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The role of power in Macbeth
Ambition and greed in macbeth
Ambiguity in macbeth act 1-4
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From the very beginning, Lady Macbeth is depicted as an ambitious and powerful woman, who is central to the plot of William Shakespeare's 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. When Macbeth tries to ?back out? of murdering Duncan, Lady Macbeth uses many techniques to persuade him to carry out the deed. Firstly, she repeats the metaphor of clothes he uses, ?Which would be worn now in their newest gloss, / Not cast aside so soon? (I.vii 34-35) but changes the meaning, ?Was the hope drunk / wherein you dressed yourself?? (I.vii 35-36) showing she can be manipulating and that she has a thorough understanding of words, which is unusual for an Elizabethan woman. She also tries to manipulate him by saying, ?From this time / Such I account thy love? (I.vii 38-39) which could be perceiv... ... middle of paper ... ...n, she becomes something completely different ? a supernatural being such as a witch or evil spirit. Although Lady Macbeth never repeats the words of the witches, her ambitions and their prophecies are very similar, ?All hail Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter? (I.iii 50), however, if the witches had not revealed this prophecy then Lady Macbeth?s ambition would not have been ?fed? and it is probable that neither of them would have murdered Duncan. This shows how easily she is influenced by the supernatural. I believe that Shakespeare depicted Lady Macbeth as a very ambitious character who has a lot of power over her husband. However, it is only after she calls upon the supernatural that she becomes utterly ruthless and cruel. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 2009.
After Lady Macbeth reads his letter and Macbeth arrives home, she is excited about becoming queen. She asks Macbeth when King Duncan is to be arriving and tells Macbeth to leave the plan up to her, his only job being that he has to look innocent and hide their true intentions. Macbeth seems to be stunned and nervous, telling his wife that they will talk later when she begins to tell him of her plan. In the seventh scene, at the castle, Macbeth speaks of the intense guilt he is feeling even before he is to kill Duncan; “… this even-handed justice/ Commends the ingredients of our poisoned/ Chalice to our own lips…” (1. 7. 10-12) (Shakespeare), “… He’s here in double trust…” (1. 7. 12) (Shakespeare), “… Besides, this Duncan/ Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been/ So clear in his great office…” (1. 7. 17-19)(Shakespeare) all express Macbeth’s discomfort with murdering Duncan to steal the throne. Not only does he convey these emotions during this monologue, but he does so when Lady Macbeth enters the room, saying “We will proceed no further in this business./ He hath honored me of late, and I have bought/ Golden opinions from all sorts of people…” (1. 7. 32-34) (Shakespeare). To respond to this, Lady Macbeth does what she does best: emasculating her husband. She first articulates her questioning of his manhood after she reads Macbeth’s letter in the first act when she says “Yet do I fear thy nature;/ It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness…” (1. 5. 2-3) (Shakespeare), which contrasts with the heroic description the dying Captain gives of Macbeth in the opening scene. After Macbeth tells his wife that he is calling off the plan to kill King Duncan, she
Lady Macbeth is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous and frightening female characters. As she is Macbeth’s wife, her role is significant in his rise and fall from royalty. She is Macbeth’s other half. During Shakespearean times, women were regarded as weak insignificant beings that were there to give birth and look beautiful. They were not thought to be as intelligent or equal to men. Though in Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is the highest influence in Macbeth’s life. Her role was so large; in fact, that she uses her position to gain power, stay strong enough to support her unstable Lord, and fails miserably while their relationship falls apart. Everything about Lady Macbeth is enough to create the perfect villain because of her ability to manipulate everyone around her. It appears that even she can’t resist the perfect crime.
Lady Macbeth is at the same time greater and lesser than her husband. She has a hardness which he lacks, but she has none of his subtlety and perception. She knows her husband well and despises him a little, but to satisfy her ambition, which is a crude desire to see her man King, she will devote herself soul and body to evil. (62)
Macbeth, one of the greatest tragedies written by William Shakespeare, tells a story about uncontrollable ambition, which destroys Macbeth and his wife. Interpreting the play using the mythological approach, Lady Macbeth exhibits a profound image as the terrible mother, more so than the “weird sisters.” Her evil intention foreshadows the awful fate and destiny of her family. The force that drives Lady Macbeth is her insatiable thirst for power.
Lady Macbeth is the wife of Macbeth and is a very persuasive character in the story. Lady Macbeth is a women who is power hungry and willing to do anything for it. We see her power-hungry self when she says “But be the serpent under’t. he is coming must be provided for and you shall put the nights greats business into my dispatch.” (I,iv,59) this section is her painting the picture of Macbeth killing Duncan in his sleep. Lady Macbeth is manipulating him into doing deeds that he isn’t too willing to do but will be persuaded by her into killing the king. We see that she challenges his manhood constantly throughout her plan to kill the king. It is shown when she says “was so hope drunk wherein you dressed yourself? Hath you slept since? And wakes it now, to look so pale and green” (I, viii, 36) She speaks about how he was willing to go through with the killing but when shows signs of regret she shoots at his manhood by calling him a coward to persuade him into killing. Lady Macbeth is a woman who will always get her way and is willing to kill for
In the scenes given, Lady Macbeth has already been shown to be a vicious, evil, and bold person. She’s even two-faced, especially when she acts overly nice toward King Duncan despite her internal plans to murder him. She does things her own, unique way and will stop at nothing for Macbeth or herself to reach success, even if it means murdering someone or in general committing a crime. She wants her husband to become the new king, and for him to man up. To her, it is strange how Macbeth can be so timid and fearful when he would end up gaining from the situation, and even insults her husband to his opposite personality. Furthermore, in this scene, Lady Macbeth stays consistent. Her objectives does not change, nor does the tactic change. However,
Throughout Macbeth, Shakespeare uses characters to show how power and ambition can be destructive and have consequences. The theme finds itself through the two main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Macbeth is a General who is naturally inclined to commit evil deeds, but his ambitious attitude drives him even further. Lady Macbeth is Macbeth's wife and is very ambitious herself. She manipulates Macbeth to be destructive
When Lady Macbeth is first introduced she is reading a letter from her husband, Macbeth. He is telling her about his meeting with the three witches and their three prophecies. The one she is most concerned with is the prophecy that Macbeth will become king. She decides that they must kill King Duncan. She then asks for the strength to commit the murder. “Of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood, Stop up th’ access and passage to remorse.” (Act 1 Scene 5 Lines 41-42) She is the one who plans the entire murder.
When her husband reveals his indecisiveness on whether he should process the assassination, Lady Macbeth relentlessly accuses Macbeth’s fear of rebellion. She fully understands Macbeth’s desire and weakness; thus, she first utilizes their love to satirize Macbeth, and then questions Macbeth’s manhood which is the most serious taboo for any soldier by saying: “…live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting ‘I dear not’ wait upon ‘I would’.” Obviously, Lady Macbeth’s eloquence immediately impacts on Macbeth so that he commits to kill the king Duncan and “become a man.” Even though the argument against Lady Macbeth might focusing on she provokes Macbeth’s evil ambition and directly causes Macbeth’s death, I think Lady Macbeth forces Macbeth to face his greedy ambition of being a King and strive for the ambition without
Lady Macbeth is portrayed as a virago and a heartless fiend with an savage disregard for life. When she is first introduced into the play, she is already planning on using violence to create her husbands uprising to becoming King of Scotland. She has strong willed personality, more ambitious and more ruthless then her husband. As a result of her understanding of the power she has over her husband, she is able to manipulate him with great effectiveness. She is able to override his objectives to not kill the king and when he becomes hesitant about the murder, she questions his manhood until he feels that the murder is the only way he can prove himself. Her hus...
In Macbeth, from the very beginning Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth deliberately trying to suppress her feminine qualities in order to show her power. She was an evil, scheming person whose greed and selfishness was a part of the destruction of her character. Her wicked character has a big impact on her husband, convincing him to kill Duncan.
Throughout the play Macbeth, characters start to emerge as dark and cruel. The author William Shakespeare writes about a strong and ambitiously powerful woman named Lady Macbeth. In the play, Lady Macbeth’s character shares with the audience that she believes her husband is not man enough to excel in completing the prophecy that the three witches have given to him. As a women, she makes sure to tell us that just because she is a women that you can be strong and independent. Although it may seem that Lady Macbeth has a tough exterior, she does proceed to have a conscience that causes her problems that comes to display later in the play.
In the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth has the opportunity to kill Duncan herself, but refuses to do it. Although she grows impatient with her husband and does not have confidence in his ability to commit the murder, she is not the one who carries out the crime. “If the king hadn‘t looked like my father while he slept, I would have done it myself.” (2.2.14-15) These words spoken by Lady Macbeth are clear; she could not kill the king because Duncan reminded her of her father. This gives a perceptible trace of good within her because her excuse for not being able to murder Duncan is baseless. She could never have done it; her compassionate and sentimental side took over. One could argue that Lady Macbeth manages to manipulate her husband with remarkable effectiveness to kill the king. She overrides all his objections and morals. She repeatedly questions his manhood in order to make Macbeth feel that he must kill Duncan. Her remarkable strength of persistence does induce her husband's actions until the crimes have been perpetrated, but in the end Macbeth is the one who decided to proceed with th...
To begin with, Shakespeare exemplifies Lady Macbeth as a calculating lady throughout the play; by being evil, cunning, and masculine. For instance, immediately after reading of the witches’ prophecy, the idea of King Duncan’s murder does not disturb her. Alternatively, she starts scheming the possible assassination of King Duncan, executed by her husband. She imagines “the future in the instant” (1.5 56)--Lady Macbeth does not care how she realizes her ambition; she cleverly persuades Macbeth to commit the murder. While harboring murderous thoughts, Lady Macbeth exhibits false courtesy to Duncan just to secure his trust with the Macbeths. Therefore, even when her husband wavers, Lady Macbeth remains determined with her plans and manipulates her husband by using emotional blackmail. Additionally, she does not panic during the regicide; this demonstrates that she is in control over the situation. Lady Macbeth then asks Macbeth to “go carry [The daggers] and smear/ The sleepy grooms with blood” (2.2 52-3). When he refuses, she shows no hesitation and takes (the) daggers herself. Lastly, Lady Macbeth asks to “unsex me” (1.5 39). Being a woman means that she is at risk...
In the Play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth is the wife of Macbeth and is one of the play’s most celebrated characters. Lady Macbeth is portrayed as stronger, more cruel, and more ambitious person than Macbeth, especially when she questions his manhood. When she questions his manhood, Macbeth feels that he needed to prove he is a man and that his masculinity should not be questioned. In a way this is her way of killing Duncan because she feels that she can manipulate Macbeth into killing Duncan and she does not want to be seen as killing him because women are not portrayed as a killing type. Lady Macbeth’s role in the play is to be the character that portrays some of the themes and social images of that time about how a woman should or shouldn’t be. By creating a character like Lady Macbeth, the reader’s views of masculinity and femininity are challenged.