Analysis of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in William Shakespeare's Play

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Analysis of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in William Shakespeare's Play "This dead butcher and his fiend-like queen" Macbeth is a play of murder and witchcraft. Many actors when performing it on stage are too superstitious to use the real name, and call it " The Scottish play" instead believing that this way they will avoid bad luck being brought on themselves. The quotation from Malcolm's speech (V.ix.36) seems to portray Macbeth as a mindless killer, and that it is his wife who is the scheming villain, who is fiend-like, thus emphasising her link with the dark forces in the play. I think that this is too simple a way to sum up two complicated characters. Therefore I shall look at both Macbeth's and Lady Macbeth's characters as they advance through the play and the other characters that influence them before I draw any conclusions. This play was written and produced by Shakespeare during the reign of James I. We have to bear this in mind. Shakespeare was trying to impress the king who was a descendant of Scottish royalty. In the play Banquo represents King James' supposed ancestor. One of Shakespeare's aims in writing the play was to show his support for the king and that he was against the various uprisings which took place in James' reign. At the start of the play Macbeth is a very strong and courageous nobleman of the king. He is a ruthless warrior and loyal to his country. These qualities are shown right at the beginning of the play when in battle he bravely but violently killed the captain of the other army: "he unseamed him from the nave to th'chaps."(I.ii.22). He therefore receives the title of Thane of Cawdor. But this had... ... middle of paper ... ...s lost. He still fights though even though he knows he is a lost cause. This shows one of his qualities, one that shines through the evil and corrupt soul that has betrayed him throughout. He is then killed. In conclusion I believe I have shown that the description of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is not completely correct for either of them. Whilst Macbeth's ambition made him a murderer, he was not just a "butcher" in the sense that he was troubled by doubts and his conscience and it took his wife's taunts to bring him to commit the murder. Lady Macbeth, shows all "fiendish" qualities by appealing to evil spirits for help to plan the detail of the murder of Duncan. Nevertheless she is troubled by her dreams, which eventually cause her to commit suicide in Act 5 showing her being overcome by guilt for what she had done.

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741 Words | 2 Pages
In Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, the third murderers identity is unknown and it is never revealed at the end of the play. But there are some clues throughout the story that suggests Lady Macbeth could be the unknown third murderer. Lady Macbeth could be the third murderer in Macbeth because she shows signs of wanting to be like a man, she is the one that influenced Macbeth to kill Duncan, and because she shows signs of extreme guilt later in the story. With these three pieces of evidence, Lady Macbeth is shown to be the third murderer in Macbeth.
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822 Words | 2 Pages
Macbeth rejects conformation to traditional gender roles in its portrayal of Lady Macbeth’s relationship with her husband, her morals and their effect on her actions, and her hunger for power. Her regard for Macbeth is one of low respect and beratement, an uncommon and most likely socially unacceptable attitude for a wife to have towards her spouse at the time. She often ignores morality and acts for the benefit of her husband, and subsequently herself. She is also very power-hungry and lets nothing stand in the way of her success. Lady Macbeth was a character which challenged expectations of women and feminism when it was written in the seventeenth century.
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1562 Words | 4 Pages
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739 Words | 2 Pages
`Act 1- The three weird witches meet and they are planning on when they are going to meet again to talk to Macbeth. In the next scene King Duncan talks to the injured captain about the battle against the invaders, who are under the command of Macdonwald. The captain tell King Duncan how he saved Malcolm and Macbeth was very violent and fought with great force. Then the Captain is taken away by the servants then Ross enters and he tells Duncan that Cawdor has been beaten and the Norway army retreated. Then King Duncan comes to the decision to kill Cawdor and then Macbeth will "become Cawdor". Then Duncan sends out Ross to go tell Macbeth about what had happened at this time. In scene three the witches approach Banquo and Macbeth when they were on their way to Forres. The witches inform Macbeth and Banquo about what had happened in the kings court and they tell him he is the Thane of Cawdor and Glamis and that Macbeth will eventually become king. Then Banquo is told riddles that his children will be royal and he will not. After the witches disappear then Ross and Angus come up to them and Ross informs Macbeth the news which he just heard. Then Macbeth contemplates whether he will have to spill blood to become king, then when he is done they all continue to Forres. Then Duncan finds out that Cawdor dies because his son killed him. Then Ross, Angus, Banquo and Macbeth arrive. Then Malcolm becomes the heir to Duncans throne and Macbeth has Duncan dine at his castle that night so he rides to tell his wife. When Macbeth gets home he tells his wife the news and she starts to plot the murder of Duncan and Macbeth fallows. Then Duncan and the Scottish lords arrive and they are tak...
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2198 Words | 5 Pages
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1515 Words | 4 Pages
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259 Words | 1 Pages
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218 Words | 1 Pages
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1478 Words | 3 Pages
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Analysis of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in William Shakespeare's Play

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