How woman contribute to Macbeths downfall When Macbeth becomes king many people contribute to his victory, those very people that also contribute to his downfall. In the play Macbeth by Shakespeare, Macbeth is driven by ambition to become king. Macbeth is determined to kill anybody who chooses to get in his way. He is persuaded by his wife, Lady Macbeth and the weird witches who set him on a path of disaster and distress. Regardless of Macbeth claiming the throne, certain people in the play are crucial in his downfall. The witches in the play Macbeth manipulate Macbeth and give him a sense of reassurance that no one can get between him and the throne. Lady Macbeth is and strong persuasive woman who made Macbeth follow her every move. …show more content…
She is able to dominate him to do things he is unsure about. First, “when you durst do it, then you were a man. / And to give more that what you were, you would/ Be so much more the man “(1.7.49-51). Based on the evidence shown above Lady Macbeth thinks that when Macbeth kills Duncan he will appear more manly than he is never been. Clearly this is showing how Lady Macbeth controls Macbeth. She has the ability to make Macbeth feel guilty for rethinking his decision on killing Duncan. For example, “ Your hand, your tongue; look like th' innocent/ flower, / But be the serpent under't” (1.5.75-78). In this quote Lady Macbeth wants Macbeth to act innocent in front of the king, but underneath all that innocence to act like a snake. She is controlling his every single movement and influencing Macbeth to do her bidding. Finally, “The thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now? —What, will these hands ne'er be clean? —No more o' that, my lord, no more o' that. You mar all with this starting” (5.1.30-34). Lady Macbeth attempts to calm Macbeth down and try to stop over thinking the situation. If Lady Macbeth didn’t persuade Macbeth to kill Duncan, he would not be acting so startled and stressed. The man that was once known as a noble warrior is now falling apart due to traumatic paranoia and deeds that have created a dishonest and heartless king. In conclusion lady Macbeth plays a secretive but sneaky role in
Lady Macbeth has a greater control on Macbeth’s actions than any other character in Macbeth apart from the Weïrd Sisters. She is well known for her persuading speeches to her husband, convincing him to fulfill the murder of King Duncan. Lady Macbeth challenges Macbeth’s manly qualities, and informs him that only when he follows through with the murder that
When Macbeth becomes king he controls almost everyone, from servants to assassins. He even attempts to order the three witches to do his bidding. However, Macbeth’s actions and demeanor later in the play are the result of Lady Macbeth, who holds sway over her husband. It is she who at first coaxes and controls Macbeth, resulting in the change in his personality. The supernatural, in particular the three witches, exert control over both Macbeth and his lady. In fact, it is their influences that initiate the sequence of events, and are therefore an integral part of the play.
Lady Macbeth desires nothing more but to obtain her title as Queen. She employs to manipulate Macbeth to change him from once the good moralist person he was into a murderous thief.
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.
Lady Macbeth takes the role of the dominant partner in the beginning of the play, by acting as the real power behind the throne. For example, it is easily recognized that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are opposite in many ways (Scott 236). He is weak, indecisive, and takes on the traditional female role of the marriage; she is strong, decisive, and takes on the traditional male role. One place in the play where Macbeth’s character is shown is Act I, Scene 5, Lines 15-17. She says, “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be / What thou art promis’d : yet do I fear thy nature / Is too full o’ the milk of human kindness.” This is just after Lady Macbeth receives the letter from Macbeth. It is also important to notice that when Macbeth’s first thoughts of killing Duncan appear, he is scared. After he commits the murder, Macbeth says, “To know my deed, ‘twere best not know myself ” ( 2. 2. 72 ). Knowing that he has committed such a vile act makes him uncomfortable. It will be difficult to act innocent and deal with his guilt.
In general, it could be said that Lady Macbeth takes advantage of her femininity and uses it and her frail image to manipulate the situation to suit her purposes. In Act 1 Scene 7, Lady Macbeth ‘bullies’ her husband by doubting his masculinity and provoking a response. She called Macbeth “afraid” and a “coward”. I am inclined to think that Lady Macbeth chose these words as Macbeth values his courage and fierce nature as it has positioned him highly in society. It is possible that Macbeth’s greatest vulnerability is his love for Lady Macbeth, and that enables her to exploit his love for power.
Gender roles in Macbeths society automatically expect men to be physically and emotionally stronger than women, however, lady Macbeth plays as a juxtaposition to Macbeth; encapsulating the emasculating woman prototype. She wants to abandon all her feminine qualities as she recognises that the characteristics she wants are not acceptable for females. She asks the spirits to "unsex" (1.5 46) her and to fill her "from the crown to the toe, top-full/ Of direst cruelty" (1.5 46). It is in gaining these ‘masculine’ characteristics in Lady Macbeth ultimately attacks Macbeths biggest insecurity- his masculinity. Lady Macbeth is more ambitious and power hungry than Macbeth, and uses him as a vice for her own power conquests. It is at times when he doubts what is right and wrong for his own ambition, that Lady Macbeth uses her power of manipulation to call his manhood into question. At first, Macbeth suggests that killing the King would make him less a man and would cause him too loose his humanity, however, he changes his mind as Lady Macbeth proposes that a real man keeps promises and acts on his ambitions: "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 54-56). Macbeth therefore murders Duncan to prove that he would be defeated neither by his fear
“When you first do it, then you were a man, And to be more than what you were, you would, be so much more the man” (I. VII, 54-56). After struggling with the thought of killing Duncan, Macbeth is reprimanded by Lady Macbeth for his lack of courage. She informs him that killing the king will make him a man, insinuating that he isn’t a man if he doesn’t go through with the murder. This develops Lady Macbeth as a merciless, nasty, and selfish woman. She will say, or do anything to get what she desires, even if it means harming others.
Lastly, Lady Macbeth is a huge factor in Macbeth?s evil acts. For instance, she is the one who really starts him off to kill. Lady Macbeth pushes Macbeth for her satisfaction of being queen .In addition to this, she constantly questions his manliness making him feel like a sissy/wimp if he doesn?t commit this act.
While not the only contributing factor, Lady Macbeth does play a substantial role in the downfall of her husband. She is a like a catalyst for Macbeth and essentially pushes him to do what he would not have been able to do on his own. Macbeth himself highly ambitious and determined, but his wife is even more so. At first he refuses to kill Duncan but she persists and eventually gets him to do it. It is important to note here that Lady Macbeth pushes Macbeth forward by manipulating him. In this sense, she can be related to Cathy Ames from East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Also, being a woman, she is confined by the conventions of society which prevent her from doing much. At what point she even wishes that she were 'unsexed' so she could commit the murder herself. Because of this, she pours her ambition and desire for power into Macbeth. Again she accomplishes this through manipulation. For example, at one point when Macbeth is disagreeing with her idea of killing Duncan, she questions his manhood:
Shakespeare is known for strong male heroes, but they are not laying around in this play, not that Macbeth is full of strong female heroines, either. The women in the play, Lady Macbeth and the witches have very uncommon gender belief, and act as inhumane as the men. While the men engage in direct violence, the women use manipulation to achieve their desires. As Lady Macbeth impels Macbeth to kill King Duncan, she indicated that she must take on some sort of masculine characteristic in order to process the murder. “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.” (i v 31-34) This speech is made after she reads Macbeth’s letter. Macbeth, she has shown her desire to lose her feminine qualities and gain masculine ones. Lady Macbeth's seizure of the dominant role in the Macbeth's marriage, on many occasions, she rules her husband and dictates his actions. Her speeches in the first part of the book give the readers a clear impression. “You shall put this night’s great business into my dispatch, which shall […] gi...
Besides the witches, Lady Macbeth also influences Macbeth’s actions. She humiliates him to a point where she has no option but to kill
She tells him what a “man” would do and what he can do to be the perfect man. Obviously, this appeals to his ego and emotions and makes him vulnerable. This is a prime opportunity for Lady Macbeth to break him down and then give him advice, which leaves her with power over his feelings. In this way she gets into his head in order to manipulate him. "When you durst do it, then you were a man" (1.7.56).
She is thoroughly a cold hearted and an utterly unscrupulous women. In the beginning, her seemingly fearless and powerful undefeatable character soon taken over by guilt as the play progress, and she is “consumed by the demons within her”. Lady Macbeth is the dominant power at the beginning of the play, she persuades Macbeth to achieve his goal and plans the murder of Duncan. Lady Macbeth does play a substantial role in the downfall of her husband. She is a highly manipulative, ambitious character, similarly Macbeth is as
She continues to be the dominant character in her relationship with Macbeth. She uses her own ambition as persuasion to influence Macbeth to kill Duncan, and is trying to make Macbeth come to the realization that he deserves to be king. Macbeth struggles being overwhelmed with ambition and self doubt. He constantly questions his own actions and relies on Lady Macbeth for all decisions. If the roles were reversed, Macbeth would never make a proposal that he would kill his own