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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