Lady Macbeth in Act One Scene Seven

Lady Macbeth in Act One Scene Seven

In act 1 scene 7 we see that Macbeth is struggling with the moral and

ethical turmoil of his conscience as to weather he should commit the

sacrilegious act of regicide “with his surcease , success” Macbeth

feels that if it were to be the “be all and end all” he would do it ,

however he fears the repercussions in that it may “return to plague

th’inventor” this is a mere shadow of the brave valiant soldier we

have known in the past scenes. He concludes that he has “no spur to

prick the sides of my intent” aside from his “vaulting ambition” which

he decides will not suffice to get him through the trauma of killing

his friend and his king Duncan . Lady Macbeth then enters and sways

his wavering judgment by presenting him with a foolproof plan that

cannot fail. Her malicious content and scathing tongue antagonise

Macbeth and make her “the spur to prick the sides of my intent” she

alone has transformed Macbeth from a loyal friend and servant to the

king to being willing to “jump the life to come” risk eternal

damnation go against the divine right of kings and be the murderer of

his former companion Duncan.

At the beginning of Macbeths soliloquy he tries to persuade himself

that he would be prepared to kill the king if he could “trammel up the

consequences” and he could guarantee that no further complications

arise from the murder, and the whole matter would be neatly concluded,

then it would be best to kill Duncan and kill him quickly. Macbeth

even proclaims that he would “jump the life to come” and would risk

eternal damnation if it means he would gain the golden round for

himself.. Thus, if t...

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...e have seen Macbeth deal with the turmoil

of his ever changing conscience after battling with the traumatic

decision to kill his king and good friend he convinced himself he has

“NO SPUR to prick the sides of my intent” . aside from his “vaulting

ambition” and this simply isn’t enough to see him through the crime.

Then commith the “spur” lady Macbeth enters and completely transform

her husband from a brave and loyal soldier to the king to being

prepared to go against the divine right of kings and kill Duncan . She

has been Macbeths “spur” and has similarities to the three witches in

that she is so evil and scathing and has regained his allegiance and

put him back in the position of the kings killer. Together they made

the plan to kill the king and Macbeth spurred on by his wife is now

going to murder the king Duncan.