Macbeth is a dramatic play penned by British playwright William Shakespeare, and set in medieval Scotland. Macbeth tells the story of the journey of a commander who seeks to become king. Macbeth, a prominent Scot, receives a prophecy from three witches foretelling that he is to ascend to the throne. His wife, Lady Macbeth appears to support Macbeth initially, but then she gradually fades away from his side. Over time, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s characters transform tremendously in nature. Macbeth grows to resemble his power-hungry wife, meanwhile, Lady Macbeth herself appears to grow more guilt-ridden. At the onset, Lady Macbeth is portrayed as someone who is determined to obtain the throne, whereas Macbeth is less desiring of the throne. Lady …show more content…
Killing King Duncan leaves Macbeth with profound guilt. Ironically, this guilt is not everlasting as Macbeth plunges into a murdering spree. The shock of the murder leaves Macbeth in a state of moral quandary where he is not able to initially accept credit for committing regicide. At one point he even struggles to say the word “Amen” but has no problem saying “God bless us” (Shakespeare 2.2.31-32). Eventually, he embraces who he has become, and begins to exhibit growing paranoia and blood rage. Macbeth embarks on a killing spree that leaves many dead in his path to take the throne. After the death of King Duncan and his two guards, Macbeth proceeds to kill Banquo, Lady Macduff, Macduff’s children, and even attempts to kill Fleance. In contrast, as Macbeth becomes more rapacious, Lady Macbeth ironically evolves in the opposite direction. It seems as though Lady Macbeth is more affected by the murder of King Duncan than she initially …show more content…
At first, Lady Macbeth was assertive while Macbeth was easily manipulated. Lady Macbeth’s transformation occurs ironically, while Macbeth’s happens as a consequence of the circumstances he finds himself in. In contrast to Lady Macbeth, Macbeth grew to be so power-hungry that he became a ruthless murderer. Lady Macbeth struggled to reconcile the darkness of her own past with who her husband had become after the murder of King Duncan. This tremendous conflict lead her to withdraw from him and from health itself. Lady Macbeth’s condition gradually declines as the play concludes and she ends her life with suicide. In a way, they both reveal signs of mental illness, Macbeth became a murderous psychopath and Lady Macbeth grew depressed due to Macbeth’s actions. Lady Macbeth devolved from an ambitious wife to a suicidal queen, while her husband transformed from a hesitating commander into a murderous
Lady Macbeth is an extremely ambitious woman and wants more than anything for her husband, Macbeth, to be the next King of Scotland. When King Duncan announces that his son, Malcolm, is to be the next King, Duncan’s murder is planned. Lady Macbeth’s crucial role in the play is to persuade Macbeth to carry out the murder of Duncan. In the beginning she is ambitious, controlling and strong. However as the plot concludes there is an extreme change in her character and personality which surprises the audience. Lady Macbeth’s guilt eventually becomes too much for her to handle which leads to her death.
After the slaughter of his former comrade, Macbeth explains to his wife, “Strange things I have in head that will to hand/Which must be acted ere they may be scanned” (3.4.137-140). This assertion from Macbeth paves the path for his future misdeeds. Lady Macbeth is concerned by her husband’s announcement and responds with, “You lack the season of all natures, sleep” (3.4.141). Lady Macbeth believes that her husband has lost his sanity. She no longer supports Macbeth’s murderous plans, and resents his new impulsivity. Following this conversation, Macbeth continues to kill harmless people, such as Macduff’s wife and children. He implies that he will no longer think about his actions before completing them, which is a deranged approach to life. The change in Macbeth’s behavior reshapes Lady Macbeth’s personality. She realizes that “what’s done cannot be undone” (5.1.57). Lady Macbeth now recognizes the lasting impact of the murders on herself and her husband. Initially Lady Macbeth approves Duncan’s murder, as it leads to her queenship. Her sadism and zeal for power declines after Macbeth’s killing spree. Lady Macbeth’s newfound heart is the outcome of her husband’s wicked
To begin with, Macbeth is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare that believed to have taken place around 1606. This play dramatizes the physical, emotional, and psychological effects of those who seek power for ones’ sake. In this play a Scottish General named Macbeth receives predictions from three witches that voice him he will one day become the King of Scotland. With determination his wife takes action convincing him to murder King Duncan therefore he would become king. Macbeth then becomes paranoid and filled with guilt, forcing him to commit more murders to protect himself from suspicion. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth then receive the madness of death.
After the death of King Duncan, Macbeth becomes the more controlling one, and Lady Macbeth’s guilt eventually becomes too much for her to handle which leads to her death. Lady Macbeth is in fact the one that performs the preparations for the murder of King Duncan, but still shows some signs of humanity by not committing the murder herself because he resembles "My father as he slept". After the murder has been committed, she also shows signs of being a strong person because she calms Macbeth down in order to keep him from going insane.
Lady Macbeth was “choked with ambition”. Her infatuation to be queen is the single feature that Shakespeare developed far beyond that of her counterpart in the historical story he used as his source. Lady Macbeth persistently taunts her husband for his lack of courage, even though we know of his bloody deeds on the battlefield. At this point in time, with all her will converging towards seizing the throne, she has shown no signs of remorse or hesitance in her actions and hence preventing the events in the narrative from digressing away from imperative themes and climaxes of the play.
The character of Lady Macbeth is a complex one, there is much that can be said regarding the juxtaposition of ideas concerning her behavior. Within this essay I shall attempt to elaborate on her forceful, selfish and contradictory character.
Lady Macbeth encompasses all of Macbeth’s traits of ambition and determination, but she is also dark and twisted in her intentions, which Macbeth lacks. Using her lady-like prowess, she serves as a catalyst that encourages her husband to perform evil actions. After
Shakespeare’s piece, as an immeasurable ravine, would always be inaccessible for me to read due to the ancient English and the ancient background under which all the story had token place. I remember the first time of reading Macbeth was when I was in 8 grades. I was too young to appreciate the tragical theme; thus, my first impression of Macbeth was barely left, except knowing its short length. When I was watching the actual Shakespeare playing on the stage, my memory of my earlier reading suddenly was retrieved. However, in the end, Macbeth still left lots of questions for me to concern.
Macbeth is now hardened to killing. He orders the murder of the wife and children of his enemy Macduff, who had fled to England after Duncan's murder (Act 2. Scene 1). Macduff then gathers an army to overthrow Macbeth. By this time, Lady Macbeth, burdened with guilt over the murders, has become a sleepwalker. She finally dies a few scenes before the play concludes. In the end, Macduff kills Macbeth in battle. Duncan's son Malcolm is then proclaimed king of Scotland.
At the end of the play this character feels guilt for what she has done and has taken the personality, which was that of her husband in the beginning.At the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth speaks and shows her shows how cruel and heartless she really is; "And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty". This shows she has no good in her, what so ever. Macbeth on the other hand, began as a good respectable character. When Lady Macbeth speaks of killing Duncan, he gives many reasons for reasons that he could not do so. Some of the reasons he gives in that speech are, that Duncan respects him, and trusts Macbeth. Duncan is also related to him by blood, and if he were to kill him he would never be able to rid himself of the guilt; wash the blood from his hands.At the climax of the play Macbeth makes plans to kill Banquo, with out Lady Macbeth, without anyone.
In Shakespeare’s tragic play Macbeth, Shakespeare creates the ruthless character Macbeth, who is willing to go beyond any measure in order to attain the power of being king, including murder, deceit, betrayal and overpowering the chain of being. Macbeth was first tempted by the idea of kingship when three witches presented him with their portent of Macbeth becoming the next King of Scotland. Ebullient, Macbeth, immediately informed his wife of the news and they both pondered the thought of having the power to rule all of Scotland. Lady Macbeth, a power seeker herself, promptly schemed a plan to kill King Duncan in order for her and her husband to rule, displaying her ready ambition for power. Macbeth’s thirst for power ate away at his conscience
Macbeth's state of delusional paranoia is the repercussion of his crimes too. Unlike Lady Macbeth however, he is physically responsible for Duncan's murder. This act alone is enough to exemplify his tendency to commit vile acts of betrayal and treachery. However, he further goes on to send murderers after his once-good friend and fellow Lord Banquo, and Banquo's son Fleance, betraying their trust. Banquo did not pose a direct threat to Macbeth's life; Macbeth simply wanted to guarantee his uncontested rule over all of Scotland. As prophesied by the witches, Banquo's family would gain the throne after Macbeth. In an effort to prevent losing his family's claim to the throne and defend his own life, Macbeth chooses to kill Banquo and Banquo's son Fleance to cease their line of family, ensuring the continuation of royalty in Macbeth's family. Although this second murder was unsuccessful, the principles behind ordering it remain treacherous and evil. These crimes represent once again another disruption to the natural chain of being, with emphasis on the murder of King Duncan. By choosing to elevate his own position in this chain by murdering other people, he once again contributes to his destruction farther along in the play. This natural order is extremely important in Macbeth, and changing it causes negative repercussions to directly affect the person or persons responsible. This inexcusable betrayal is
Each disloyalty, causing him to change more than the last. With the death of King Duncan, Macbeth has his most drastic change, but in every other betrayal, the reader sees how much each next death affects not only Macbeth but others too. One also sees the change of a person through betrayal in Lady Macbeth as her personality mutates from that of a strong willed, ambitious and cruel human being, seen through her praise to Satan as she asks to be "unsexed" to a kind unambitious person. The reader first sees Lady Macbeths shift in personality as she refuses to kill Duncan herself due to his "resemblance" of her "father" as he "slept" which causes Macbeth to commit the sin himself and commit yet another form of betrayal, his betrayal of religion or moral right. The incitement of Macbeths treason is all due to his motivation and need for power; even when he already has it it does not seem to be good enough for him and it causes him to transform into a horrendous
Macbeth the noble, loyal and brave Thane of Glamis, the traitorous Thane of Cawdor and the murderer of King Duncan. Lady Macbeth the cruel, ruthless and heartless instigator of the murder and the women who motivates her husband to gain Kingship through the most brutal and inhumane means. A loving yet cold hearted pair, Macbeth and his Lady plan, plot and execute murders to gain the Scottish crown. Along the way they show their eminent differences and underlying similarities. Through their cold heartedness both achieve the ambitious dreams that lie close to their hearts. Macbeth to be crowned and his wife to see him crowned. But out of the murders rises an overlying feeling which seemingly neither has the strength to combat, the remorseful pangs of conscience. Finally the pair overcome by their actions both, succumb to this powerful and yet unseen faculty. Macbeth is murdered and his Lady commits suicide. The traits which the pair exhibit during the play share a common similarity and sameness but, are manifest at different points throughout. Both share ambition, creed and a blood thirsty desire, and through their underlying love for each other, they both finally achieve these ambitions which eventually lead to their downfall.
Choose a play in which a central character is slow to understand fully the seriousness of his or her situation. Explain how this situation has developed and discuss how the character’s behaviour influences your overall assessment of him or her.