Lady Macbeth's Responsibility for Her Husband's Actions
To answer this question I will have to assess Lady Macbeths character
throughout the play and Macbeths attitude towards his wife. I think
Macbeths attitude to his wife is very important to finding out how he
is affected by her and how much responsibility she has for his
actions.
Lady Macbeth is of Royal blood and has brought much added wealth and
power to Macbeth. She is used to more power than many other women of
her time, she has had the opportunity to gain much power and
freedom-or is this hat she uses Macbeth for? I think Lady Macbeths
relationship with her husband is strong though. They are in love and
are happy but I imagine there are many theories of who 'wears the
trousers' in their relationship.
When we first meet lady Macbeth she is reading of her husbands
encounters with the witches and their predictions (glamis, cawdor and
king) in the letter. the witches in the play I think there to keep the
plot going and in their first appearance set out the main plots of the
play. Lady Macbeth, if she were a lady of little intelligence then
this mere hags cackle would be put aside as a mear fantasy, but lady
Macbeth mind works differently; she can see the potential of these
prediction and 'plot ' ideas and quickly tries to formulate a plan to
make one of them reality. But after finishing the letter she exclaims
her doubt in her husband in him achieving his goals set by the
witches. 'I fear thy nature, it is too full o'th milk of human
kindness….though wouldest not play false.'
By this she is doubting her husband devotion to the possibility of the
prediction becom...
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...h sees a short blood stained path.
Macbeth can choose what he wants to do but his wife is there to give
him a push in the wrong, but quicker direction. If lady Macbeth has
her way she's Queen and has achieved her goal a lot quicker than
Macbeth could take,. I think lady Macbeth 'eggs on' her husband for
her own personal gain. Macbeth ultimately chose to do what she wanted
and has as much responsibility for his actions as his wife, he of
course with the taste of Duncan's blood still fresh killed his comrade
to achieve his goal. At that point he took all blame. Lady Macbeth
planted a shoot which she nurtured so far and took a back seat, on its
own it prospered but when lady Macbeth totally left it was overcome.
To make his reign great he needed his wife. He needed her to help to a
point but then went his own evil path.
The three witches play a very important role in affecting the actions of Macbeth with their ability to steer him in the direction they desire. They not only use their supernatural powers but also prey on his greed and ambition.
By questioning Macbeth’s manhood, she draws Macbeth’s attention so he is more inclined to listen to her. But, ultimately, the decision for Macbeth to listen to his wife was up to him. Another instance where Macbeth has an existence of options available is when choosing to kill someone or not. With each person Macbeth killed (Duncan, Banquo, Macduff’s family), the option of not killing them is always there. One might argue that he did not have a choice in killing Duncan and only did so because of Lady Macbeth, however he was not required to listen to his wife (again, he chose to listen), as he has the final say in whether to kill someone or not. Therefore in many situations, Macbeth was presented with a variety of options, fitting the criteria of free will.
Macbeth is a very dynamic play. One aspect of the play is the very unusual relationship between Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth. Unlike most relationships, there isn’t mutual trust or respect between the two. For instance, Lady Macbeth explains to Macbeth her plan for killing Duncan, even though Macbeth is the one doing the deed, he cannot give his input. Later on, Macbeth turns his back on Lady Macbeth and kills Banquo all by himself. Their relationship also seems to lack true love. After Macbeth receives word of his wife's death, he responds as if a random homeless guy on the street has died, saying she would have died anyways. Although their relationship is unusual, Lady Macbeth still leaves a lasting impression on Macbeth. Lady
And, unfortunately, an evil witch knew what the king’s weakness was. The witch – who was not at all wrinkled and ugly, just for the record – disguised herself as a maid in the castle and poisoned the queen’s food. Oh, not to kill her. If she’d done that, there’d be no story to tell. No, the poison the witch gave the queen wasn’t exactly something you could call a poison, unless you realized exactly how it would poison the kingdom. It was something more like a beauty potion, really. It made the queen grow more and more beautiful every day. So beautiful that the king could hardly take his eyes off of her, and began neglecting his royal duties to spend time with her. It wasn’t so much that he neglected them, though, that was bad. It was that, when anyone reminded him of...
Macbeth's relationship with his wife was not always great. This is shown in one of there conversations;
In the play there are many evil deeds that Macbeth committed. These include the murders of Duncan and Banquo, Lady Macduff and her son. Macbeth is also responsible for Scotland's disorder. Macbeth plays the main role in each incident, with the other characters being only minor and undeveloped; acting as vehicles for Macbeth's actions. It is possible that it is not entirely Macbeth's fault for the evil deeds in the play.
In the play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare there comes a moment where Lady Macbeth has just received a letter from her husband informing her of some prophecies that he has been told including the fact that he is Thane of Cawdor, and will become king. Through her soliloquy Lady Macbeth allows for her ladylike qualities and her false face to fall while showing what she feels is her duty to her husband and the power of women. One can begin to see what Lady Macbeth assumes is her duty when she states” Hie thee hither, That I may pour my spirits in thine ear; And chastise with the valour of my tongue All that impedes you from the golden round.” Lady Macbeth feels it is her duty to influence her husband into doing whatever is possible to gain the
Human beings are not perfect, and, although people often make mistakes, it is the recognition of those mistakes and the demonstration of remorse that indicates an ability to change. In Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, spurred by the predictions of the witches of her husband’s future as king, makes decisions she will later come to regret. Although she appears to be strong in planning the king’s murder, her moments of doubt throughout the play indicate a sense of weakness which ultimately lead to her mental instability and death.
The Importance of Lady Macbeth's Influence on Her Husband. Lady Macbeth possesses the power to influence her husband's decisions. in a negative manner, he said. She is stronger, more ruthless and more ambitious than Macbeth is.
Abraham Lincoln once said, “You can not escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today”. This is true in the civil sense. Even though an individual may seek to avoid being prosecution in criminal law, they must take responsibility of their actions.
"That I may pour my spirits in thine ear,/And chastise with the valor of my
‘Professor Kittredge used to point out to his classes that Lady Macbeth, in urging Macbeth to act, uses the three arguments that every wife, some time or other, uses to every husband: "You promised me you'd do it!" "You'd do it if you loved me!" "If I were a man, I'd do it myself!" But Macbeth's mind is made up by her assurance that they may do it safely by fixing the guilt upon Duncan's chamberlains. (72)’
This is where a major flaw of our protagonist comes in. Macbeth cannot escape the trap of listening to his wife. He is subject to her commands and he knows it.
and scheme to go and meet him. This shows that it is important for the
Lady Macbeth is able to achieve such power over her husband by continually insulting his manliness and boasting her...