The Insanity Of Lady Macbeth In William Shakespeare's Play

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In the Scottish tragedy Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth becomes a bloodthirsty tyrant while attempting to prove his manhood and protect his position of power. Although he refused to act on the treacherous thoughts creeping into his mind at first, Lady Macbeth slyly convinces him to act on those thoughts by attacking the one thing that he, like all men, holds dearly: his masculinity. Lady Macbeth’s insult, “And live a coward in thine own esteem,” made him feel inferior and ignited a sense of truculence within Macbeth (1.7.47). Wanting to prove his daringness and virility, Macbeth murdered Duncan. Following this, his body count only continued to grow. Having convinced himself that “upon [his] head they placed a fruitless crown,” Macbeth …show more content…

At first, Lady Macbeth urges her husband to kill. She undermines and manipulates him into agreeing to murder Duncan. However, at the banquet following Banquo's death, Lady Macbeth becomes aware of the insanity brewing in her husband’s mind. When she tells Macbeth he “lacks the season of all natures sleep,” she acknowledges that he has become unhinged (3.4.173). Realizing the murders Macbeth had part in carrying out, she acknowledges that she has lost her control over him. Knowing she served as the impetus of Macbeth’s murderous rampage she feels guilt. Muttering in her sleep that her hands might “ne’er be clean,” the audience becomes aware of Lady Macbeth’s guilt and struggle to pardon herself from the deaths her unruly puppet of a husband has committed (5.1.45). While Macbeth was regarded as the coward in the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth proved herself to be the true coward; the coward who could not commit the dirty deeds she thought of herself and who was too scared to face the consequences of her actions head

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