In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Lady Macbeth’s influence over Macbeth plays a crucial role in what happens with Macbeth. Her action is one of the major reasons why Macbeth is affected, apart from the witches who first gave him the idea that he might be king. Macbeth's actions are changed by Lady Macbeth he is used to telling her what's happening when they don't speak he loses control of himself.
In Act I, Lady Macbeth’s influence is shown when she receives the letter from Macbeth that says that he will become king. She wants Macbeth to become king. His words from what the witches said to put her in a place where she can imagine what was being said even though she wasn't with him. Lady Macbeth is one person that he truly adores and tells what’s going
…show more content…
While doing so Macbeth panics and wants to back out. On the strength of their relationship, Lady Macbeth shames him into killing Duncan: “I’ll go no more: I am afraid…….”(II.i.63-65). Macbeth was afraid; he doesn’t want to take the responsibility of taking his own actions. He doesn’t want to take the responsibility of making his own decision. He is afraid to live with the things that are happening with everything that the witches tell him to his wife influence on him he’s having regrets to what to be done about King Duncan in his chamber. Lady Macbeth in Act II was willing to go out and help him in whatever way that he needed it. She was enthusiastic to help him finish as he had started when he wasn’t able to go back and finish. Lady Macbeth explains “My hands are of color, but I shame...”(II.ii.93-112) Lady Macbeth has no fear, no guilt in this she is almost of his no one can take her down in what she does to help Macbeth his deed and achieve his prophecy. As they keep going on she gets rids of all the blood on her hand with …show more content…
He becomes greedy for power that he takes out everyone that’s he thinks is his way in order to get when he thinks that he is where no one will disobey him. Macbeth also goes see the witches about his future, in the end, to come back with something that he wasn’t expecting: “How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags! What are you do?”(IV.i.60-62). Macbeth is so influenced by that now that he’s a king he can see what next for his big future of Scotland. The witches owe him nothing for him to go back and see them he wants more than he already had has with even things that don’t belong to him. When it comes to finding out he going to die soon than later with all the things that he has done. His actions can come with an effect much larger than the ever
“Was the hope [Macbeth’s ambition] drunk. . . And wakes it now, to look so green and pale . . . Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard/ To be the same in thine own act and valor/ As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that ” (1, 7, 35-41). Lady Macbeth would never be able to commit the crime herself because of the role she believes she has as a woman, but she knew her husband could. To make sure he follows through she makes fun of him and uses peer pressure by saying he is just afraid to actually kill Duncan. The blood that will be shed is a symbol of loyalty Macbeth to Lady Macbeth. Even when he killed Macdonwald, it was to prove his loyalty to king Duncan, but Lady Macbeth still does not trust her husband enough. Macbeth starts to act delusional when he sees the ghost of Banquo, but Lady Macbeth tries to reassure the guests to simply ignore him. “Sit worthy friends. My lord is often thus/ And hath been from his youth. Pray you, keep seat . . . If you much note him/ You shall offend him and extend his passion” (3, 4, 53- 57). Lady Macbeth feels more embarrassed by her husband instead of trying to be there for
In the beginning of the drama Lady Macbeth dramatically influenced Macbeth. Macbeth would always second guess his decisions. Macbeth seemed inclined to listen to his wife. Throughout the story, Lady Macbeth would find a way to twist Macbeth’s emotion. “When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you where, you would be so much more the man” (Shakespeare, Macbeth 1.7 49-51). In this quote Lady Macbeth was insulting Macbeth, she was telling her husband he wasn’t man enough to kill King Duncan. “I have given suck, and know how tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling…dashed its brains out, had I sworn as you have done to this” (Shakespeare, Macbeth 1.7 54-58). Lady Macbeth brings up the baby that they had together. The baby died long before she says this. She explains that she would “smash” its head for him. This became the turning point in Macbeth’s decision to kill Duncan. At first he was hesitant to kill him, but Lady Macbeth angered and then saddened Macbeth. She twisted his emotions and provided the motivation Macbeth needed to kill Duncan. This is the start to Macbeth reign as King.
We first start to see Macbeth getting his ambition to become king in his quote when he says "if chance will have me king, why chance may crown me, without my stir"(I.iii.34-37). Here we see that Macbeth is growing impatient and eager to become the king. He just doesn’t want to sit back and wait for himself to be crowned and let destiny run it’s course, he wants to be part of it when it happens, and he wants to be king right now. And this is when it all turns downhill. He is starting to become very ambitious for the thrown. We will also soon see that he will stop at nothing short of killing the current king and he will even go so far as to kill one of his friends, and try to kill his son in order to try and become the new king.
Lady Macbeth negatively guides lots of Macbeth’s behaviour, for instance, when Macbeth hesitates to commit murder, she repeatedly questions his manhood until he feels that he has to do it to prove himself as the man that Lady Macbeth always mentioned; it is also one of the reasons that lead to Macbeth’s downfall, as well as the deaths of the other innocent characters in the text. “[Macbeth does] Like the poor cat i' th' adage? ”(1.7.46) says Lady Macbeth, when Macbeth is hesitating whether kill Duncan or not while he’s in Macbeth’s castle. Lady Macbeth describes Macbeth as a poor cat from old stories to satire Macbeth’s indecision. She degrades Macbeth’s manhood as he doesn’t have the dare to act the way he desires, to pursue the power and glory that he wants. Macbeth replies that he only dares to do what is proper for a man to do. However later in the text, Macbeth’s actions go crazy, he cares his family no more, as well as his friends and subordinates. Lady Macbeth seems to know that she needs to push Macbeth into committing murder, or Macbeth will just let nature take its course. At some points, she wishes that she was not a woman so that she could do the things that man could do by herself, such as the murder, so she won’t see Macbeth lacks in the power of decision and his overtaken by misgivings and fear. In addition, Julia encourages
We start to see Lady Macbeth’s actions have a huge impact on Macbeth’s character as he transforms from a decent being to an overly bitter creature. The cause of his alteration is due to the fact that Lady Macbeth is constantly excreting heartless information into his mind. "Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou art in desire?" (I;vii;39-41) "And, to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man." (I;vii;50-51) Lady Macbeth uses these quotes to push her husband beyond limits and is therefore responsible for his dramatic change in attitude. She is constantly feeding his thoughts with negative comments and later on Macbeth realizes that he has another side to him. As he moves along to discover the concealed side of him, Macbeth falls in love with himself and begins to be drawn towards his evil desires. Because Lady Macbeth was the main cause of his new hidden discovery, she is fully responsible for opening up the door and letting the darkness in. This results in Macbeth committing both murders.
A controversial question debated by many is, “Can human beings really have the freedom to do as we wish? Or do people influence our so called ‘free will’, to the extant where we don’t have a choice? ” This question is raised in Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare in 1606, a play that deals with key themes such as good versus evil and power. I will be talking about how the witches aren’t the most powerful characters in the play, and aren’t the catalyst to all of Macbeth’s crimes by using the witches, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth himself. It took a combination of the witches, Lady Macbeth and himself for Macbeth to commit these crimes.So who really has the power?
Like the witches, Lady Macbeth uses carefully chosen words to exert control over Macbeth. However, whereas the witches’ intentions were unclear, it is clear to see that greed and ambition are the reason for her actions. Lady Macbeth seems to have a large amount of influence over Macbeth, which she uses to her advantage. Lady Macbeth uses her relationship with Macbeth and plays on his emotions in order to exert control over him.
We are first introduced to Lady Macbeth at the beginning of Act 1, scene 5, through the letter that Macbeth sends her. This shows her to be his, ‘dearest partner of greatness’ and that he has no secrets from her. The witches’ prophecies intensify her ambitions for her husband, to be the King of Scotland. Lady Macbeth is the one who encourages him to kill the king and she not only encourages him, she makes all the plans herself. We see how clever she is and how she understands her husband well, she knows he has great ambitions, but she also knows that he is honourable and mentally weak:
He no longer is the innocent soldier he once way, he now has “unclean hands”. Lady Macbeth however, assumes his innocence. She claims she cannot murder Duncan herself because Duncan looks to much like her sleeping father. She is all words and no actions. Macbeth is devoid of any human emotions as the play goes on, and Lady Macbeth assumes the emotional role. Lady Macbeth begins to have dreams in which she cannot get the blood off her hands, and ultimately commits suicide from guilt of her actions. This breakdown of Lady Macbeth really highlights how inhuman the murder of Duncan has made Macbeth.
The three witches in the play are a pretty big influence on Macbeth. For example, the witches tell him that he will be the Thane of Cawdor. ?All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor.? (I.iii.47). This quote shows that Macbeth is confident that he will eventually be king. Also, the witches tell him none of woman born can kill him, therefore, making him feel invincible. ?The power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.? (IV.i.79-80). This quote proves that Macbeth is becoming even more confident because he knows from the witches prophecies none of a woman born can kill him. In the end, the witch?s basically started out Macbeth?s ambitions to become king who makes him commit evil acts.
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.
Lady Macbeth is a vicious and overly ambitious woman, her desire of having something over rules all the moral behaviors that one should follow. On the beginning of the novel, Macbeth receives the news that if Duncan, the current king, passed away he would be the next one to the throne. So, Lady Macbeth induces Macbeth into killing Duncan by filling his mind with ambition and planting cruel seeds into his head. After accomplishing his deed of killing the king, he brings out the daggers that were used during the murder, and says, “I’ll go no more. I am afraid to think what I have done; look on’t again I dare not.” This is his first crime and Macbeth is already filled with guilt and regret. He shows the reader to be the weak one of the duo. Lady Macbeth as the cruel partner still has some sentiment and somewhat a weakness in her heart and mind. When talking about Duncan she says, “Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done’t.” Weakness is still present and will always be there throughout the novel but this one change the fact that Lady Macbeth is still the stronger and cruel one.
Lady Macbeth is not the equal of Macbeth in the way that Cleopatra is of Anthony in Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra. Her role is important but she is just a tool to the work of the witches. Macbeth is tempted to do evil and Lady Macbeth is the key person, the one person that Macbeth trusts and loves, who makes sure that his aim is thorough and complete. This does not make her his partner in crime but rather just what he needs in order to succeed and be King. After the murder of the King Lady Macbeth wants to support her husband, but she has no further role to play in his life except to interpret the image of queen. Because of this she is left on the sidelines and breaks down eventually going crazy.
In the beginning of the play, when Lady Macbeth is first introduced she is already plotting Duncan's murder. She even wishes that she were not a woman so that she could do it herself saying in Act I, Scene 5, "Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here." Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband with astonishing success, overruling all his objections. When he does not wish to murder, she frequently questions his manhood until he feels that he must kill King Duncan in order to prove himself. They are both blinded by ambition; nothing will stop them from gaining the throne. Macbeth feels remorse immediately following the murder, but Lady Macbeth assures him that everything will be fine. When he worries over his blood stained hands she tells him in Act II, Scene 2 that "A little water clears us of this deed. How easy is it then!" Lady Macbeth also logically explains to her husband that as long as he is the new king, he can never be punished for the murder of Duncan, for no one possesses more power than he. She seems completely unaffected by the murder they two have conspired to commit. This apathy does not last for long however.
He gets caught up on people knowing what really happened in the situation and not thinking ahead as a king. “Macbeth has ignobly substituted honor for virtue, the necessary and sufficient element of the good life, when it should just augment virtue as an external good of social life” (LANGIS). Lady Macbeth helped Macbeth through all his troubles, if it wasn’t for her he wouldn’t be king of Scotland. She views Macbeth as a coward towards killing King Duncan. His blind ambition makes him in to a horrific tyrant that loses the support of his friends. His own ambition gets him killed in battle, with Lady Macbeth dead and his friends nowhere to be seen, he’s a lone