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How macbeth and lady macbeths characters develop differently
Development of lady macbeth
Development of lady macbeth
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Lady Macbeth is a more corrupt being than the lead character Macbeth. Lady Macbeth was deviously manipulative, egotistical, and profoundly immoral – the three traits that make up a truly corrupt individual. Lady Macbeth not only inherited these traits, but she was like a virus, tarnishing and/or infecting anyone she encountered: Notably, her own husband, Macbeth.
The manipulativeness of Lady Macbeth started when she first confronted Macbeth, after reading his letter about the three witches. The first words Lady Macbeth said to her spouse didn’t exactly aspire a wife who was moralistic, or one that was good in the heart. She gave Macbeth a brief lecture about how he should have deceptive looks to match his deceptive intentions. She then tried
to convince him further by talking about the great power they would gain if the wicked deed was done. She said all of this in hopes to manipulate Macbeth into completing a feat that he was reluctant about undertaking. After her first attempt to manipulate Macbeth fell short, receiving only a four word response, she later tried to persuade him to kill the king by calling out his manhood. “Are you afraid to show the boldness and action needed to become what you want to be? Would you be content to have the crown you value so highly, and yet live, in your own opinion, a coward’s life? Are you willing to let the words “I don’t dare” come after the words “I want to,” like the poor cat in the proverb.” You read it yourself. Those are truly the words of an unscrupulous person. It’s not like Macbeth was a slave and she was motivating him to rebel against the slave master to gain power. No, instead, she’s encouraging him to kill a man. A sleeping man at that! Even though Macbeth mentally held out as long as he could, Lady Macbeth would use her manipulative skills to eventually win the day. All Lady Macbeth’s manhood talk must have struck a chord with Macbeth, because that proved to be the key in manipulating the great warrior in committing the vile deed.
We are first introduced to Lady Macbeth at the beginning of Act 1, scene 5, through the letter that Macbeth sends her. This shows her to be his, ‘dearest partner of greatness’ and that he has no secrets from her. The witches’ prophecies intensify her ambitions for her husband, to be the King of Scotland. Lady Macbeth is the one who encourages him to kill the king and she not only encourages him, she makes all the plans herself. We see how clever she is and how she understands her husband well, she knows he has great ambitions, but she also knows that he is honourable and mentally weak:
Throughout The Tragedy of Macbeth, we see Macbeth change from a noble and brave soldier into a mere shadow of his former self. We meet Macbeth after a battle, the result of which has him named Thane of Cawdor. From this position, he falls to a paranoid man willing to do anything to remain in power. We can see his deterioration from the murders of Duncan and Banquo, Macbeth's second meeting with the witches, his treatment of Macduff's castle and his mental condition just before he is murdered.
Lady Macbeth’s wicked character has an extreme impact towards her husband. Lady Macbeth is responsible for influencing her husband to commit both crimes; she unleashes the dark side of him and motivates him to become an evil and horrendous man. In various parts throughout the story we find that Lady Macbeth strives beyond limits to be converted into a bitter and sour women. The audience is revolted by her horrific actions and although she may seem repugnant, she is an extremely talented actor. In her role, having a deceitful and convincing character is important
“In the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding on the back of the tiger ended up inside.”
Lady Macbeth is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous and frightening female characters. As she is Macbeth’s wife, her role is significant in his rise and fall from royalty. She is Macbeth’s other half. During Shakespearean times, women were regarded as weak insignificant beings that were there to give birth and look beautiful. They were not thought to be as intelligent or equal to men. Though in Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is the highest influence in Macbeth’s life. Her role was so large; in fact, that she uses her position to gain power, stay strong enough to support her unstable Lord, and fails miserably while their relationship falls apart. Everything about Lady Macbeth is enough to create the perfect villain because of her ability to manipulate everyone around her. It appears that even she can’t resist the perfect crime.
Even after four hundred years, Shakespeare's plays still continue to resonate with modern audiences. This is because Shakespeare's plays explore universal themes which still remain relevant in today's society. In Macbeth, Shakespeare dramatically explores how one man's excessive ambition and greed for power led him to tyranny and absolute destruction. The ideas explored in Macbeth still remain relevant in the contemporary world where individuals can get tempted by wealth and power and forget all sense of moral direction.
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.
"Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it" [Lord Acton, British Historian]. It is human nature that the more power one desires the more corrupt actions they have to commit to attain power. Power is the ability to have control over people and/or things. People who are powerful can and in most cases will create an illusion of anything they want you to see about them. This illusion can make people blind to their true intentions. For instance police officers are looked at as good, we looked to them for our safety because they are here to "protect" us. Yet there are many reports of police brutality on innocent citizens. Even if a crime were to be committed there is no need for police to use violence of any sort unless action was taken on them. If no attempt of action was taken on an officer then the officer is abusing its power. Leading people to believe that police officers are corrupt meaning dishonorable, immoral, or not pure. In which case this idea of power leading to corruption is not only true but happens to those least expected to. In William Shakespeares' tragedy, Macbeth, the character Macbeth gains power by killing people and lying, he kills king Duncan out of greed, he kills his "best friends" Banquo out of fear, and then fails to realize that he is not invincible.
To conclude, Lady Macbeth is a multifaceted character, her persona having many sides; notably: genuine goodness towards her husband, coy manipulation, and femininity. It is therefore inaccurate to define her as purely evil; despite the means by which she desires to accomplish her fantastical end. For all Lady Macbeth’s drive and determination, she eventually loses her dominant role, captive until her demise to her inescapable femininity.
Lady Macbeth certainly had the upper hand over her weak husband; she found it easy to manipulate him into murder and then getting him to think it was his own idea!
Macbeth is a play about the corruptive force of ambition. Discuss this statement with particular reference to the characters in the play.
Perhaps the most fundamental theme of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is the inherent corruptibility of even a seemingly good man when ambition turns to greed, and Macbeth himself exemplifies this concept throughout the play. While at the outset he is seen to be loyal to his king, generally considered trustworthy, and displaying numerous other laudable qualities, Macbeth ultimately succumbs to the influence of those around him and becomes unequivocally evil, setting aside all his previously held morals and coming to be driven only by his lust for power. This transition is brought about by a wide variety of factors and plays an integral role in the development of the plot. In his tragedy Macbeth, William Shakespeare employs
Lady Macbeth is the first to strategize a way to kill Duncan. As a character foil to Macbeth she juxtaposes their possession of guilt and ruthlessness, which creates irony and excitement to the play. Originally, she is very power hungry and wants to utilize her husband’s position in status to become queen. Macbeth objects to the plan to kill Duncan because he believes Duncan is Macbeth’s kinsman, host, and an overall virtuous ruler (Act. 1 Scene. 7) and thus feels very guilty for taking advantage of Duncan’s trusting quality towards the Macbeth family. She refers to Macbeth as weak and rebukes his manhood (Act 1. Scene 7.) . As the play progresses, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have a character role reversal of their possession of guilt and ruthlessness. The character foil is extant, however Macbeth’s ruthlessness overcomes his guilt, and Lady Macbeth’s guilt vanquishes her drive for power. In addition to an alteration in character foils, Shakespeare introduces situational irony because now Lady Macbeth succumbs to the weakness Macbeth once possessed and Macbeth is the one who is formidable and ambitious. Macbeth’s ability to transcend his guilt exemplifies his struggle for power and reinforces the theme of evil ambition because Macbeth is able to secure the throne and power only by mass
The Corrupting Power of Unchecked Ambition The main theme of Macbeth - the destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints - finds its most powerful expression in the play's two main characters. Macbeth is a courageous Scottish general who is not naturally inclined to commit evil deeds, yet he deeply desires power and advancement. He kills Duncan against his better judgment and afterward stews in guilt and paranoia. Toward the end of the play, he descends into a kind of frantic, boastful madness.
...loquy, in this she also has more reason to be convicted of being a witch. When Lady Macbeth first reads the letter sent by Macbeth she instantly knows what she has to do but she knows her husband is a coward and that he “is too full o’the milk of human-kindness” and so she takes it upon herself to try and get him to do kill King Duncan because “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be that thou art promised’.” Once she set her aims/ambition high she knows in some way she can reach it, it also shows where her position in the relationship is. It shows that she is forcing/ordering Macbeth to be what she and the witches want him to be, which also says she is in touch with the supernatural side. Now we can see how manipulate this woman can be because she manipulates her husband into killing a king, which is treachery and could resolve in Macbeth being killed.