Lady Macbeth’s deadly intelligence and ambition dominate over that of her husband. When comparing the two characters for whom may have had the most stalwart ambition, I feel that it is quite clear that it must be Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is the first to spawn the idea of killing Duncan to gain the throne for her husband, she then begins to slowly cultivate and persuade her husband into executing this plan along with her when Duncan comes over with his family for dinner. At first it seems that the plan was doomed to fail as Macbeth is very hesitant to commit the horrendous deed, for fear of being caught in the act and facing the repercussions of his action. It is Lady Macbeth that is able to set the plan into motion afterwards when she
At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a trusted soldier, who is honest and noble. Unfortunately, he meets three witches who tell him three prophecies; that he will become thane of Cawdor, that he will become king and that Banquo’s sons will become kings. These three prophecies slowly change his opinions on life and turn him into a greedy, dishonest, tyrant, full of ambition. Lady Macbeth’s thoughts change as well when she is told about the three prophecies that were told to Macbeth. In the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is ambitious, controlling and domineering. She is the one who encourages him to kill the king, she not only encourages him, she makes all the plans herself, which shows her determination and persistence."Yet I do fear thy nature, it is too full o’th milk of human kindness. To catch the nearest way thou wouldst be great. Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it." (Act 1, scene 5). Lady Macbeth is the force behind Macbeth’s sudden ambition and she tries to manipulate him into feeling guilty and unmanly for not following through with the murder, by using her husbands emotions, she manages to convince Macbeth to murder Duncan.
When Macbeth was off at war, and told Lady Macbeth that the witches greeted him as Thane of Cawdor, and King of Scotland before he received those titles, she was probably scheming on how to fulfill those before he returned home. Once home, they had King Duncan stay at Dunsinane. Lady Macbeth then b-tches at her husband and ridicules his masculinity in order to make him commit murder (Friedlander). Macbeth reluctantly murders Duncan, even though he wanted to wait and have it all play out without killing anyone. When he went to the well to wash off his hands he speaks of his remorse, and lady Macbeth finds out that he did not implicate the guards, so she tells him to go do it.
Although Macbeth had changed his mind and basically refused to murder Duncan, Lady Macbeth was able to eventually convince him to carry through with the plan. Even though Macbeth was the one who executed the plan, Lady Macbeth was the mastermind behind the scheme. Her greed for power was the one major factor that possessed her to convince Macbeth of the plan and carry through with it. Macbeth murdered Duncan at Iverness, and became hysterical after doing so.
Thirdly Lady Macbeth shows more ambition then Macbeth does in terms of gaining power regarding kingship. When Macbeth doesn’t care for power anymore and regrets killing Duncan. Thinking of the consequences he says “I’ll go no more: I am afraid to think what I have done;” (2.
When Macbeth finds out about the witches prophecies, he quickly sends a letter to Lady Macbeth explaining the situation. She rapidly sees that she must help Macbeth become king, so she says “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness /To catch the nearest way. /Thou wouldst be great,/ Art not without ambition, but without/ The illness should attend it. (1.5.15-20). Right away, Lady Macbeth is going to do everything she possibly can to ensure he becomes king which proves her ambition. Later on in the play, Lady Macbeth makes another decision which shows that her ambition is quickly getting the worst out of her. When King Duncan arrives, Lady Macbeth sees a perfect opportunity to kill Duncan. She is worried that Macbeth will not go through with the plan so she says ¨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¨ (1.7.61-65). Lady Macbeth reveals that her need for power is taking a turn. She plots to get the “two chamberlains” drunk so she can blame the murder of Duncan on them. The fact that she plots out an entire plan to kill Duncan and that she is willing to blame it on someone else reveals that her ambition has brought out the worst in her.. All in all, Lady Macbeth is a character who does not second
Lady Macbeth makes her appearance in the play right after Macbeth receives his first predictions from the three Witches. She does not think twice about her actions and starts planning Duncan's murder without consulting her husband first. Lady Macbeth, however, does not feel that her husband has the heart to kill the King for the crown:
In order for somebody to commit such a heinous act as murder, the conspirators must be ruthless, and this is what Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were, ruthless. Lady Macbeth’s is more ruthless than her spouse, and her ruthlessness is what fueled Duncan’s murder. However, some may claim that this is not so and that Macbeth is more ruthless than his wife. “Present fears are less than horrible imaginings. My thought, whose murder is yet but fantastical, shakes so that my single state of man that function is smoldered I surmise and nothing is but what is not.” Macbeth as you can see is thinking about the witches’ prophecy of him becoming king.
Timothy Leary once said, "Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition" (Peters 175). But is this true in the case of the classic play Macbeth? In Macbeth it seems to be, that Macbeth the protagonist of the play is influence by Lady Macbeth's ambition. Could this be an exception or was Lady Macbeth lying when she ask to be equal to a man so she could commit the murder (1.5.33.45-61). To understand one must look deeply into the plot and many themes of Macbeth. William Shakespeare uses ambition among other things to imply may different ideas. Thus, Macbeth's downfall is a direct cause of Lady Macbeth's goading and ambition.
A key issue involved in Macbeth is ambition. Ambition is created when determination gets out of hand. It finds its most significant expressions in the plays two main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The main reason why it all gets started is because of the witches' interference by putting suggestions into Macbeth's mind. Lady Macbeth's ambition forces him to act on these ambitions as well. The couple proves that unchecked ambition will ultimately destroy.
Words are the basic elements of the English written language. With words, one can say precisely what one wants to say, a skill that Shakespeare has mastered. In Macbeth, he carefully chooses each word so as to say exactly what he wants to say, and often leaves these words open to the reader’s interpretation. One such carefully chosen word is the word “slave,” a simple word meaning “someone entirely under the dominion of a person or an influence” (Random House, 674). Although this word appears only four times within the play, it’s importance should not be underestimated. Every time that Shakespeare chooses to use the word “slave” he is using it to show a “slave of ambition,” an important symbol within the play.
This is Lady Macbeth's way of manipulating Macbeth into killing King Duncan so she gets what she desires as Queen. Even with Macbeth's doubts, he still accepts Lady Macbeth's demands and gives in to the pressure of being mocked as a coward. The primary reason Macbeth carried through with the plans to kill King Duncan was because of Lady Macbeth's persuasion. Despite contemplating the prophecies given to him by the witches, he still had uncertainties and was hesitant to execute his thoughts. With the impact of Lady Macbeth, Macbeth was swayed into assassinating Duncan.
In the play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth would be considered a woman with very few scruples. However, I see her as a woman who is a lot like her husband, Macbeth. She was the same as Macbeth. They were both fiendish people with an overwhelming sense of vaulting ambition. I would even go as far as saying that Lady Macbeth was the one with a greater sense of ambition than Macbeth because she lacked what Macbeth did not. She lacked scruples. It was Lady Macbeth’s scrupulous ambition that led Macbeth to his seat upon the royal throne of Scotland.
In William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”, Lady Macbeth is responsible for the death of King Duncan. Although other characters did contribute to the downfall of the king, such as the three witches and Macbeth himself, Lady Macbeth’s role in his murder is the most prominent and influential. Upon first reading her husband’s letter, Lady Macbeth instantly believes that the way to achieve the crown is to kill King Duncan. The three witches in the play, who play an important role in the King’s downfall, are not as responsible as Lady Macbeth, as they never claim outright that any foul play must occur in order for their prophecies to come true. Furthermore, Macbeth himself, although clearly playing a pivotal role in the fatal act, is not entirely convinced that he should murder in order to become king and is therefore not nearly as responsible as his wife. Lady Macbeth however, manipulates her husband and convinces him to go through with the murder, even though he would have sooner not killed the king without her intervention.
Macbeth followed with his desire. Duncan was marked out to be executed before the letter was written to Lady Macbeth, and she just agreed with the idea of her husband. Her guiding passion is the love she has for him. She sees that Macbeth has the desire to ascend the throne, that his happiness is in the hope to become king, and her part is, therefore, taken without hesitation. Blinded by the affection that she has for him, she is convinced that he is full of compassion, and that he would not make use of false or wicked ways of achieving his
The struggle for power and control in Macbeth is present from the very beginning, as Shakespeare portrays Lady Macbeth as a ruthless, overpowering woman who dominates her husband and his actions. She makes Macbeth's decisions for him without giving him any say in his own actions, and she orders her husband to do what she determines to be best for him. It is Lady Macbeth who contrives the plan to kill King Duncan, because she knows that Macbeth would never commit such an act on his own without her prodding. She develops the plan and organizes the details while expecting Macbeth to merely follow her orders. This becomes evident when she says to him, "Only look up clear,"(1.5.70) and "leave the rest to me"(1.5.72). She intends to keep him under her control by making decisions for him and not allowing him to think for himself.