Lady Macbeth Peer Pressure Quotes

Despite however strong-willed someone may think he is, everyone is subject to peer pressure. Peer pressure, especially when coming from a loved one or a family member, can cause people to make decisions that are contrary to their moral compass. Throughout the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the actions of the character Lady Macbeth have a direct influence over Macbeth’s decision making, and his varying degrees of trust in her advice lead him to do things that he believes are morally wrong. In the play, Macbeth receives a prophecy from three mysterious witches, revealing to him that he will one day become the king of Scotland. Upon hearing this news, Macbeth’s wife, Lady Macbeth, urges him to take immediate action and kill the current king, King Duncan. Although he is initially hesitant, Macbeth gives in under

the pressure of Lady Macbeth’s will and kills Duncan, causing Duncan’s two sons to flee the country and leaving Macbeth to assume his predestined role as king. After killing Duncan, Macbeth quickly becomes paranoid and sends assassins to kill his friend Banquo, who also knew about Macbeth’s destiny. However, killing Banquo just adds to Macbeth’s paranoia and causes him to hallucinate being haunted by the ghost of his former friend. In a similar manner, Lady Macbeth also becomes increasingly disturbed by the bloodshed they have caused and begins to exhibit strange behaviors that eventually culminate in her death, assumedly at her own hands. Thus, it is reasonable to say that throughout the play, Lady Macbeth possesses the most influence over Macbeth, seeing as he is initially pushed into his cycle of violence by Lady Macbeth, a cycle which she perpetuates for the majority of the play.
In Act I, Lady Macbeth serves as the catalyst for Macbeth’s decision to go through with killing Duncan. When Macbeth starts to get cold feet, before going through with his and Lady Macbeth’s plan to kill Duncan, Lady Macbeth guilts him into going through it, saying “What beast was’t, / then, / That made you break this enterprise to me? / When you durst do it, then you were a man;/… /Does unmake you. I have given suck, and know / How tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me. / I would, while it was smiling in my face, / Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums / And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you / Have done to this” (1.7.53-66). The fact that Macbeth only finally decides to go through with killing Duncan after being pressured into it by Lady Macbeth demonstrates her influence over him. Lady Macbeth criticizes Macbeth for being unwilling to do what she believes needs to be done for Macbeth to take the throne. She attacks his masculinity and claims that, if she was able, she would not hesitate to betray those who trust her in the pursuit of power. Lady Macbeth’s aggressive accusations of Macbeth’s cowardice for breaking his promise to pursue the throne and Macbeth’s subsequent determination to the cause indicate that Lady Macbeth is well-acquainted with Macbeth’s indecisiveness and knows how to manipulate him to suit her needs. Without the push from Lady Macbeth, Macbeth may not have gone through with the plan and would have never ascended to power, and Lady Macbeth’s ability to cause this indicate the reaching extent of her influence over his decisions.
In Act III, Lady Macbeth attempts to control Macbeth’s grasp on reality as he struggles with his conscience, as well as removing people around him who could influence his thoughts and jeopardize her plans. When Macbeth starts rambling wildly about seeing the ghost of Banquo coming to haunt him, Lady Macbeth pulls him aside and hisses, “O, proper stuff! / This is the very painting of your fear. / This is the air-drawn dagger which you said / Led you to Duncan. O, these flaws and starts, / Impostors to true fear, would well become / A woman’s story at a winter’s fire, / Authorized by her grandam. Shame itself! / Why do you make such faces? When all’s done, / You look but on a stool” (3.4.73-81). Lady Macbeth insists that Banquo’s spirit, as well as the bloody dagger that Macbeth claimed to have seen earlier on in the play after murdering Duncan, are mere figments of Macbeth’s imagination. Lady Macbeth urges Macbeth to get ahold of himself, in an attempt to maintain the secrecy of the bloodstained details of Macbeth’s rise to power. Also, in order for Lady Macbeth to be able to continue manipulating him, she needs Macbeth to remain sane and willing to continue sacrificing the lives of others for the sake of gaining and maintaining power.
Furthermore, Lady Macbeth prevents anyone else from influencing Macbeth, or exposing their plots, by limiting his interactions with others. For example, after members of Macbeth’s court begin to inquire about Macbeth’s visions, Lady Macbeth dismisses them, saying, “I pray you, speak not. He grows worse and worse. / Question enrages him. At once, good night. / Stand not upon the order of your going, / But go at once” (3.4.144-147). Lady Macbeth successfully avoids revealing Macbeth’s crimes, by claiming that “question enrages him,” and keeps the others from influencing Macbeth. Insisting the remaining members of Macbeth’s court “go at once,” Lady Macbeth feigns subordinance by utilizing her femininity, urgently shooing the others away from Macbeth, under the disguise of a worried wife. By controlling who interacts with Macbeth, Lady Macbeth prevents anyone from interfering with her plans. Lady Macbeth’s efforts in keeping Macbeth under her influence alone demonstrates the control she has over Macbeth’s life.
Lady Macbeth is an extremely manipulative character, motivated by an unrivaled lust for power.

Lady Macbeth is strategic in her control of Macbeth, exploiting the weaknesses and prejudices of everyone around her. Lady Macbeth extorts her husband, tapping into Macbeth’s darkest desires and unleashing a chain of events that proves to be cataclysmic. While one might argue that Macbeth’s victims, most notably Banquo, and to a lesser extent, Duncan, possess more control over Macbeth’s actions, it must be taken into account that this influence only becomes present within a post-mortem state. The spirits which haunt Macbeth are a manifestation of his own guilt, and the burden that Macbeth feels is nothing but a product of his own conscience. In other words, Macbeth is more so influenced by the idea of the ghosts, rather than the actual people they were. Moreover, the theme of guilt weighing down on someone to the point of breaking is even reflected in Lady Macbeth herself, who, by the end of her character arc, has been driven to insanity and, ultimately, self-destruction. In essence, to go against your own morals is to become unhinged from your own

mentality.