I believe Lady Macbeth is a complex character that adds depth to an otherwise straightforward play about power dynamics due to several reasons, based mainly on her actions and mentality. Her decisions have great influence upon Macbeth and herself since those actions led to their eventual end. One instance she proves herself to be complex is during her soliloquy, “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty!” ( I.V. 35). In general, women are usually depicted as loving and caring figures, however Lady Macbeth’s wish contrasts the idea. She does this in order to reinforce herself and Macbeth to kill Duncan without hesitation, thus it is shown she is willing to alter herself in order to achieve a goal. She could've just said she was going to kill Duncan without saying how evil she wishes to be, in general she shows complexity there. Another example would be Lady Macbeth saying specific things to provoke Macbeth so he would do what she …show more content…
wants. She completely knows her husband’s mentality well and how he acts, thus she specifically insulted his pride in order to reinforce his will to kill Duncan; “Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, and live a coward in thine own esteem, letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would,” like the poor cat i’ the adage? “ ( I. VII. 43-44). This scenario manifests her ability to manipulate Macbeth so he would sway to her desires, therefore it becomes apparent Lady Macbeth isn’t just a simple woman who wishes to become queen. Deceiving people also seems to be one Lady Macbeth’s skill, she exhibits an innocent and clueless persona when the others found Duncan’s body, “ What’s the business . . . Woe, alas! What, in our house? . .
. Help me hence, ho!” (II. III. 65-69). Despite the fact she only had few lines, her acting convinced the majority except Banquo that she and Macbeth weren’t the murderers. Ever since Duncan’s murder, Lady Macbeth is seen to be sleep walking and tormented by her actions; “ Out damned spot! . . . What will these hands ne’er be clean? . . . Here’s the smell of the blood still” (V. I. 155-157). This scene shows how Lady Macbeth unconsciously deals with her guilt and eventually succumbs to it similarly like Macbeth. The doctor also mentions he’s never seen anyone sleep walking because of their guilt, thus this foreshadows her eventual suicide. It is also said in acts two or three both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth lack sleep due to their guilt of killing Duncan. In summary, complexity is shown in Lady Macbeth throughout the book in various forms, her ambitious and manipulative nature would be the major ones while her guilt and words are the lesser
focus.
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.
So far, in the play, Lady Macbeth has been shown to be a very powerful and ambitious character. After reading Macbeth's letter, she says, "Thou wouldst be great, / Art not without ambition, but without / The illness that should attend it"(I.v 17-19), here, she is saying that he needs more evil or "illness" in him to become King, and therefore implies that she will "poison" him and give him the illness he needs to increase his ambition. Here she is also undermining her husband's authority (which is very unusual for a woman in the Elizabethan era) by saying he is unable to become a King, and is undermining his masculinity as she is thinking about things that a man would usually take charge of. To try to persuade Macbeth to kill Duncan when the audience first see them meet on stage, she is very bold, "Your hand, you tongue, look like th'innocent flower, / But be the serpent under't" (I.v 65-66), she shows her strong female identity, whose ambitions speak for her obsession with power.
She achieved the highest level of political power and was still not content; she is seen suffering the wrath of her convictions and is unable to attain true happiness. When she is no longer able to contain her sanity, Lady Macbeth begins sleepwalking and speaking of her past crimes: “Here 's the smell of the blood still: / all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little / hand.” 5.1.52-54. It can be surmised that the guilt is consuming Lady Macbeth to the point of her longer being able to contain it. Within her dream she is attempting to cleanse her hands of the blood with foreign perfumes, which is symbolic for her attempts to purge herself of the crimes she has remorsefully perpetrated. Near the end of the play, Seyton announces, “The queen, my lord, is dead.” 5.5.16. Lady Macbeth committed suicide in response to her dissolving mental state and her mingled fear of both past and future. She fears that what she has done can never be reversed nor repented, as she stated earlier in the play: “...What’s done, is done.” 3.2.12. However, it can be assumed that she also is in fear of her afterlife and the unsalvageable state of her grief-wracked soul. In conclusion, Lady Macbeth sincerely rued her iniquitous acts and was unable to reach a resolutionary
The character of Lady Macbeth is a complex one, there is much that can be said regarding the juxtaposition of ideas concerning her behavior. Within this essay I shall attempt to elaborate on her forceful, selfish and contradictory character.
In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth is a classic example of a tragic hero who is constantly struggling with his fate. In the opening scene of the play Macbeth receives a prophecy from three witches. They proclaim that he will be the thane of Cawdor. He responds by saying, “By Sinel’s death I know that I am thane of Glamis/ but how of Cawdor”(I, iii, 70-73)? At first, he does not realize to earn this title what he must do, but when he realizes he is taken aback. His bewilderment prefigures his perpetual struggle with his fate. Macbeth also is excessively ambitious which constantly affects him throughout the play. He is too determined to become king and will kill anyone to ensure that this will transpire. Macbeth’s struggle and ambition make him the quintessence of tragic hero.
As Lady Macbeth becomes consumed by fear and guilt, she is slowly losing her sanity. This is a result of her not being able to handle what she has done to Duncan. In one scene, Lady Macbeth is trying to wash out what she sees as being blood on her hands, even though she is sleepwalking, though the doctor and woman in the room dare not blame her for anything, for fear of being accused and executed for treason. At the start, Lady Macbeth was pushing the fearful Macbeth to kill Duncan. Now, late in the play, their roles have reversed, and it is Lady Macbeth who is fearful, not her husband.
.... The change of her character from the beginning of the play to the end shows that Lady Macbeth was a dynamic character. There could even be a moral to this play. Too much ambition may lead to an ultimate demise.
The play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, explores the darkest corners of the human psyche. It artfully takes its audience to a place that allows one to examine what a human being is truly capable of once tempted by the allure of power. In the play, Scottish noble Macbeth and his wife inevitably fall prey to their own self corruption. Initiated by prophesies made by three mysterious witches, the Macbeths set their sights on the throne. When the curtains open on the plot to murder King Duncan, Lady Macbeth is the driving force. Her criminal mind and desire for ruthlessness have led many a critic to define her as evil. Closer examination, however, reveals that she is a multifaceted character; other sides to her persona include: genuine good will towards her husband, coy manipulation, and feminine tenderness.
In Macbeth you could argue that Lady Macbeth and that Macbeth himself are partners in crime and are equal in the eyes of the other, however in the eyes of the audience Lady Macbeth is a useful tool just there to ensure that Macbeth kills Duncan and receives Kingship.
Tragic heroes, who destined for a serious downfall, are the protagonist of a dramatic tragedy. A tragic hero is usually a great hero, who gets the most respect from other people; on the other hand, a tragic hero can also lose everything he gained because of his mistakes. His downfall is the result of a wrong judgment, a flaw which might combined with fated and external forces. The downfall can cause the tragic hero to suffer for the rest of his life. In many literary works, the downfall of the tragic heroes usually happen in their highest point. In the same way, Macbeth is a tragic hero in the play called “The Tragedy of Macbeth” which is written by a legendary writer, William Shakespeares. Macbeth is a great general who gained many respect from the people and even the king. In the highest point of his life, because of seeking for greater power, it created Macbeth’s downfall. Macbeth, a tragic hero, causes suffering for himself and others by committing murders and creating distress, which are the negative effects of seeking for a greater power.
Macbeth could justly be classified a “Tragic Hero” as his tragic story fills out the defined criteria for a tragic hero. Macbeth holds a significant social status, reveals essential truths about humanity through his suffering, has tragically wasted talent, contains a “tragic flaw” leading to his downfall and finally he finds some relief in his death.
Macbeth is a very complex character whom reflects man's thirst for power through the drastic changes of his personality; thus being one of the slightest reasons in which make this intriguing character, greatest of all Shakespearean’s well-known works.
She is completely consumed by guilt and slowly slips away into madness. In the planning stages of the murder Lady Macbeth felt much more strongly than Macbeth about the necessity to kill Duncan, and now in the aftermath she feels the guilt much more strongly than Macbeth. At one point in the play she is completely lost in her guilt; she sleepwalks around the castle saying "Out, damned spot. Out. She speaks of the bloodstains she now sees for her part in this murder.
Throughout William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is presented as an evil, cold-hearted person, but, when it comes to the actual act of committing the murder, Lady Macbeth does not commit murder. In the end, it is Macbeth who plunges the knife into Duncan’s heart. Lady Macbeth had planned the whole murder, brought the daggers, and even intoxicated the guards, but it is Macbeth who ultimately killed Duncan. After the crime is committed, it is Macbeth who collapses and Lady Macbeth who smears blood on the guards to complete their plan. From Lady Macbeth actions, it is readily apparent that she is physiologically and physical capable of committing murder, but why does she not? Lady Macbeth is unable to kill Duncan because of the 1600s notion of how a woman should be, Macbeth, being a man should, be the one to seek power, and Lady Macbeth’s feminine qualities forbid her to commit such a crime.
A Shakespearean tragic hero starts out as a noble person; a great exceptional being who stands out. A tragic hero has a tragic flaw of an exaggerated trait that leads to their downfall and eventually to death. William Shakespeare often made his main characters tragic heroes in his plays. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the role of the tragic hero is given to the main character: Macbeth. This is because he starts off as a loyal and well liked man in the beginning, but has a tragic flaw of ambition which ultimately leads to his downfall.