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Literary criticism on macbeth
Lady macbeth shakespear critical reviews
Lady macbeth shakespear critical reviews
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Macbeth's wife, Lady Macbeth, is one of the most frightening and powerful female character in the play. Both of them are trying to seek the throne and become king and queen.
During the play, Lady Macbeth became a remorseful and guilt ridden person compared with her fearless confidence in the beginning.
In act 1, Lady Macbeth feels like she has to take the role being the “man” in the relationship and confidently tell Macbeth what to do constantly. She quotes, “Only look up clear. To alter favour ever is to fear. Leave all the rest to me ( Act 1 scene 5 line 78-80).” She pretty much hints that she will do everything and all Macbeth has to actually do is do it and follow through with her plan. She was the one to tell Macbeth to kill Duncan, and wanted for them to take her femininity away so she can play part in the murderous scene. While, Macbeth is very unsure about her decision; Lady Macbeth feels very confident and devoted in her course of action.
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In act 1 she states, ““We fail? But screw your courage to the sticking-place and we’ll not fail (Act 1 scene 7 lines 66-70).” She is almost over confident that nothing will go wrong, and that Macbeth will get the throne.
However, later in act 5, Lady Macbeth develops a guilty conscience and it results in her suicide. Lady Macbeth becomes the one who is unstable and skeptical. To the point where she goes insane because she cannot handle what she has done.
In the play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare has a strong theme of power. Macbeth is a king who is given three predictions from three witches, one of which is that he will become king. The one problem is he doesn’t know what he has to do in order to become king. His wife then decides that in order for him to become king, he must kill the current king. This one murder then leads to others in order to cover the original murder up. Once Macbeth becomes king, he doesn’t want anything to change, he wants to stay king until he dies. He then begins to kill again, but instead of killing to cover something, he is killing anyone who stands in his way of staying king. Macbeth’s fate is affected by the personality trait of bravery, his ability to be manipulated, and his determination.
“Besides, this Duncan Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been / So clear in his great office, that his virtues /Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against / The deep damnation of his taking-off; (1.7.16-20)” The powerful values of being a good king in Macbeth, all the king's learn to manage throughout the book. William Shakespeare's ideas towards kingship can be seen throughout the play Macbeth, and shows that a king should be chosen by a divine right. Throughout the play Macbeth the most important topic is kingship. Followed by knowing the difference of kingship and tyranny. Shakespeare closed it out with cruelty and masculinity along with staying true to principles.
Fate cannot predict a person’s character. Every human must choose to embody benevolence or malevolence. It is an important decision, which external factors greatly influence. This point is addressed by Shakespeare in his drama, Macbeth. The character, Lady Macbeth develops sincerity as a result of her husband’s corruption. Deciding between what is foul and what is fair is an overarching theme in the play, and the main characters continually shape their identities through these decisions. Shakespeare tells the story of a married couple, the Macbeths, who are the newly appointed monarchy of Scotland. The Macbeths have very distinct personalities, at first Lady Macbeth is ruthless and Macbeth is rational. As the play progresses, Macbeth turns
A lot like Macbeth, the character Banquo was also a highly skilled soldier, and very much trusted by their king, even though Macbeth respects Banquo’s bravery he also fears his wisdom. While Macbeth is quick to action and has little to no time for thought Banquo chooses not to turn his thoughts into action, Banquo is however a lot more cautious as shown when he and Macbeth met the three witches. Banquo actually considers the reasons for what the witches are offering and later realizes they are telling him his future and thinks that the witches are attempting to make him greedy for power. Macbeth however reacts oppositely. Banquo actually considers the reasons for what the witches are offering and rather than thinking about the outcomes of his
In Act 1,Scene 5, Lady Macbeth says “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”. In this quote Lady Macbeth is basically saying that Macbeth is weak and isn't strong enough to do the task,that need to be done. Which is killing King Duncan,and taking his crown. She is very selfish,and doesn't care about the consequences of what her, and her husband are about to do. Lady Macbeth also says beforehand, that she knows she is going to have to convince her husband, in order for Duncan to be killed off,and her and him get the crown.
In act 1 scene 5 Lady Macbeth received a letter from Macbeth. In the letter Macbeth wrote about what happened to him earlier. The tone of the letter is exciting which shows Macbeth’s interest in the prophecies. Moreover now that Lady Macbeth knows about the predictions, she is making a plan for example “Hie thee hither that I may pour my spirits in thine ear” so that he can succeed. This suggests that Lady Macbeth is going to persuade Macbeth to commit regicide. In addition, from that moment, Macbeth is starting to change from kind and nice to an aggressive and brutal man. Lady Macbeth started to manipulate Macbeth using insulting language to make him kill the king as she calls him a coward “Will you take the crown you want so badly, or will you live as a coward, always saying ‘ I can’t’ after you say ‘I want to’? This insulting language suggests that Lady Macbeth wants to force him to kill
After being told that her husband could potentially be the next king, Lady Macbeth was quick to say that Macbeth should kill King Duncan. Lady Macbeth was the one that came up with the whole plan to kill Duncan and intoxicate the guards, that way it will look like they were the ones who did it. Macbeth killed Duncan, but after doing so he is extremely troubled and stressed out. He comes walking out from the room with the daggers in his hands. Lady Macbeth orders him to go put the daggers back, to which Macbeth refuses. Lady Macbeth grabs the daggers from his hands and goes back to the king’s room to leave the daggers (Act II, scene II). She then proceeds to tell Macbeth to return to bed and if woken up, pretend like they have been sleeping this whole time. Lady Macbeth, even though she should not be in this time period, is the emotionally strong one in her relationship with Macbeth. She keeps her fasade up and we only see her actual feelings a couple times. Despite that, Lady Macbeth is a dynamic character and change quite drastically throughout the play. Lady Macbeth becomes less white-hearted. However, due to the guilt after the murder and the stress from constantly looking after her husband, Lady Macbeth takes her own life (Act V, scene
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.
Later on in the play, Lady Macbeth makes another decision which shows that her ambition is quickly getting the worst out of her. When King Duncan arrives, Lady Macbeth sees a perfect opportunity to kill Duncan. She is worried that Macbeth will not go through with the plan, so she says, “When Duncan is asleep—/Whereto the rather shall his day’s hard journey/ Soundly invite him—his two chamberlains/
Guilt plays a strong role in motivating Macbeth, and causes Lady Macbeth to be driven over the edge of sanity - to her death. Throughout the story, there are many different types of guilty feelings that play a role in Macbeth’s fatal decisions and bring Lady Macbeth to commit suicide. Although there are many instances that show the power guilt has played on the main characters, there are three examples that show this the best. One is, just after the murder of the great King, Duncan. Guilt overcomes Macbeth where he can no longer think straight. A second example is soon after that, where all the guilt Macbeth feels at first, changes into hate after he decides that Banquo must be killed as well. The last example is just about at the end of the play, when we see Lady Macbeth sleepwalking, and then later committing suicide; this all because of the burden of her guilt. All of these examples build the proof that in this play, guilt plays a very large role in the characters’ lives.
The first time Lady Macbeth appears on stage, she is reading Macbeth’s letter, which shows her desire to become Queen of Scotland. Lady Macbeth reads, “This have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest partner of greatness; that thou mightst not lose the dues of rejoicing, by being ignorant of what greatness is promised thee” (I.5.10-13). This portion of her husband’s letter shows she has trained him to report the important events that occur while he is away. At this moment, she decides that quick action will be the basis of her reasoning and planning. Her spur-of-the-moment orders will affect Macbeth so deeply that his character will be forever changed. Lady Macbeth intentionally tries to ignore consequence and concentrates on securing Macbeth’s future as king of Scotland. She looks to the quickest way as one that may lack rationality, but shortens their path to the throne.
In Act 1, scene7 she really excel’s herself in how far she will go to manipulate Macbeth, to get her way. He not prepared for her rage when he announces his change of heart.
Even though Lord Macbeth is generally the one to have the final say in the many killings that take place in the play, Lady Macbeth plays the role of a villain alongside him. She mocks her Lord if he frets over something she has instructed him to do, saying he would be less of a man if he does not follow through on their plan (I. vii. 56-57). She gives Lord Macbeth a short lecture in deceptiveness when they are planning to kill King Duncan (I. vi. 73-78). She also prepared the daggers for Macbeth to kill Duncan in advance (II. ii. 15-16). Though her Lord was still having doubts, she was, in the most literal sense, ready to go in for the kill.
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 knows that Macbeth is courageous and will never back down from a challenge and this is exactly what happens. He ends up listening to his wife.