But later Macbeth wavers in his decision. But Lady Macbeth is sure that being king is what Macbeth really wants and that this is the best for both of them. So, in response to Macbeth's uncertainty, Lady Macbeth manipulates him by questioning his manhood and his love for her. She is successful because regardless of his own conscience Macbeth carries out their plan of murder. The almost superhuman strength Lady Macbeth rallies for the occasion and her artful and sly ability are shown through her meticulous attention to detail regarding the murder.
She complies with his wishes, agreeing to return any tokens of Hamlet’s love to him, verify t... ... middle of paper ... ...course, ultimately infuriates and intensifies his urge for revenge. Because of Gertrude’s refusal to acknowledge her sins, Hamlet becomes even more personally motivated to kill Claudius for revenge. Queen Gertrude, though ignorant, has a huge impact on the play because her betrayal and abandonment motivates Hamlet to get revenge. When writing Hamlet, Shakespeare created a complex play that relies on the roles of two important women to aid the progression of the plot. Although Queen Gertrude and Ophelia rarely speak, they function as a way for the men become informed about Hamlet’s mental state and motives for madness.
She sees this absolutely absurd comparison fitting for her own selfish purposes. Macbeth, feeling guilty about disappointing his wife, then voices his concerns about failing in their scheme. To no surprise, she convinces him that if he has the confidence and masculinity to kill Duncan, then he will not fail. After Macbeth meets his wife after murdering Duncan, he is in a traumatic state, saying he heard voices. Lady Macbeth feels the best course of action is to, again, question his masculinity, saying “My hands are of your color, but I shame/ To wear a heart so white” (2.
I have little sympathy for this character because if it were not for her driving Macbeth to the murder of Duncan, he most probably would not have become so obsessed with his infatuation of becoming king. As we see in Act 1 scene 5 she is extremely ambitious about the prospect of Macbeth’s power increasing. She talks of murder without an ounce of guilt and merely worries over her husband being too gentle to actually commit the execution of the king. She refers to him being “too full o’the’milk of human kindness” and states that he is in fact ‘without ambition’ and so would not carry out the deed properly. Her personality could, however, be extremely ambitious regardless of the state of power that her husband is in, the situation could have brought out the most of her desire.
Lady Macbeth fears that Macbeth lacks enough courage and killer instinct to murder Duncan. Lady Macbeth might be a more vicious individual, but she is more afraid than Macbeth about killing Duncan. She never mentions herself committing the murder, and she always insists upon Macbeth executing the killing. The opportunity arises for Lady Macbeth to murder Duncan, but she decides not to. This is the first humane feeling that we see from Lady Macbeth in the play.
Furthermore, Macbeth himself, although clearly playing a pivotal role in the fatal act, is not entirely convinced that he should murder in order to become king and is therefore not nearly as responsible as his wife. Lady Macbeth however, manipulates her husband and convinces him to go through with the murder, even though he would have sooner not killed the king without her intervention. Lady Macbeth believes wholeheartedly that the King must die, from as soon as she is aware of the witches’ prophecy. After reading Macbeth’s letter to her, Lady Macbeth is certain that her husband “shalt be what [he] art promised”. However she also believes that her husband is “too full of the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way”.
She is very headstrong, someone who always knows what she wants and there are many reasons behind her ambition. For one according to Fidnley, “Lady Macbeth pours her spirits into Macbeth’s ear….” (Findley). Lady Macbeth, is willing to redeem herself in any way possible after failing to do one job, give birth to a boy, to make herself feel worth it. She gains this upper hand by manipulating Macbeth, becoming the puppet master while Macbeth is the puppet. The determined Lady Macbeth explains to Macbeth that their plan to kill the king, will not fail and her advice to Macbeth involves him to forget his pessimism and fight (62).
Macbeth is doubtful about their plan to kill King Duncan; however, she bombards him with comments that question his courage. She goes as far as telling him his love his worth nothing if he refuses, which proves her to be dominant and controlling using his own weakness against him. His love for her. The fact that she belittles his confidence, insults his abilities, and questions his manhood is so manipulative, but also wise because it worked in her favor. She said to him “Screw your courage to the sticking place” (1.7.60).
In the beginning of the play, Shakespeare establishes Lady Macbeth as a woman who wants to take on stereotypical traits associated with men, such as acting cold - heartedly, manipulatively and being the dominant partner in her relationship. When Lady Macbeth realizes that her husband is not strong enough to kill King Duncan, Lady Macbeth tries to prove to herself and her husband that she can take on the dominant role in her relationship with Macbeth. This is best shown in one of Lady Macbeth’s soliloquies when she says, “... unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe top - full / of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood; / Stop up the access and passage to remorse…” (1.5.40-43). In this passage, the words “unsex me” refer to her desire to rid herself of all the qualities that make her a woman, which she believes impede her from performing acts of violence and cruelty.
The women of this time were expected to only act upon order from men. However, Lady Macbeth possesses a driving ambition that ultimately contradicts gender-theory. Women of the Elizabethan era were also stereotyped to be timid and tender, but instead, Lady Macbeth exhibits bold and torturous behaviour. When Macbeth displayed early guilt of the intent of Duncan’s murder, Lady Macbeth claimed she would rather “have pluck’d [her] nipple from [a baby’s] boneless gums and dash’d [its] brains out if [she] had sworn as [Macbeth had to their plan]” (1.7.62-64). Lady Macbeth displays no sign of the stereotyped tenderness of Elizabethan women.