Marriage is a sacred legal union in which both parties involved vow to compromise, trust, communicate thoroughly and take care of each other until death does them part. In the beginning of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and her husband share life’s anxieties and vexations while also maintaining a normal marital relationship. As greed and envy begin to slowly encroach their minds, they succumb to behavior that is impure and not usual of their characters. Throughout the play Macbeth gives in to one immoral activity right after another, and he is much of the time prompted by his wife. Because Lady Macbeth suggests such foul and loathsome activities in the first place and Macbeth mindlessly goes along with them, their husband and wife relationship is unhealthy and harmful to others. Lady Macbeth refuses to listen to her husband’s wishes in Act 1 scene 5, immediately after she reads the letter describing of his experience with the 3 witches (La Belle). She says, “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be/What thou art promised” (1.5.15-16) meaning that she expects for Macbeth to be king. She desires for Macbeth to fulfill the witches’ second prophecy, no matter what it takes. Macbeth does not feel right about murdering his fellow man. When Lady Macbeth tries to change her husband’s mind, she does not support Macbeth, and support is a quality that is needed to help a marriage survive (Fontaine). Once Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to follow through with the plan, she does not leave him alone until the plan is completed to her exact specifications. In the beginning of Act 2, Macbeth is weary. Deciding to commit murder is a very serious action so he progresses with the plan slowly, trying to sort out the situati... ... middle of paper ... ...el guilty and afflicted by Macbeth’s actions. It is she in Act 1 who puts the idea of murder in his head and it is she who prods him into committing the other heinous and unjust murders. While redeeming qualities like regret and sorrow are seen in her throughout the play, it is unfair to consider her on the sidelines of Macbeth’s sinister actions. Throughout the play she taunts and manipulates her husband and provokes him to act without thinking of the consquences, demonstrating that their relationship is unhealthy and will cause harm to everyone around them. Works Cited Fontaine, Maria. “Qualities of a Good Marriage.” Activated Ministries. 2006. Web. 27 March 2010 La Belle, Jenijoy. “A Strange Infirmity.” Folger Shakespeare Library. 1980. Web. 27 March 2010. Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Washington Square Press. New York, 1992. Print.
Lady Macbeth’s relationship with her husband is not as patriarchal as is seen in traditional representations of husband and wife dynamics during this time period. For example, she says, “To alter favor ever is to fear/ Leave all the rest to me” to Macbeth (I.v.72-73). She tells him what to do and how to do it rather than the more accustomed reverse. She is also taking a position of authority by doing things for herself. Lady Macbeth criticizes her husband, saying, “Wouldst thou have that/ Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life/ And live a coward in thine own esteem?” (I.vii.41-43). She calls him a coward, easily insulting him without repercussions and with the knowledge that he won’t do anything because of it. After Macbeth kills Duncan and is in shock of the crime he has just committed, Lady Macbeth says, “Give me the daggers. The sleeping and the dead/ Are but as pictures. ‘Tis the eye of childhood/ That fears a painted devil” (II.ii.53-55). In this scene, she is taking charge of the situation by ignoring her husband’s inability to fully comprehend what he has just don...
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
In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is motivated by ambition to raise her own status as well as that of her husband. In the letter she receives from her husband he refers to her as his “dearest partner of greatness” (1.5.11). The strength of her marriage to Macbeth is what enables her to have such a great influence over him which then spurs him to action. Just as ...
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.
As Macbeth becomes less dependent on his wife, she loses more control. She loses control of her husband, but mostly, of herself, proving her vacillating truth. Lady Macbeth’s character gradually disintegrates through a false portrayal of unyielding strength, an unsteady control of her husband and shifting involvement with supernatural powers.Throughout the duration of play Lady Macbeth’s truly decrepit and vulnerable nature is revealed. Lady Macbeth has been the iron fist and authority icon for Macbeth, yet deep down, she never carried such traits to begin with. This duality in Lady Macbeth’s character plays a huge role in planting the seed for Macbeth’s downfall and eventual demise.
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. It is this selfishness that makes it hard for the reader to be empathetic towards her later in the play, as it is evident in this scene that her hardships were brought on by herself. If she hadn’t insisted on the murder, she would not be driven in...
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.
Lady Macbeth responds “And when goes hence” (I.V.58)? This demonstrates Lady Macbeth marriage because Macbeth talks about his amazing wife. Then lady Macbeth continues on with the murder of Duncan. Lady Macbeth states, "Great Glamis, Worthy Cawdor, Greater than both by the all-hail hereafter"( I.V.51-52)! This shows that Lady Macbeth cares for her husband but she wasn’t to see the best of him in days to come. So she helps and teaches Macbeth to not be distracted by other things.
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.
She shows an utter lack of respect for her husband, manipulating him and treating him with utmost cruelty. She wields her insults like a whip used to bend Macbeth to her will. To convince him to murder the king, she peddles the lie that it would make him “so much more the man” (Shakespeare 1.7.51), although, after the assassination, she continues to call him weak and questions his manliness, especially when he is at his most vulnerable. In the scene following Duncan’s murder, she calls him “infirm of purpose” (Shakespeare 2.2.55), and weak-hearted. When he hallucinates the ghost of Banquo, she ridicules his manhood, exclaiming that he is “unmann’d in folly” (Shakespeare 3.4.73). This abusive nature, coupled with her evil temperament, and the murder she committed, paints a picture of an undoubtedly wicked
Madness, curiously, forces her back into the stereotypical femininity that her transgressive yearning for imperial power had repudiated¨ (Gilbert). This loss could be described as nothing less than an injustice of Lady Macbeth's character. Analysis of Macbeth almost always concludes that Lady Macbeth is evil and nothing else, nevertheless, her need for power, even by extension of her husband, led to murder. Her belittling, even in modern literary texts, shows how deeply imbedded the idea of women being the Other has become. Lady Macbeth could represent a powerful, and obviously flawed, character instead of simply an extension or backdrop for Macbeth. On the other hand, Lady Macbeth is not the only woman in Macbeth and certainly not the only one who sought or even achieved power. The three witches were almost their own breed of women with their own type of power. Together they predict the future, make potions, and influence men. ¨The play constructs Macbeth as terrifyingly pawn to female figures. Whether or not he is rapt by the witches' prophecies because the horrid image of Duncan's murder has already occurred to him, their role as gleeful prophets constructs Macbeth's actions in part as the enactments of their will¨
In William Shakespeare‘s, “Macbeth”, the protagonist’s morality is question as he chooses to make several terrible decisions throughout the play. During Act 1, Macbeth is hailed by three mysterious witches, who claim that he is going to be king, before they vanish in thin air. Even with the sudden joyous news, Macbeth feels uneasy as he begins to ponder how this prophecy, told by these strangers, is going to be true. Nevertheless, he tells his wife, Lady Macbeth, who in response is overwhelm of the news, but begins to doubt on Macbeth’s lack of commitment in order to become king. She determines that Macbeth has to kill the King, even if Macbeth agonizes over the decision is right in the first place. Still, in Act 2, Macbeth commits the sinful
To begin, as soon as Lady Macbeth is informed of the prophecies, she immediately resorts to cruelty as the quickest route to achieve royalty and begins to urge Macbeth to murder Duncan through her persuasive, yet manipulative tactics: “But screw your courage to the sticking place,/ And we’ll not fail…” (1.7.67-68). Similar to how Macbeth addresses Lady Macbeth as his “partner of greatness” in his letter, Lady Macbeth continues to believe that she and her husband are still sharing the same mindset and are working together in the murder of Duncan, referring to the two as “we’ll.” Though, conflict is beginning to arise as Lady Macbeth is shown to be belittling her husband by questioning his manliness. She focuses on the definition of an ‘ideal’ man that is able to translate desire into action, which appeals to Macbeth’s warrior nature, and therefore convinces him to follow through with the murder. Little does she know that even though Macbeth eventually agrees to follow through with the plan, he does so reluctantly, and shows his disagreement by telling his wife “To know my deed, ‘twere best not know myself” (2.2.92). The couples’ relationship is shown to be slowly declining as although Macbeth is still communicating his thoughts and emotions to his wife, he did not kill Duncan purely to accomplish his own goal, but rather through the persuasion and manipulation of his wife. Lady Macbeth orders the immediate murder of Duncan, whereas Macbeth is not convinced that the murder is the best option for gaining his royal status and therefore was hesitant to follow through with the plan. As a result of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s disagreement as to the best way to accomplish the prophecy, their marriage is slowly falling
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.
The famous play “Macbeth”, written by the famous author, William Shakespeare was a play written as a tragedy. There was people dying and others wanted to hurt other people for something they wanted or was jealous of. In the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were just like any other married couple. They were loyal and loving towards each other. But just like any other marriage, they each had their own flaws. They were similar in many ways but they were mostly very different.