewed as narrow minded and anomalous when she admits that there is a circumstance in which she would "[dash] [her child's] brains out" (I.vii), a very unnatural statement according to patriarchy's belief that women's desire to have and protect children is a part of "their natural biological makeup" (Tyson 97). In spite of the fact that savvy and solid toward the start of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is lessened to a unimportant individual frequented by bad dreams and blame because of a man centric depiction of her sexual orientation. Lady Macbeth needed to have control so gravely that she would've done anything. She enables Macbeth to murder the lord by sedating his gatekeepers and planting the knife used to execute the ruler, on the watchmen. She continued drinking with the gatekeepers until the point when they go out, so Macbeth could sneak past without anybody recognizing what he would do other than her. After Macbeth murders Duncan, he carries the blade back with him when he goes to tell Lady Macbeth that the deed is finished. Lady
Essay on Lady Macbeth Character Analysis
Lady Macbeth: Unsexed and Uncovered
Lady Macbeth progresses throughout the play from a seemingly savage and heartless creature to a very delicate and fragile woman. In the beginning of the play, she is very ambitious and hungry for power. She pushes Macbeth to kill Duncan in order to fulfill the witches' prophecy. In Act I, Scene 6, she asks the gods to make her emotionally strong like a man in order to help her husband go through with the murder plot. She says, "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!" Also, she does everything in her power to convince Macbeth that he would be wrong not to kill Duncan. In Act I,...show more content...
The first sign of weakness comes in Act II, Scene 2 when she says that she could not kill Duncan because he resembled her father. She explains, "Had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had done't." The other example of some weakness in Lady Macbeth's character is in Act III, Scene 2 when she tries to comfort Macbeth by telling him not to worry about what he has done to Duncan and is about to do to Banquo. She tells him, "How now, my lord! Why do you keep alone, Of sorriest fancies your companions making, Using those thoughts which should indeed have died With them they think on? Things without all remedy Should be without regard: what's done is done. Perhaps the most ironic change in Lady Macbeth's character comes at the very end of the play. Throughout most of the first four acts of the play, she has been the strongest character, always leading Macbeth and pushing him to carry out their plot, but in Act V we begin to see that she wasn't as strong as she had appeared. First, in Act V, Scene 1 we see a troubled Lady Macbeth who is sleepwalking. She seems to be very troubled by blood, presumably that of King Duncan. Some of the comments she makes are, "Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?", "What, will these hands ne'er be clean?", and "Here's the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand." Later, we learn
Character Analysis Of Lady Macbeth
Macbeth, a play written by Shakespeare centers around the two leads, Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, who both have the capacity to exhibit evil throughout the play. Although Lady Macbeth is the one who convinces her husband to commit his first murder, she is not responsible for all the other murders Macbeth had committed throughout the play. Hence, it is Macbeth, who is more evil than his wife and not the other way around.
Lady Macbeth possesses traits of a villain, but unlike her husband, she also demonstrates throughout the play that her moral conscience was able to feel the weight of the deeds she committed. Lady Macbeth plays a significant role in encouraging Macbeth to commit his first act of murder on King Duncan. In the events...show more content...
Although Macbeth was manipulated by his wife into committing the murder of King Duncan, he, however, is responsible for physically killing the King out of selfishness to which he showed no signs of remorse too. During the meeting with the three witches, Macbeth is told of three prophecies one of which is that "thou shalt be king hereafter" to which Banquo replies with "why do you start and seem to fear things that do sound so fair?" after seeing Macbeth's reaction. This shows that Macbeth already had thoughts of killing King Duncan for the crown since the beginning. Macbeth reconsidered killing the King multiple times as Duncan has shown nothing but generosity and fatherly affection "No more that Thane of Cawdor shall deceive...and with his former title greet Macbeth." towards Macbeth, but, it is only when the King announces that his son is to be the heir to the throne that Macbeth finally makes a decision to murder King Duncan as he believed there was no other way. King Duncan is seen as a figure of moral order and the assassination of him signals the outbreak of chaos that lays ahead. For Macbeth, the murder of Duncan was out of selfishness and blind ambition. In contrast, his wife, although manipulated Macbeth, did it out of love for him. Thus, Macbeth is more evil than his wife as the murder of King Duncan for him was out of selfishness for the crown and for power.
Whilst Lady Macbeth urged Macbeth to
Character Analysis Of Lady Macbeth
It is out of the ordinary for a woman to set up a murder for her husbands gain. Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare's "Macbeth" is know to be a very mean and cruel character that just isn't scared of anything by the readers. But as we get further towards the end of the play we see that she starts to show her true colors and state of mind.
Throughout the play lady Macbeth's attitude and bravery changes but at the beginning of the play she starts off with a lot of ambition. She makes all of her plans on killing Duncan and keeps them away from Macbeth until the time is right. "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."(Macbeth; Act 1, Scene 2). This quote shows how Lady Macbeth has more ambition and is less concerned than Macbeth. She is willing to place the daggers back sice Macbeth is to afraid to see the what he has done to his loyal King Duncan. It seems as if Lady Macbeth does all of the planning and sets everything up to make things easier for Macbeth to execute. As we get further into the play it seems as if Macbeth and Lady Macbeth completely switch roles. Lady Macbeth starts to regret everything that she has done and she starts to go see a doctor to get help. "Here's the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, Oh, Oh!" (Macbeth; Act 5, Scene 1). This quote
Character Analysis Of Lady Macbeth
In William Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth goes through some major character changes. After hearing the news about the witches' prophecies, she can't wait for Macbeth to take the throne and she is so eager for the king's death that she manipulates Macbeth into doing it. After the death of Duncan, Lady Macbeth does not appear in many other significant ways, this is where her change begins to show. Lady Macbeth is first introduced into the play as a dark, evil, and manipulative character; but, as the play progresses, she begins to change into a deceiving and passive character. At the end of the play, she is characterized for the last time when she takes her life because of her guilt.
In Act I of "Macbeth," Lady Macbeth is introduced as a complex character and is characterized in many ways. First, she is characterized as a dark and evil character in the beginning of Scene 5. Lady Macbeth says, "Come, you spirits / That tend to mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe top–full / Of direst cruelty!" (1.5.41–44). By saying this, Lady Macbeth is implying that she wants the demons to come to her and take out her feelings and any forms of guilt. She wants to be filled with evil and plan out the murder of Duncan, without feeling guilt. Because Lady Macbeth is shown as dark and evil, she is a complex character. Also, Lady Macbeth is characterized as manipulative. In a conversation trying to get Macbeth to murder the king, she is manipulative by saying, "What beast was't, then / 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." (1.7.48–51). In this quote, Lady Macbeth is questioning Macbeth's manhood. She is asking what he was when he came up with the idea of murdering Duncan, because he wasn't a man, and he still isn't. She ends the quote by implying that if Macbeth would just kill Duncan, he would be much better than the man he wishes to be. Later, Macbeth agrees to murdering Duncan, which proves the manipulative side of Lady Macbeth. At first, Macbeth was going to change his mind about murdering Duncan, but since Lady Macbeth changed his mind, she is a complex character. Ultimately, Lady
Lady Macbeth's Character Changes Throughout the Play Macbeth
In the Shakespearian play "Macbeth" Lady Macbeth is a very significant character. Written in the 17th century but set in 1050, she was ahead of her time. Lady Macbeth is such a strong, dominant character it would have shocked the audience because women at the time were meant to be subordinate. Her ambition leads to the breakdown of Scotland and the death of her and her husband. There is such a stark contrast between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth at the beginning. Lady Macbeth is so strong, determined and unnatural whereas Macbeth is the weaker person in the relationship. Although she was strong by the end of the play she had lost her sanity...show more content...
"O Never shall sun that morrow see" shows that Duncan will never see the light of the following morning because the murder is planned for that very night. This shows her determination because some people would think it through and plan for a very long time. She, however, has only just received the news and her plan is already set for that very night.
Lady Macbeth is also very manipulative. She tries to make Macbeth more like herself. "Yet I do fear thy nature/It is too full o' the milk of human kindness." Lady Macbeth fears that Macbeth will be too soft to be able to kill Duncan. She wants her husband to be less kind. She wants him to be less human to not feel anything as normal humans feel so he can commit the murder he would not be able to commit if he was as kind as he usually is. "I feel now the future in the instant". She feels her plan becoming more solid, more likely and she feels that she must tell Macbeth what he has to do to become King. She wants to become one step closer to controlling the country through Macbeth and making him do as she wishes. "Look like an innocent flower but be the serpent under it." She tells Macbeth to be more secretive. He must be dark and deadly in order to kill the King. The flower shows that Macbeth must look pretty and do nothing. He must seem
Character Analysis Of Lady Macbeth
In the play Macbeth, the author Shakespeare describes many character developments. After winning the battle and defeating Macbeth, Malcom describes Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as cruel and ruthless people. However, this is not an accurate statement. Lady Macbeth does begin as an ambitious and callous fiend. Throughout the story, Lady Macbeth's character changes dramatically into a shell of her former self. Lady Macbeth character evolves from an ambitious villain, to a neutral entity, and finally to a remorseful, unstable person. In the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth's character is established as strong, cruel, and ambitious. When the letter from her husband comes, she is already making a plan and knows what she wants. One of the...show more content...
When Duncan is asleep–
Whereto the rather shall his day's hard journey
Soundly invite him–his two chamberlains
Will I with wine and wassail so convince
That memory, the warder of the brain,
Shall be a fume, and the receipt of reason
A limbeck only: when in swinish sleep
Their drenchèd natures lie as in a death,
What cannot you and I perform upon
The unguarded Duncan? What not put upon
His spongy officers, who shall bear the guilt
Of our great quell? (Shakespeare I. 7. 59–72)
This way Macbeth can be king and she can rise in power as Queen. After the king was killed, Macbeth was emotional and strayed from the plan by bringing the murder weapon back with him. Lady Macbeth tells him to clean up while she plants the knife on the guards. When she returns, Macbeth is remorseful and overrun with emotions. Macbeth described, "Still it cried, 'Sleep no more!' to all the house./ 'Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor/ Shall sleep no more'" (Shakespeare II. 2. 42–44). Lady Macbeth shows no emotion in the act of taking a life. Meanwhile, Macbeth is hysterical and believes he is cursed. Lady Macbeth is portrayed as ruthless, cruel, and emotionless. Later on, this is no longer the case. Once she is queen, Lady Macbeth is on the top and loses her ambition. When Lady Macbeth has peaked at the top, she has nothing to worry about and she cannot go any higher in power. As Macbeth is becoming cruel, Lady
Macbeth Character Essay
Essay:
Introduction:
An important character in 'Macbeth' by William Shakespeare was Macbeth. Macbeth is shown as the protagonist of the play and is the person who drives the plot of the drama. Macbeth changes dramatically throughout the play as in the start he is portrayed as the tragic hero who would do anything for his King and country. As the plays continue he becomes ambitious and, encouraged by a prophecy. After that, he ends up killing a lot of people/becoming a tyrant. Paragraph 1:
At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is introduced as a brave war soldier; whose fame on the battlefield wins him a great honour from King Duncan and others around him. Macbeth is described by the captain as "brave Macbeth... Till he fac'd the...show more content...
Stars hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires." This shows that Macbeth is more determined to kill King Duncan after he hears that Malcolm is named the Prince of Cumberland. He is determined as Macbeth believes that he should be the King as the witches told him that he would be. Paragraph 3:
After Macbeth kills Duncan and becomes the king of Scotland, we see that he becomes out of control and starts to act like a tyrant. Macbeth begins to kill innocent people to hide his fear and become more of a man. He starts off by killing his best friend Banquo and attempts to kill his son Fleance. This is because he knows that Banquo suspects him of something. Macbeth is also mad that he has done all this work to become king and Banquo's Son will benefit from this and become King. After he kills Banquo, he says "For mine own good All causes shall give way. I am in blood Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o'er." This quote shows that there is no going back now to stop killing for Macbeth. He is committed to killing and whatever terrible things he may yet have to do.
After this Macbeth kills Macduff whole family and servants to send Macduff a message for being disloyal and he thinks that Macduff suspects him of something as well. This is shown when Macbeth says "The castle of Macduff I will surprise, Seize upon Fife, give to th' edge o' th' sword His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls That trace him in his
In his tragedy, Macbeth, Shakespeare presents his female protagonist, Lady Macbeth as a normal noblewoman who is fiercely ambitious. However, by the end of the play, Shakespeare portrays her as a frail, broken woman who suffers from, the consequences of her actions in the regicide of the King.
Shakespeare first presents Lady Macbeth in medias res while she is reading a letter from her husband, Macbeth. By being introduced this way, the audience may view Lady Macbeth as an important character that they should take note of, emphasising her power. In addition, her introduction parallels that of the witches, who were also introduced in media res. Lady Macbeth starts to speak in prose and iambic pentameter, just as the witches, the only other predominant female characters in the play. Shakespeare may have been implying that the witches were influencing Lady Macbeth's fate.
The letter Lady Macbeth is reading in Act 1 Scene 5 reveals many other aspects of her character and relationship with her husband, such as when Macbeth refers to her as "my dearest partner of greatness", Shakespeare's use of "my dearest" hints towards the intimacy of their relationship, and the use of soft, feminine language could refer to Lady Macbeth's charm as a woman. On the other hand, the phrase "of greatness" has quite the opposite connotations for the audience. It is implied that Macbeth thinks of his wife as an equal, which, for a Jacobean audience, would have been rather challenging as a viewpoint. However, the slightly harsher language coincides with the idea of Lady Macbeth being powerful. For the audience at the time, who lived in a Patriarchal Society, this phrase may leave them with a negative impression of the character of Lady Macbeth, as women were viewed as less important than men, and a strong woman would have been thought of as a witch. Jacobeans feared the supernatural, and this presentation may have caused them to fear Lady Macbeth.
Furthermore, Shakespeare directs the audience to view her as a powerful and manipulative character through her actions. Rather than pushing Macbeth to kill Duncan directly, she questions his courage and masculinity, knowing that this is the greatest insult she could say to him, and
Lady Macbeth's changes a lot throughout the play. She is a very evil character. Her ambition to be queen leads to the death of her and her husband. Lady Macbeth is a strong, determined and evil woman."That I may pour my spirits in thine ear And chastise with the valor of my tongue"(1.5.29–30). Lady Macbeth is introduced in Act 1 Scene 5 where she is told of Macbeth's meeting with the witches. She shows multiple sides of her personality early on in the play. Her talent for being weird and manipulative were shown as soon as she asked for her womanly characteristics to be replaced with more manly ones "Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here"(1.5.47–48). She shows how determined she is through the rest of Scene 5 by her desire to be queen. She forces/persuades Macbeth to be king"Great Glamis, worthy Cawdor, Greater than both by the all–hail hereafter!". In lady Macbeth's train of thought, Macbeth will be king no matter the cost is. The witches predicted that Macbeth would be King ,so she believes that she should make sure that happens"what cannot you and I perform upon Th'ungarded Duncan?"(1.7.79–80). She just received news of the prophecy and already wants Duncan dead so that she can be queen. Lady macbeth is also manipulative. She tries to and successfully gains control of her husband to get him to do what she wants and commit any deed at hand. She thinks her husband is too soft and won't kill Duncan, so she has to control him. She just wants him to
Essay on Lady Macbeth: A Dynamic Character
In our society, as a rule, the man is the head of the household. However, in Shakespeare's Macbeth, Lady Macbeth appears to be the neck that turns the head. William Shakespeare is one of the greatest writers in history, but he wasn't recognized until the nineteenth century. He wrote many plays, sonnets, plays, and narrative plays. It was during the sixteenth century that he wrote the tragedy of Macbeth. Lady Macbeth, wife to the protagonist Macbeth, is one of Shakespeare's most famous and evil female characters. At the start of the play, Lady Macbeth is ruthless, ambitious, cruel, and manipulative; however, by the end of the play she becomes insane and helpless. The transformation of these characteristics makes Lady Macbeth a very dynamic...show more content...
v. 40–54). She is asking the gods to take away her feminine side so she can kill Duncan without remorse, as a man should. With her determined ambition she influences Macbeth to become ambitious himself and to be courageous and kill Duncan. Later in the play, with his newfound ambition, he makes plans to kill the Macduff family on his own. "Lady Macbeth tutors her husband in the arts of deceit" (Kemp 95). She tells him to "bear welcome in your eye, your hand, your tongue: look like th' innocent flower, but be the serpent under't" (Shakespeare I. v. 63–65). She also portrays the perfect hostess. Duncan praises Lady Macbeth for being an "honour'd hostess" and a "fair and noble hostess" (Shakespeare I. vi. 10, 24). She drugs the guards who protect Duncan's bedchamber by bringing them tainted wine. Lady Macbeth, unable to kill Duncan because he resembles his father, has Macbeth to murder him instead. After the deed is done, Lady Macbeth plays to be distraught over the King's death. Later, following the murders of Duncan and Banquo, Macbeth acknowledges his wife as hostess, and she welcomes the thanes who have gathered after being summoned to acknowledge Macbeth as their new king (Kemp 95). Lady Macbeth is a master at manipulation. She tantalizes him [Macbeth] with his own self–image as a man who dares anything, for whom no limits of any kind exist (Bloom 39). Macbeth is afraid of the consequences of
Changes To The Character Of Lady Macbeth
Throughout the play, there are definite changes to the character of Lady Macbeth. We first meet her during Act 1, Scene 5 reading a letter from Macbeth. She reads about the prophecy of him being the future king. She thinks that Macbeth is far too kind to do something bad to achieve what he wants. Here we can already see that she seems to be an ambitious, fearless, and cold person who would do anything to achieve what she wants. When the messenger tells her that the king is coming to their castle, she has a speech asking the "spirits that tend on mortal thoughts" to "unsex me [Lady Macbeth] here, and fill me to the toe–top full of direst cruelty." She asks for her conscience and any human emotions to be gone so that she can commit the crime.