Character Analysis of Lady Macbeth
Act 1 Scene 7 begins with Macbeth’s soliloquy, in which he is
exploring the moral and ethical turmoil in which he finds himself over
the thought of committing the sacrilegious act of regicide.
He scrutinizes the opposed perspectives of whether or not he should
take Duncan’s life, providing him with immense power, however he is
agitated by the repercussions of such an act. At the end of his
monologue he comes to a verdict that he has no spur to pick the sides
of his intent except for his ‘vaulting ambition ‘ which is not enough
to motivate him to ‘bear the knife’ himself. He begins to talk about
how it should not be done as ‘Duncan hath borne faculties so meek’ and
that ‘tears shall drown the wind’ showing the apocalyptic effect that
it would have on nature itself. He also speaks of his fear of the
inevitable consequences and that he would take the risk and murder
Duncan if there were no repercussions and it was done swiftly. This
shows the audience a side of Macbeth that is not seen in the play,
that he is scared and anxious at the thought of committing such a
crime. As Macbeth has just completely dismissed the whole plot, Lady
Macbeth enters. She criticises and scathes him until she wins him over
and persuades him to go through with it.
Throughout Macbeth’s soliloquy we see him wrestling with his
conscience. In the first segment of his speech he gathers a little
confidence and begins to think about what he may have to do. He speaks
about how he would commit the act if he ‘could trammel up the
consequences’ and if ‘it were done quickly’. Although Macbeth is
frightened of murdering someone, an...
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In conclusion, we see that Macbeth is constantly anxious about the
terrible thought of regicide, and speaks about how he could not kill
someone who is as pleasant as Duncan and that it would have an
apocalyptic effect.
He shows the audience a side of himself that we do not notice anywhere
else in the play; he is meant to be a strong and confident man,
however this is not the sensitive and anxious Macbeth we see when he
is fighting with his conscience. Evidently, Lady Macbeth has a very
masculine side and she can be as evil as a witch. Clearly Macbeth has
the ambition to go ahead and take the risk; however he is never
totally committed to the deed. On the whole, Macbeth is won over in
this situation by Lady Macbeth as it is her goading that leads him to
seize the throne of Scotland by murdering King Duncan.