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Recommended: Analysis of Macbeth
Lady Macbeth
In the play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth would be considered a woman with very few scruples. However, I see her as a woman who is a lot like her husband, Macbeth. She was the same as Macbeth. They were both fiendish people with an overwhelming sense of vaulting ambition. I would even go as far as saying that Lady Macbeth was the one with a greater sense of ambition than Macbeth because she lacked what Macbeth did not. She lacked scruples. It was Lady Macbeth’s scrupulous ambition that led Macbeth to his seat upon the royal throne of Scotland.
After hearing about the prophecies that had been dealt to Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, concerned that her husband was too weak and/or kind to seize this opportunity that had been apportioned to him, began to devise a plan of her own which she would make Macbeth, the newly appointed Thane of Cawdor, carry out. I would think that a regular human being, male or female, would be more concerned about how the event in question would come into play. However, Lady Macbeth (and Macbeth) seems quite impatient and instead starts to think of ways that she could bring this event out herself. At about this time Macbeth is also thinking of killing Duncan in order to become the king. This is an example of the similarity between Macbeth and his wife. Its like they say, “great minds think alike”. It’s scary when the great minds belong to devious people.
When Macbeth arrives at his castle Lady Macbeth tells him to wear a friendly face and leave the plotting up to her. However, when Macbeth decides against killing the king, Lady Macbeth is outraged. She appeals to his ambition and pride while at the same time mocking his masculinity until she persuades him to persevere in her plot to kill the king. She even says that she would kill her own child had she promised to do so. This is where I think it becomes apparent that Lady Macbeth has a higher sense of ambitions and far less scruples than the future king. Its as if Lady Macbeth is actually Macbeth’s darker, more sinister side. She is the one that encourages him to do such sinister deeds even after he has decided to oppose the notion. She seems quite proud of herself for initiating the deed and says that she would have committed the act herself had Duncan not resembled her father as he lay their sleeping.
In the book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, the author highlights the scientific advances of HeLa cells, as well as the personal setbacks of Henrietta Lacks’ family. HeLa is a commonly used cell line in laboratories worldwide and is so often referred to as “the cell line that changed modern science”. This line of immortal cells has helped advance science in ways beyond compare. HeLa has allowed cell testing, cell cloning, and the discovery of various vaccines, including the HPV vaccine. While HeLa has done wonders in the medical field, it has caused unrepairable damage among the Lacks family.
Henrietta’s cells were being inaugurated with space travel, infused into rat cells, and even being used to make infertile hens fertile again. However, these are only a few of the many accomplishments that Henrietta’s immortal cells made possible: “The National Cancer Institute was using various cells, including HeLa, to screen more than thirty thousand chemicals and plant extracts, which would yield several of today’s most widely used and effective chemotherapy drugs, including Vincristine and Taxol,”(pg.139). This example of logos from the text again shows just how important these Henrietta’s cells were to the future developments in
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells the story of Henrietta Lacks. In the early 1951 Henrietta discovered a hard lump on the left of the entrance of her cervix, after having unexpected vaginal bleeding. She visited the Johns Hopkins hospital in East Baltimore, which was the only hospital in their area where black patients were treated. The gynecologist, Howard Jones, indeed discovers a tumor on her cervix, which he takes a biopsy off to sent it to the lab for diagnosis. In February 1951 Henrietta was called by Dr. Jones to tell about the biopsy results: “Epidermoid carcinoma of the cervix, Stage I”, in other words, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Before her first radium treatment, surgeon dr. Wharton removed a sample of her cervix tumor and a sample of her healthy cervix tissue and gave this tissue to dr. George Gey, who had been trying to grow cells in his lab for years. In the meantime that Henrietta was recovering from her first treatment with radium, her cells were growing in George Gey’s lab. This all happened without the permission and the informing of Henrietta Lacks. The cells started growing in a unbelievable fast way, they doubled every 24 hours, Henrietta’s cells didn’t seem to stop growing. Henrietta’s cancer cell grew twenty times as fast as her normal healthy cells, which eventually also died a couple of days after they started growing. The first immortal human cells were grown, which was a big breakthrough in science. The HeLa cells were spread throughout the scientific world. They were used for major breakthroughs in science, for example the developing of the polio vaccine. The HeLa-cells caused a revolution in the scientific world, while Henrietta Lacks, who died Octob...
Five Reasons Henrietta Lacks is the Most Important Woman in Medical History. (n.d.). Popular Science. Retrieved February 2, 2014, from http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-01/five-reasons-henrietta-lacks-most-important-woman-medical-history
‘The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks’ is about a black woman who died in 1951. Her cancerous cervix cells, taken without her knowledge by a doctor at John Hopkins Hospital, were the first ‘immortal cells’, meaning they could be cultured in a lab. Her cell line, named HeLa (after Henrietta Lacks), then became one of the most important tools in medicine. However, this book not only focusses on the scientific story of HeLa cells, but also on the story of the woman behind the cells. It consists of three storylines, which will all be described below.
Lady Macbeth has a greater control on Macbeth’s actions than any other character in Macbeth apart from the Weïrd Sisters. She is well known for her persuading speeches to her husband, convincing him to fulfill the murder of King Duncan. Lady Macbeth challenges Macbeth’s manly qualities, and informs him that only when he follows through with the murder that
At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a trusted soldier, who is honest and noble. Unfortunately, he meets three witches who tell him three prophecies; that he will become thane of Cawdor, that he will become king and that Banquo’s sons will become kings. These three prophecies slowly change his opinions on life and turn him into a greedy, dishonest, tyrant, full of ambition. Lady Macbeth’s thoughts change as well when she is told about the three prophecies that were told to Macbeth. In the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is ambitious, controlling and domineering. She is the one who encourages him to kill the king, she not only encourages him, she makes all the plans herself, which shows her determination and persistence."Yet I do fear thy nature, it is too full o’th milk of human kindness. To catch the nearest way thou wouldst be great. Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it." (Act 1, scene 5). Lady Macbeth is the force behind Macbeth’s sudden ambition and she tries to manipulate him into feeling guilty and unmanly for not following through with the murder, by using her husbands emotions, she manages to convince Macbeth to murder Duncan.
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.
A quote which really defines Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s ambition regarding power is “Power does not corrupt men; fools; however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power” George Bernard Shaw. Lady Macbeth is more ambitious in terms of gaining power then Macbeth is and that Lady Macbeth will do almost anything to gain power, even evil things that she normally wouldn’t do. This is shown when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth learn about the witches’ predictions, then roles in the plans to murder king Duncan in order to gain power and then finally after the murder, Macbeth doesn’t want to finish the plan making Lady Macbeth angry and causing a chance they might get caught and gain no power at all.
Laurence Sterne once wrote, “No body, but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a man’s mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time.” This passage embodies one of the over arching themes of Macbeth. The character Macbeth, in Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, could easily identify with this passage due to the fact that he is pulled in opposite directions by both his desire to do what is right and his desire for power.
Lady Macbeth is a very loving wife to Macbeth and she wants to do anything she can for him to achieve his goals. She just takes it a little too far, and she puts too much pressure on Macbeth to commit crimes that he is not sure he wants to do. After Macbeth sends her a letter about the witches’ premonitions, Lady Macbeth is no longer the sweet innocent lady we expect her to be. She turns into a person who is just as ambitious as her husband and she wants to do whatever it takes to help him get Duncan out of the way. She even goes to the point of calling Macbeth a coward, and mocking his bravery when he fails to complete the job. She is even willing to do it herself (plant the bloody knife with the guard). Lady Macbeth is constantly putting the pressure on Macbeth to do things that he is not sure about. She almost turns into a bully who dares Macbeth to go out and do evil things. She even says in a soliloquy that she wants to be released of all her morals and values so that she can help him commit these crimes.
“When you first do it, then you were a man, And to be more than what you were, you would, be so much more the man” (I. VII, 54-56). After struggling with the thought of killing Duncan, Macbeth is reprimanded by Lady Macbeth for his lack of courage. She informs him that killing the king will make him a man, insinuating that he isn’t a man if he doesn’t go through with the murder. This develops Lady Macbeth as a merciless, nasty, and selfish woman. She will say, or do anything to get what she desires, even if it means harming others.
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
On the other hand, Lady Macbeth views on manhood are much different from her husband's and the other characters in the play. Unlike Macbeth, Lady Macbeth envisions a man to be opportunist, cruel and ruthless instead of honorable and loyal. When she receives the letter from Macbeth and learns of her chance to be queen, she prays that the spirits "that tend on mortal thoughts [would] unsex [her]", and that she will be "fill[ed] from the crown to the toe of direst cruelty", so that she would have the strength to murder Duncan. Believing the spirits would "unsex" her, she hopes that she wouldn't be bothered by a woman's kindness or remorse and thus would become a cruel killer, like a man.
“Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.” Once said by Marc Twain, this is an excellent example of the human nature that is represented in the play: Macbeth. Shakespeare demonstrates that all humans have the ability to do good or evil. This is strongly affected by the choices that we make and by our actions. These decisions will have a huge impact on our lives and the lives of others. Throughout the play, Macbeth experienced a huge decent into evil and violent action that lead him to his death. With his thirst for power and constant paranoia, he killed his way to seize the crown. By killing Duncan at the beginning of the play, Macbeth soon realizes that nothing can be undone and his blood stained hands can never be cleaned. “A little water clears us of this deed” (2.3 70) said by Lady Macbeth after Duncan’s murder. But what they don’t know is that this is the start of the bloody massacre that will change who they are and how they think forever. Macbeth has multiple hallucinations and his paranoia leads him to hire murderers to kill Macduff’s family out of anger and spite. Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and gets to the point of madness when she kills herself at the end of the play. This demonstrates that our actions can be affected by human nature and our thoughts can be easily corrupted by temptation.