Lady Macbeth A Complex Character

There is truth behind Duncan’s line, “There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face” for in Macbeth, it proves to be true (1. 4. 12-13). In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are very complex characters whose initial outward appearances mislead from their true character.
One of the most deceptive characters in Macbeth is Lady Macbeth. While she is perceived by other characters in the play to be nothing more than a fragile woman, Lady Macbeth is truly cruel, manipulative, and unremorseful. Even her husband does not know how her “heart is sorely charged” (5. 1. 44). She is seen merely as a woman, one who might faint upon hearing the word “murder” and cannot endure the pressures a man would be able to. However,

in the play, it is Lady Macbeth who ultimately manipulates Macbeth into committing King Duncan’s murder. Lady Macbeth wishes to be filled “from the crown to the toe-top full of direst cruelty,” hoping that ridding herself of all compassion will stop within her the “passage of remorse” (1. 5. 44-46). She wants to show no sign of weakness or regret for the atrocities she has brought about.
In Macbeth there is also disparity between what is first heard about Macbeth and what is later seen of him as the play continues. He first appears to be honorable, strong, and courageous, but in reality proves to be fearful and timid. The first mention of Macbeth is in stories from battle. He is “brave Macbeth” fighting skillfully and ruthlessly, vanquishing his enemy by splitting him open “from the knave to the chops” and placing his head upon the castle wall (1. 2. 16-22). However, the perception of Macbeth quickly shifts. Shortly after his great triumph in battle, Macbeth falters when seeing the three witches and hearing their predictions. Even Banquo questions him: “Good sir, why start and seem to fear things that sound so fair?” (1. 3. 52-53). .Macbeth even admits to his wife later that he was “rapt in the wonder of it” and stood by passively as a young boy would (1. 5. 6).
Even though Macbeth is a man and Lady Macbeth is a woman, throughout much of the play, Macbeth takes the role of a woman while Lady Macbeth acts as a man.

Lady Macbeth dispels all of her feminine characteristics, seeing any form of compassion, gentleness, or affectation as a great weakness. She commands that the spirits “unsex” her, wishing to rid herself of any femininity (1. 5. 43). Lady Macbeth denounces human qualities, and would rather be cruel, cunning, and savage, so that she can attain the power that she desires, and while Macbeth is “not without ambition” Lady Macbeth sees that he does not possess the malice required to achieve his immediate goals (1. 5. 18). Macbeth is “too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness”; his compassion makes him too weak to secure what he desires alone (1. 5. 16). Lady Macbeth even tells her husband bluntly that she, a woman, is manlier than he. Even though “murder” is not to be “repeated in a woman’s ear” it is Lady Macbeth who ultimately assumes responsibility for the murder of King Duncan (2. 3. 80-81). When his dead body is found, Macbeth, in his anxiety, kills the two chamber guards. Then, in a weak attempt to justify his actions, he begins rambling on madly: “Who can be wise, amazed, temperate and furious, loyal and neutral, in a moment? No man” (2. 3. 104-105). Again Lady Macbeth assumes the “man’s role” when she faints to cut off Macbeth’s senseless speech, saving him from falling even further into

suspicion.
Later on in the play, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth transition towards their “traditional” gender roles. Shakespeare shows a more feminine side of Lady Macbeth when, in between his hallucinations, she takes Macbeth aside and tries to comfort him. She takes the more “woman-like” approach of soothing him, rather than pushing him to defend his masculinity, as she has done up until this point. Eventually Macbeth and Lady Macbeth completely switch roles. The burden of murder seems to have taken its toll heavily on Lady Macbeth, as she later is decided to be mentally ill. Meanwhile Macbeth grows into a callous, remorseless, and “abhorred tyrant” (5. 7. 12).
In Macbeth, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s true character is very different from what it outwardly appears to be. In the end, both characters lose to human nature, and are ultimately the cause of their own demise.