A great psychological questions that people through the times have always wondered is if people have the ability to change. Changing thoughts and behaviors is extremely difficult in changing who a person truly is. However, extremely traumatic events often how the power to do so. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are both very dynamic characters that have personalities and behaviors that greatly change throughout the play. Unfortunately, most of these character changes are not for the greater good. Throughout the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth reveal some similar character traits as well as some very contrasting traits. As the play opens up in Act 1 and the beginning of Act 2, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth oppose
At this point, the characterizations of the two seem to be equal in malevolence and control. Macbeth is starting to take matters into his own hands and becoming more comfortable with the corruption. Macbeth is losing his loyalty and honor, making much more similar to Lady Macbeth. For example, Macbeth in Act 3 Scene 1 is sending murderers to kill his dear friend, Banquo. He manipulates and deceives the murderers to do as he wants. On the topic of murdering Banquo, Macbeth says to the murderers that, “So is he mine; and in such bloody distance/ That every minute of his being thrusts/ Against my near’st of life.” (III.i.119-121). This marks a character shift in Macbeth as he has abandoned the values of his friendship with Banquo in order to keep his power. On the flip side, Lady Macbeth still has control but it is diminishing. In Act 3 Scene 4, Macbeth has visions of seeing Banquo’s ghost at the banquet. Lady Macbeth takes control by imploring to the guests that her husband suffers from a rare disorder. She then goes on to scold Macbeth for his stupidity, telling him to pull himself together. At this point in the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are similarly doing whatever it takes to cover up the murder of
Macbeth is in full control and Lady Macbeth isn’t even coherent enough to know what is going on. Lady Macbeth is fully consumed from the guilt of her evil actions. She constantly sleeps, sleepwalks, and mutters things in her sleep. The gentlewoman reveals that Lady Macbeth needs a candle by her at all times because the darkness will consume her. In her slumber, Lady Macbeth asks, “What, will these hands ne’er be clean?” (V.i.31). This line of Lady Macbeth shows the complete switch of the dynamic characters of Macbeth at the beginning and Lady Macbeth at the conclusion of the play. In the beginning, Lady Macbeth had nonchalantly told Macbeth to wash away his guilt by washing his hands. Now however, the guilt has completely consumed her as she hysterically washes her own hands. On the other hand, Macbeth has now become a tyrant to the point that even readers cannot empathize with him, the protagonist. Macbeth has killed so many Scottish people that no one can even keep count anymore. He ruthlessly sent murderers to kill Macduff’s innocent family. Even Macbeth’s own army does not want to fight for him since he is so corrupt. Macbeth’s character completes a full turn of transformation when he recognizes that, “And that which should accompany old age,/ As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends,/ I must not look to have”
He no longer is the innocent soldier he once way, he now has “unclean hands”. Lady Macbeth however, assumes his innocence. She claims she cannot murder Duncan herself because Duncan looks to much like her sleeping father. She is all words and no actions. Macbeth is devoid of any human emotions as the play goes on, and Lady Macbeth assumes the emotional role. Lady Macbeth begins to have dreams in which she cannot get the blood off her hands, and ultimately commits suicide from guilt of her actions. This breakdown of Lady Macbeth really highlights how inhuman the murder of Duncan has made Macbeth.
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
Lady Macbeth takes the role of the dominant partner in the beginning of the play, by acting as the real power behind the throne. For example, it is easily recognized that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are opposite in many ways (Scott 236). He is weak, indecisive, and takes on the traditional female role of the marriage; she is strong, decisive, and takes on the traditional male role. One place in the play where Macbeth’s character is shown is Act I, Scene 5, Lines 15-17. She says, “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be / What thou art promis’d : yet do I fear thy nature / Is too full o’ the milk of human kindness.” This is just after Lady Macbeth receives the letter from Macbeth. It is also important to notice that when Macbeth’s first thoughts of killing Duncan appear, he is scared. After he commits the murder, Macbeth says, “To know my deed, ‘twere best not know myself ” ( 2. 2. 72 ). Knowing that he has committed such a vile act makes him uncomfortable. It will be difficult to act innocent and deal with his guilt.
But he wont, so she insults him more, and goes to do it herself. Lady Macbeth was the initial force to make this entire play roll along. Macbeth was comfortable where he was, he was curious about the fact the witches stated, but he didn't want to force it to work. After Lady Macbeth's help in the killing of Duncan, the only influence she has upon him is to keep everything to themselves. At the party after Banquo's murder, Lady Macbeth tries to calm Macbeth, and tell him that what he sees is only an illusion, and not to worry about Banquo, and to shut up because his fit may show everyone that they are the murders of Duncan and Banquo.
As Macbeth becomes less dependent on his wife, she loses more control. She loses control of her husband, but mostly, of herself, proving her vacillating truth. Lady Macbeth’s character gradually disintegrates through a false portrayal of unyielding strength, an unsteady control of her husband and shifting involvement with supernatural powers.Throughout the duration of play Lady Macbeth’s truly decrepit and vulnerable nature is revealed. Lady Macbeth has been the iron fist and authority icon for Macbeth, yet deep down, she never carried such traits to begin with. This duality in Lady Macbeth’s character plays a huge role in planting the seed for Macbeth’s downfall and eventual demise.
Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth can be considered the serpent in the relationship. The serpent in the relationship is best described as the person who makes evil decisions throughout the play. Macbeth is given a number of prophecies concerning his fate. He tells Lady Macbeth about these prophecies, and she starts plotting a way to make these prophecies come true. These plans include killing King Duncan, Banquo and Macduff. After Macduff’s family is killed, Macduff arranges the death of Macbeth. He kills Macbeth, and Lady Macbeth kills herself, and the throne of Scotland is left Malcolm, King Duncan’s older son. Lady Macbeth seems to be a malicious character, whereas Macbeth seems to be more kind hearted and looks for the best in people. Both
As Macbeth stats to fulfil his prophecy and take the crown, Lady Macbeth falls back on the role in his life. After the banquet scene in act 3, we realize that Lady Macbeth thinks the killing is done. She realizes the need for Banquo's death but, doesn’t push him to do it so soon. She is aware of her husband's evil thoughts, but this time she does not need to encourage them to become actions. Without the much-needed role of partner in crime, Lady Macbeth is simply a sidekick. She tries to comfort Macbeth and is always there but, she does not play an active role in his evil plans. Moreover, without the constant need to do something for the prophecy, Lady Macbeth fell into guilt which led to her go
In the beginning of Macbeth, Macbeth is hesitant. Lady Macbeth, being ruthless, tries to convince Macbeth to kill King Duncan, but his conscience is stronger than his ambition. He feels that the king is at his palace in “double-trust”; he is his host and he should not be holding the knife to kill the king. When he says, “We will proceed no further in this business” (I. vii. 31), he does not want to follow through with Lady Macbeth’s plan. He remains hesitant and does not let his ambition take over his conscience. In his “role reversal”, Macbeth becomes ruthless. He is now “in control” ...
Character Changes in Macbeth & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; Macbeth is the main character in William Shakespeare's play Macbeth. Macbeth goes through drastic changes throughout the play. He changes from good to evil. Many different things cause these changes. & nbsp; In the beginning, Macbeth was such a nice guy.
The character Macbeth in the story of Shakespeare’s Macbeth faces decisions that affect his morals. He begins as an innocent soul, dedicated to serve his kingdom and its king, Duncan. As time passes and opportunities present themselves combined with the deception of the evil witches, Macbeth begins his descent into madness. Macbeth’s innocence and loyalty are completely corrupted due to his over confidence, guilty conscience, and the inevitability of human nature. Macbeth looses sight of what is morally right to do in life because his logical choices are changed by these factors.
Throughout the play "Macbeth", two of the main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth gradually exchange roles. Macbeth is the kind, caring one of the two in the beginning, but completely changes as the play goes on, as with Lady Macbeth. She starts out as an evil, vicious beast. She is an evil woman who is bond and determined to kill Duncan.
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 next stage of change developing in the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is in Act II. This is the act in which Macbeth kills King Duncan. Macbeth's character change is apparent because it is obvious that he has given in to his ambition and has murdered the king. He is not entirely changed, though, because he is almost delirious after he has committed the crime. He exclaims, "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red." He believes that instead of the ocean cleaning his hands, his hands would turn the ocean red. Macbeth's role has changed somewhat but not entirely, since he has committed the crime but his conscience is still apparent after the murder. Lady Macbeth's role similarly changes somewhat in Act II. The reader sees a crack in her strong character when she tells Macbeth in Scene ii of Act II that she would have murdered Duncan herself if he had not resembled her father as he slept. Her boldness is still evident, though, when she calms Macbeth after the murder and believes "a little water clears us of this deed." Unlike the roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, their relationship remains unchanged from Act I to II.
Macbeth, the main character in the tragedy of Macbeth, undergoes a series of character changes throughout the play. His transformation occurs in three major stages. First comes his attitude at the beginning of Macbeth where it is very positive and powerful. Subsequently he endures a change with the murder of king Duncan that reduces him from his moral and good status. Finally, he becomes wicked in his ways and develops into a tyrant and a butcher. This series of changes are evident as one reads the tragic play of Macbeth.
In Macbeth, the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth shifts throughout the play in many ways. It increases the way we understand the characters throughout the play of Macbeth. It demonstrates the differences in opinions between a marriage and allows them to express themselves with verbal threats and the power they held amongst one another. Their relationship starts with love and affection based on how Macbeth starts of by calling her “my dearest love” (1.5.57) they also both had this strong connection with each other and shared the same type of ambition but one of the two always held the power in the relationship that they had. As the relationship begins to impact throughout the play there are threatening behaviours from different