Lady Macbeth was an important figure in this play for her use of certain emotions. Macbeth, which was written by William Shakespeare, is a tragedy play about a man known as Macbeth who rises to power through his fated and newly acquired bloodthirsty nature. His wife, Lady Macbeth, was an important protagonist in the play and helped Macbeth rise to power through her ambitions though she didn’t just help Macbeth rise to power to help Macbeth, she did it for herself as well. She let her ambitions and power get the best of her and the guilt of all of the murders caused her to spiral down a staircase of madness which led to her ruin. Her overly ambitious nature and all of the guilt she carried with her shaped a lot of points in the story and why
She did eventually persuade to kill Duncan after she heard about the prophecy given to Macbeth. After killing Duncan and going back to Lady Macbeth to tell her what he did, she realized that he had brought the daggers back with him instead of leaving them at the scene and when Macbeth said he wouldn’t go back Lady Macbeth said, “Infirm of purpose!/ Give me the daggers. The sleeping and the dead/ Are but as pictures.” (2.2.68-70). Lady Macbeth has a cruel and wicked personality when looking through the eyes of the reader. What she did was she took the daggers from Macbeth and put them back at the scene then rubbed Duncan’s blood all across the scene to give the illusion that it was servants that killed Duncan. She was mad at Macbeth for messing up the plan even the slightest bit. This gives a sense of control that Lady Macbeth has over Macbeth and the reader sees that when things don’t go her way, she takes matters into her own hands which makes her even more terrifying as a person a leaves the reader almost guessing about what her next plan will be.
In Act five both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth went insane from everything they did, though the reader can argue that Lady Macbeth was far more insane than Macbeth. When the Doctor and the Gentlewoman observed Lady Macbeth, and as she came into the scene Lady Macbeth yells at her bloody
Though Lady Macbeth’s unusual understanding of ambition helped her and Macbeth rise to power, the guilt that followed her proved to be more impactful because of her that eventually taking control of her mind and causing her to go insane. With knowledge of the inconsistent mind of Lady Macbeth, the reader can look back through the story and notice the feelings of ambition and guilt clash. The fight between ambition and guilt can also be argued for Macbeth as there are many points in the play that could be used for evidence and there’s much more evidence of Lady Macbeth’s ambition and guilt. The emotions of Lady Macbeth massively affects the play by broadcasting her ambitions to Macbeth which influenced him but also her hiding her guilt caused the chaotic downfall at the end of the
During the play, Lady Macbeth starts off as the “cheerleader chick” for Macbeth, egging him on, and supporting him through their twisted ambitions and conflicts. “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”(1.5.5-8) Macbeth has ambitions and dreams, and with the help of the witches (The Supernatural), ideas start to form. In conjunction with Lady Macbeth’s idea’s for her husband’s eminence, create a deadly psychotic force that causes the initial (and most of the other) murders. This quote from the second half of Act 1, shows how Lady Macbeth is more than insane enough for the both of them, as Macbeth can’t muster up the will, and stomach, to do what they both plan to do,
After being told that her husband could potentially be the next king, Lady Macbeth was quick to say that Macbeth should kill King Duncan. Lady Macbeth was the one that came up with the whole plan to kill Duncan and intoxicate the guards, that way it will look like they were the ones who did it. Macbeth killed Duncan, but after doing so he is extremely troubled and stressed out. He comes walking out from the room with the daggers in his hands. Lady Macbeth orders him to go put the daggers back, to which Macbeth refuses. Lady Macbeth grabs the daggers from his hands and goes back to the king’s room to leave the daggers (Act II, scene II). She then proceeds to tell Macbeth to return to bed and if woken up, pretend like they have been sleeping this whole time. Lady Macbeth, even though she should not be in this time period, is the emotionally strong one in her relationship with Macbeth. She keeps her fasade up and we only see her actual feelings a couple times. Despite that, Lady Macbeth is a dynamic character and change quite drastically throughout the play. Lady Macbeth becomes less white-hearted. However, due to the guilt after the murder and the stress from constantly looking after her husband, Lady Macbeth takes her own life (Act V, scene
Where is there a page in William Shakespeare's tragic play Macbeth which does not present the selfish virtue of personal ambition. This paper addresses the problem of ambition in the drama.
On the level of human evil, Shakespeare's tragedy, Macbeth is about the character Macbeth's bloody rise to power, including the murder of the Scottish king, Duncan, and the guilt-ridden pathology of evil deeds generating still more evil deeds. Perhaps, the play's most memorable character is Lady Macbeth. Like her husband, Lady Macbeth's ambition for power leads her into an unnatural, phantasmagoric realm of witchcraft, insomnia and madness. But while Macbeth responds to the prophecies of the play's famous trio of witches, Lady Macbeth goes even further by figuratively transforming herself into an unnatural, desexualized evil spirit.
To achieve a goal you need to dream it, set your mind to it, and accomplish it. This explains how Macbeth 's speedy rise to the throne. Macbeth makes quick work of becoming king because he sets his mind to the ambitions he holds, and accomplishes them with Lady Macbeth 's support pushing him. However, sometimes harmless ambitions set in motion a path of negative and harmful actions required to achieve them.
Two important themes in the play Macbeth are power corrupts good morals and unchecked ambition leads to destruction. Shakespeare uses Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to show how power corrupts good morals; and motifs to illustrate the self-punishment of crime. From the beginning of the play until his death Macbeth’s character changes drastically. At first he is seen as an honorable man, but becomes a power hungry, paranoid man. Lady Macbeth had an immense influence on the corruption of Macbeth. Her lust for power impacted Macbeth in many ways. Both characters were over taken by unchecked ambition and a greed for power.
Lady Macbeth starts off in the play as a heartless creature, not completely aware of her deeds and actions. She gets carried away and commits an awful crime, one that comes back with revenge. They are errors, ones she ends up deeply regretting. As the story progresses, we soon learn that she is not capable of controlling her emotions. Lady Macbeth is a lady whose excess of ambition leads her to something she wasn’t strong enough to deal with: remorse.
The play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, explores the darkest corners of the human psyche. It artfully takes its audience to a place that allows one to examine what a human being is truly capable of once tempted by the allure of power. In the play, Scottish noble Macbeth and his wife inevitably fall prey to their own self corruption. Initiated by prophesies made by three mysterious witches, the Macbeths set their sights on the throne. When the curtains open on the plot to murder King Duncan, Lady Macbeth is the driving force. Her criminal mind and desire for ruthlessness have led many a critic to define her as evil. Closer examination, however, reveals that she is a multifaceted character; other sides to her persona include: genuine good will towards her husband, coy manipulation, and feminine tenderness.
In the play of “Macbeth”, Shakespeare gradually and effectively deepens our understanding of the themes and most importantly the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The main theme of Macbeth is ambition, and how it compels the main characters to pursue it. The antagonists of the play are the three witches, who symbolise the theme appearance and reality. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relation is an irony throughout the play, as most of their relation is based on greed and power. This is different from most of Shakespeare’s other plays, which are mostly based on romance and trust. There is also guilt that leads Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to the final consequences of the play. As the progresses, the constant changes in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are exposed.
She also asks them to give her the strength to kill Duncan, she just wants to get on and do it without feeling guilty. At the end of the scene she takes full control of the situation, and Macbeth seems glad to let her have the responsibility.
We start to see Lady Macbeth’s actions have a huge impact on Macbeth’s character as he transforms from a decent being to an overly bitter creature. The cause of his alteration is due to the fact that Lady Macbeth is constantly excreting heartless information into his mind. "Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou art in desire?" (I;vii;39-41) "And, to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man." (I;vii;50-51) Lady Macbeth uses these quotes to push her husband beyond limits and is therefore responsible for his dramatic change in attitude. She is constantly feeding his thoughts with negative comments and later on Macbeth realizes that he has another side to him. As he moves along to discover the concealed side of him, Macbeth falls in love with himself and begins to be drawn towards his evil desires. Because Lady Macbeth was the main cause of his new hidden discovery, she is fully responsible for opening up the door and letting the darkness in. This results in Macbeth committing both murders.
Lady Macbeth is a very loving wife to Macbeth and she wants to do anything she can for him to achieve his goals. She just takes it a little too far, and she puts too much pressure on Macbeth to commit crimes that he is not sure he wants to do. After Macbeth sends her a letter about the witches’ premonitions, Lady Macbeth is no longer the sweet innocent lady we expect her to be. She turns into a person who is just as ambitious as her husband and she wants to do whatever it takes to help him get Duncan out of the way. She even goes to the point of calling Macbeth a coward, and mocking his bravery when he fails to complete the job. She is even willing to do it herself (plant the bloody knife with the guard). Lady Macbeth is constantly putting the pressure on Macbeth to do things that he is not sure about. She almost turns into a bully who dares Macbeth to go out and do evil things. She even says in a soliloquy that she wants to be released of all her morals and values so that she can help him commit these crimes.
Lady Macbeth was a small but very important part of the play Macbeth. She is always on the side of Macbeth telling him what she thinks he should do. 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 no 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. But he wont, so she insults him more, and goes to do it herself.
In the end the readers can observe that Macbeth even being affected by guilt so many times in so many ways is still stronger than Lady Macbeth. He could survive the play without committing suicide because a feeling was controlling him. He had control over guilt, not completely, but largely. With the help of Lady Macbeth he continued with what he was predetermined to do, while Lady Macbeth could receive no help to stop her from going mad and committing suicide. You can control guilt, or guilt will drive you into madness.
In Shakespeare's Macbeth, the focus that is placed on the character of Lady Macbeth helps to convey the play's theme of the strife created by the struggle for power and control that is present throughout the entire work. Shakespeare presents her character in great detail and shows her to be a dominating, authoritative woman who thrives on the power she holds over her husband. He then shows the principle character, Macbeth, rise up and join his wife in a struggle for power of his own. It is the actions that Macbeth takes in attempt to achieve ultimate authority that lead to his downfall, and it is Lady Macbeth's loss of control over her husband as he gains this independence which causes her own weakening and eventually leads to her demise as well.