In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is portrayed as a dark, conniving force, hindering Macbeth’s wishes to do well by the king and influencing his malicious conspiracies and actions taken towards King Duncan and his comrades. Lady Macbeth as the lady of Dunsinane is entitled to many things. This often gives her an unfair advantage on her actions that others would not have, it does not help that when Lady Macbeth is given the title of queen she is given more power to affect the life of the others around her. Whether Lady Macbeth is manipulating Macbeth into a murder plot of feeding into his sadistic killing spree there is no doubt about Lady Macbeth is an evil character. The first time that Lady Macbeth is portrayed as an evil character …show more content…
“Naught’s had, all’s spent, / Where our desire is got without content./…/So prithee go with me.” (III. ii. 5-56). This shows Lady Macbeth is evil because regardless of the fact that they have just murdered someone Lady Macbeth is telling her husband not to feel guilty about it. Which by all standards is morally wrong, every person always feels guilt after they have killed someone, it’s a normal human reaction. But, the fact that she is pretty much telling him to ignore his humanity shows that she does not feel human emotions which is ultimate proof that she is an evil …show more content…
“I have two nights watched with you, but can/ perceive no truth in your report. When was she last/…/ Good night, good doctor. /” (V. i. 1-76). In this scene the main exhibiting trait of Lady Macbeth’s evilness is when she is attempting to wash the “blood” from her hands. This relates back to Act 2 scene 2 when Lady Macbeth says “A little water clears us off this deed” (II. ii. 67). Meaning that once their hands are washed clean of the blood they will be free of the crime but, here Lady Macbeth is shown trying to scrub the “blood” from her hands showing that she does in fact feel guilt and human emotion. While this is a different side of Lady Macbeth then what we have seen in most other this does not deny the fact that Lady Macbeth is still an evil character. This is because regardless of the fact that she now feels guilt she still murdered several innocent
In the play Macbeth, it seems that Lady Macbeth is a man trapped in a woman's body. She is filled with greed, envy, and hate, and she will use any person or any thing until she gets what she wants or accomplishes her evil goals. In the play she hides her true feelings and pretends to be a normal lady. However, her evil nature shines through her false face. This just proves that Lady Macbeth is like a rose. A rose is pretty and smells great but if one is not careful the thorns will prick the fingers. Lady Macbeth appears to lose her sanity the night of Duncun's murder and cannot relate to her feelings or guilty conscience. She admits that "she could kill her only child just as easy (I vii 72-74)". This really means that Lady Macbeth is colder than ice and seems that she lost all preception of right and wrong. Then she tell her husband " a little water clears of the deed" (II ii 66)". Lady Macbeth thought the killing would, be easy to accomplish, but in fact it was not as easy as she said or thought.
Lady Macbeth is planning to make Macbeth less cowardly so he will not plead guilty of killing King Duncan. She plans to make him think in dreadful ways, so he will be brave enough to get to the throne. She calls him a coward and says she herself is brave, which proves that she is an evil character as she does not feel guilty after seeing so much blood from the king’s body. Lastly, blood imagery puts forth the thought of committing evil deeds.
In the Shakespearian play 'Macbeth', it seems to be that every one thinks that Macbeth is the villain. But in actual fact Lady Macbeth is the villain. Lady Macbeth uses her cunning and deceptive skills to over power Macbeth into killing King Duncan. When Lady Macbeth receives the letter telling her about the witches' prophecies, she immediately thinks that she and Macbeth will have to kill King Duncan. She calls Macbeth to kind to kill King Duncan and saying that
After analysing Lady Macbeth’s character, I able to conclude that I don’t fully agree with Malcolm’s description of lady Macbeth. Many scenes in this play manage to convince us of her association with the devil. However, some parts lead us to believe that she is not entirely evil and that she is capable of remorse. Lady Macbeth is an ambitious lady, led by her thirst for power. She is capable of unpleasant deeds, some so atrocious, they would have been unheard of by a lady at her time, getting her exactly what she desires.
The play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, explores the darkest corners of the human psyche. It artfully takes its audience to a place that allows one to examine what a human being is truly capable of once tempted by the allure of power. In the play, Scottish noble Macbeth and his wife inevitably fall prey to their own self corruption. Initiated by prophesies made by three mysterious witches, the Macbeths set their sights on the throne. When the curtains open on the plot to murder King Duncan, Lady Macbeth is the driving force. Her criminal mind and desire for ruthlessness have led many a critic to define her as evil. Closer examination, however, reveals that she is a multifaceted character; other sides to her persona include: genuine good will towards her husband, coy manipulation, and feminine tenderness.
Next to Macbeth himself, Lady Macbeth is the penultimate person in Shakespeare's play, Macbeth. And though she does not survive to the end, her influence on Macbeth lasts throughout the play. She is the most influential person in Macbeth's downfall, next to the witches. However, her relationship with him goes far deeper then that of the witches. It is my belief that the witches act only as a trigger to start the events in the play, and that Lady Macbeth herself was the driving force behind Macbeth's actions. It is she who he contacts when he meets the witches, and immediately trusts her with the prophecy he is given.
This is shown when she attempts to contact evil spirits. “Come, you spirits that watch over deadly thoughts; take away my womanliness and fill me to the brim, from head to toe, with the most dreadful cruelty!”(42-45). Wanting spirits to fill her with “dreadful cruelty” is something a crazy person would say. However, now that we know she is crazy, is she still evil? While she does convince Macbeth to kill Duncan, surely someone evil would have no problem doing it themselves? Lady Macbeth is simply a mentally deranged person. Her craziness is manifesting aggressively and causing her to crave power. Which explains why she wants Macbeth to become king and her over-controlling nature towards him during the first portion of the play. Although this may have appeared to be evil, it was merely
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:
Lady Macbeth’s wicked character has an extreme impact towards her husband. Lady Macbeth is responsible for influencing her husband to commit both crimes; she unleashes the dark side of him and motivates him to become an evil and horrendous man. In various parts throughout the story we find that Lady Macbeth strives beyond limits to be converted into a bitter and sour women. The audience is revolted by her horrific actions and although she may seem repugnant, she is an extremely talented actor. In her role, having a deceitful and convincing character is important
Lastly, Lady Macbeth is a huge factor in Macbeth?s evil acts. For instance, she is the one who really starts him off to kill. Lady Macbeth pushes Macbeth for her satisfaction of being queen .In addition to this, she constantly questions his manliness making him feel like a sissy/wimp if he doesn?t commit this act.
Lady Macbeth expresses a hidden evil throughout the play. Behind closed doors, she shows her evil by voicing her heartless phrases to herself. She shows she has no love but for her evil and knows no bounderies when it comes to having her way. "That I may pour my spirits in thine ear" Shows that Lady Macbeth knows that she is evil and is wishing that she could share her evil with Macbeth. "Make thick my blood, Stop up th' Access and Passage to remorse." Expresses Lady Macbeth wanting more evil and is asking for her blood to stop the passage through her heart, so she can continue her evil ways without any remorse or guilt. Although Lady Macbeth is evil, she knows well not to convey this trait to the public, but to be pleasant and sweet to the king and others.
To begin with, Lady Macbeth is an antagonist wife that forces her husband, Macbeth, to kill King Duncan so she can satisfy her own greediness and become queen. Her greedy desire to become queen makes her lose all morality. For example, when she hears that King Duncan is staying at her castle for the night, she says, “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe full of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood; stop the access and passage to remorse.” (Act 1, Scene 5).
An analysis of Lady Macbeth reveals that she is a powerful character who adds complexity and depth to the play of murder, insanity and revenge. Due to Lady Macbeth’s ambition to become queen, she persuades her husband to murder king Duncan. She calls Macbeth a coward, believing that he is not worthy enough to match his actions with his wishes, telling him “Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou art in desire?”(I.vii.39-40). Lady Macbeth is trying to reveal the evil within her husband; she wants to provoke him into committing a murder so that Macbeth will be devoted to gaining control of Scotland. She is aware that she has control over her husband, which she is using against him.
Lady Macbeth is the first to strategize a way to kill Duncan. As a character foil to Macbeth she juxtaposes their possession of guilt and ruthlessness, which creates irony and excitement to the play. Originally, she is very power hungry and wants to utilize her husband’s position in status to become queen. Macbeth objects to the plan to kill Duncan because he believes Duncan is Macbeth’s kinsman, host, and an overall virtuous ruler (Act. 1 Scene. 7) and thus feels very guilty for taking advantage of Duncan’s trusting quality towards the Macbeth family. She refers to Macbeth as weak and rebukes his manhood (Act 1. Scene 7.) . As the play progresses, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have a character role reversal of their possession of guilt and ruthlessness. The character foil is extant, however Macbeth’s ruthlessness overcomes his guilt, and Lady Macbeth’s guilt vanquishes her drive for power. In addition to an alteration in character foils, Shakespeare introduces situational irony because now Lady Macbeth succumbs to the weakness Macbeth once possessed and Macbeth is the one who is formidable and ambitious. Macbeth’s ability to transcend his guilt exemplifies his struggle for power and reinforces the theme of evil ambition because Macbeth is able to secure the throne and power only by mass
William Shakespeare utilizes literary techniques such as symbolism, imagery, soliloquies, asides, and irony to explore the themes of Good vs. Evil and Suffering in his play Macbeth. He employs these literary techniques to convey meaning, greater the effect of language, bring the audience into the mind of a character, and evoke emotions in the audience such as surprise or humour.