Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are two characters in the Shakespearian play, Macbeth. The idea of marriage in this time period was very different from the views of our everyday society. Based on the content in the play and the social standards of that time period, Macbeth and his wife had a very strong and prosperous relationship that changed with various events and situations that occur within the play’s story.
Macbeth was written in 1606 and takes place in Scotland during the medieval period around the 11th century. During the medieval period marriages were completely different than they are today. In the Medieval Era marriage was not a choice to the youth of that period. Marriages were arrangements made by parents and guardians who were over the youth. Most marriages then were not based on love or how well people knew one another. Marriage was based on political arrangements and value. Political arrangements were made to keep certain individuals in power, such as a family’s sir name that has a distinguished reputation. To keep a sir name in circulation a family may wed their son to a lady of their choosing. Poor families may attempt to wed their daughter to a man to gain wealth and prosperity. In some cases women were wed to men as a bargain, a deal, or payment for a debt. Women had a very hard time living in the medieval era. A few women lived comfortable lives but because medieval society was dominated by men, women had to know their place in their society or suffer very harsh consequences. Women during that time had virtually no voice. The role of a woman was to care for her husband, her family and in rural areas, their land. The idea of a woman divorcing, owning property, and owning business was absurd to the people of the 11t...
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... queen Macbeth would have become so corrupted and evil and their relationship would have stayed as it was. The outcome of their marriage was very devastating and tragic and could have been prevented. The Tragedy of Macbeth shows how human corruption can destroy harmony in the heart of other humans and cause the downfall of a marriage or in Macbeth’s case, a person’s life.
Works Cited
Gies, Frances, and Joseph Gies. Marriage and the Family in the Middle Ages. New York: Harper & Row, 1987.
Hoyt, Robert S. Europe in the Middle Ages. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1966.
Langely, Andrew. Medieval Life. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 1996.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. Prentice Hall Literature: The British Tradition. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2000.
Stenton, D.M. English Society in the Early Middle Ages. Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1965.
John Merriman, A History of Modern Europe, Volume 1, (London, New York). Class Notes Class Documents HI 4712 Class Readings HI 4712
Macbeth rejects conformation to traditional gender roles in its portrayal of Lady Macbeth’s relationship with her husband, her morals and their effect on her actions, and her hunger for power. Her regard for Macbeth is one of low respect and beratement, an uncommon and most likely socially unacceptable attitude for a wife to have towards her spouse at the time. She often ignores morality and acts for the benefit of her husband, and subsequently herself. She is also very power-hungry and lets nothing stand in the way of her success. Lady Macbeth was a character which challenged expectations of women and feminism when it was written in the seventeenth century.
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.
### 1st part of essay ### William Shakespeare wrote Macbeth in 1603. The play was set in Scotland, 1040. At the time, society was patriarchal and men gained advancement by killing others. In contrast, women were usually gentle mothers who nurtured their children. However, the play Macbeth does not follow this blueprint as Lady Macbeth is the domineering partner and ultimately she leads to their demise.
The Relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth Throughout the play of "Macbeth" written by William Shakespeare there is an on-going relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. This relationship is one of the functions of the play that creates most of the actions, reactions, moods, feelings and attitudes. Macbeth's relationship with his wife was not always great. This is shown in one of there conversations; MACBETH: "We will proceed no further in this business: He hath honour'd me of late; and I have bought Golden opinions from all sorts of people, Which would be worn now in their newest gloss, Not cast aside so soon. "(Macbeth,I,vii, )
The main theme of Macbeth-the destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints-finds its most powerful expression in the play's two main characters. Macbeth is a courageous Scottish general who is not naturally inclined to commit evil deeds, yet he deeply desires power and advancement. He kills Duncan against his better judgment and afterward stews in guilt and paranoia. Toward the end of the play he descends into a kind of frantic, boastful madness. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, pursues her goals with greater determination, yet she is less capable of withstanding the repercussions of her immoral acts. One of Shakespeare's most forcefully drawn female characters, she spurs her husband mercilessly to kill Duncan and urges him to be strong in the murder's aftermath, but she is eventually driven to distraction by the effect of Macbeth's repeated bloodshed on her conscience. In each case, ambition helped, of course, by the malign prophecies of the witches is what drives the couple to ever more terrible atrocities. The problem, the play suggests, is that once one decides to use violence to further one?s quest for power, it is difficult to stop. There are always potential threats to the throne?Banquo, Fleance, Macduff?and it is always tempting to use violent means to dispose of them.
We are not told an awful amount about Lady Macbeth at the start of the play [prior to her letter from Macbeth about the witches prophecies I.iv], but I thought that Lady Macbeth seemed: as good of a wife as any nobleman’s or officer’s.
In trying to achieve everything possible, the Macbeths’ tragically lose everything instead. Shakespeare has effectively showed us the consequences of murder and power. The main symbolic signs of blood, murder and guilt throughout the play, gave the changes of the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth efficiently. What once started as a dominating relation and taking decisions together, turned into a relation in which neither Macbeth or Lady Macbeth cared for one another.
Explore the ways the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth develop throughout the play. Making reference to Shakespeare's use of language and stagecraft, examine the ways the events of the play impact on them and their relationship.
As Shakespeare’s tragic tale of ambition unfolds, the two central characters, Lady Macbeth and the title character Macbeth, undergo a dramatic shift of dominance in their relationship. In the beginning of the play the couple act as a team, plotting the death of Duncan to further their mutual bloodthirsty ambition. Lady Macbeth soon shows her power over Macbeth when she questions her husband’s manhood and devotion to her when he gets cold feet. As Macbeth’s confidence slowly grows and the witches proclaim positive futures for him he begins to separate himself from his wife, planning Banquo’s assassination without telling her, and no longer being susceptible to her insults. By the end of the play the roles have completely switched and Lady Macbeth spirals into guilt-fueled insanity as Macbeth prepares to battle to keep his throne. This essay will explore the relationship between Macbeth and his wife, paying particular attention to the scenes previously mentioned.
The untraditional marriage between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. Lady Macbeth shows how a woman takes charge of her marriage, showing she is the woman of the house. She is manly and all powerful over her husband. Lady Macbeth proves to be the untraditional woman of Scotland, she differs from the role of a traditional woman because she is not feminine as a woman should be, in fact she wishes she was a man. She tells the spirits to, “ unsex me here”. ( Enotes… unsex me here). This pertains to the theme of gender roles because it demonstrates how Lady Macbeth wishes it was a man. She’s manlier than her husband, that show the untraditional woman. Lady Macbeth feels her husband is to nice, friendly, and full of milk “ worrying her is to full of the milk of human kindness to take Duncan’s throne” ( Gale. Par 3). She worries that Macbeth has cold feet. He’s afraid of the consequence that will follow the murder; She planed the murder herself, because she didn’t believe he could do with out her help. She worries he is to manly to snatch the crown. So Lady Macbeth is manly enough to plan the murder, but wants Macbeth to commit the murder. ...
"That I may pour my spirits in thine ear,/And chastise with the valor of my
The relationship between Macbeth and his wife is strong. There is much trust between the two and there is also openness. However, the two butt heads and have opposing views many times. Even so, it is clear that Lady Macbeth is the dominant person in the couple. She is one of the major driving forces of Macbeth. This is shown when they are plotting the murder of Duncan. Macbeth asks her, ?If we should fail?? and she strongly replies, ?We fail! / But screw your courage to the sticking-place, / And we?ll not fail.? Whenever he is backing down she pushes him forward again. 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.
When a woman gets married the only things that they would do is cook, clean, and have babies. Earlier in the play Macbeth is saying “Bring forth men-children only, For thy undaunted mettle should compose Nothing but males”(Macbeth 1.7.83-85). The quote demonstrates how in the Elizabethan era men could demand their wives into something as sex of a child. The woman could not speak up against the men and must listen to their commands. When lady Macbeth enquires about King Duncan 's murder, Macduff says “O gentle lady, ’Tis not for you to hear what I can speak. The repetition in a woman’s ear, Would murder as it fell”(Macbeth 2.3.96-99). This implies that she, as a woman, would be too weak to hear such a bloody crime. The people of that period thought that woman was not meant to see such things as a dead body and portrayed them as weak individuals. Later on, in the play Shakespeare took that aspect of the history and twisted it when writing his play when lady Macbeth said “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way”(Macbeth 1.5.15-18). Lady Macbeth establishes herself as the dominant partner in the marriage. It’s not the first time that Shakespeare has done that in Macbeth. Shakespeare made lady Macbeth be the one to convince and influence Macbeth into killing King Duncan which does strongly against the
Rice, Eugene E. and Anthony Grafton. The Foundations of Early Modern Europe, 1460-1559. 2nd. ed. New York: W. W. Norton and Co., 1994.