The Ways in Which Lady Macbeth Moves from a Position of Strength to One of Final Despair

The Ways in Which Lady Macbeth Moves from a Position of Strength to One of Final Despair

In William Shakespeare's tragic play, "Macbeth," Lady Macbeth

undergoes dramatic changes in her character. At the start of the play,

she is far stronger than any of Shakespeare's other female characters,

such as Viola and Olivia from "Twelfth Night" and Juliet Capulet from

"Romeo Juliet." She is, in fact stronger than most stereotypical women

of Shakespeare's time, and those of the time in which "Macbeth" was

set. However, just before her death, she is transformed into a shadow

of the dominant woman that she was before, plagued by guilt, and

haunted by the murderous secrets of her past.

Her first appearance involves a long soliloquy in which she quickly

shows her cunning and her hunger for power. She knows that she is

stronger than her husband as he could be persuaded to do anything that

she told him to. "I may pour my spirits into thine ear and chastise

thee with the valour of my tongue," she says, which shows that she

could, and actually does, spearhead the murders that Macbeth later

carries out.

Within a very short time, Lady Macbeth has already begun to plan King

Duncan's "fatal entrance" to her home, Dunsinane Castle. She uses

clever metaphors and double meanings when first introducing the idea

of murder to Macbeth, such as "O never shall sun that morrow see," and

"look like th'innocent flower, but be the serpent under't." These

could have been used because announcing her plans directly may have

made the suggestion sound much worse both to Macbeth, and to herself,

or it may have been that she is simply being secretive with her words.

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..."She should have died hereafter." This could be taken either as

that he no longer really cares and knew that she would die eventually,

or as that he would rather that she die now rather than later.

Whatever Shakespeare really meant, Macbeth shows a lack of feeling for

his wife, but at the same time becomes deeply introverted and

philosophical due to her death.

Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most fascinating characters. She

shifts gradually from a strong, fearless woman to a weak, childlike

ghost, yet all the time she shows overpowering feelings of love for

her husband. Although she is not the main character in the play,

without Lady Macbeth, Macbeth himself would not have committed the

murder of Duncan and may never have been King. In this way she is also

one of the most powerful characters Shakespeare created.