The Tragic Downfall of Lady Macbeth by William Shakespeare

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The Tragic Downfall of Lady Macbeth William Shakespeare’s play entitled Macbeth is a bloody tragedy about ambition, evil, guilt and moral corruption. The story emphasizes a lot on the consequences or aftermath of the bad deeds that Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth do and the growing impact it has on them in turn. Lady Macbeth a woman driven by her assertiveness, boldness, strength and ambition for her husband could not escape the guilt that eventually caught up to her and destroyed her. In Act 5 scene 1, Lady Macbeth is sleep walking and goes insane due to the guilt and remorse that finally catches up to her. This scene is the most important because it changes the reader’s view on Lady Macbeth and Macbeth as characters and it also has a very large impact on the plot. Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth keeps her husband Macbeth in check and acts as his rock to keep him stable. She represents Macbeth’s strength, courage and unfailing ambition. She brings out the man in him and entices him to strive for power and reign. “Some critics further suggest that Lady Macbeth embodies a feminine malevolence in the play that corresponds to a masculine fear of domination by women” (Mark W. Scott, Shakespeare for Students) Act 5 scene 1 plays a big role in the plot development of the play seeing as it marks the greatest point of Macbeth’s downfall and loss of prosperity. The fact that Lady Macbeth is going insane and showing weakness for the first time in the play foreshadows further moral corruption and downfall. This scene is also crucial to the plot development of the play because it is a dramatic twist for the readers because the roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth reverse and this has a large impact on the rest of the plot and t... ... middle of paper ... ...nding of the plotting and persuading and conspiracy for Lady Macbeth and Macbeth and sets a completely different mood to the play. A powerful man mentally disturbed by his conscience loses his partner in crime who once gave him strength and determination, resulting in a tragic downfall for Macbeth. The scene also reveals a lot about the two characters, more specifically Lady Macbeth, a woman driven her assertiveness, boldness, strength and ambition for her husband that could not escape the guilt that eventually caught up to her and eventually destroyed her. Furthermore, Shakespeare suggested a major theme throughout the play, the constant theme of evil and corruption. The play portrays how evil deeds lead to moral corruption and that once one chooses the path of evil, the temptation to keep going and commit more evil deeds is inevitable and unavoidable.

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