Shakespeare's Characterisation of Lady Macbeth
In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is portrayed as a complex character and is
used to fluctuate drama levels according to her choices and her
unpredictable way of thinking. As the play progresses, Shakespeare
employs Lady Macbeth's character to keep the audience constantly
engaged by provoking strong emotional responses to her actions through
shocking language and dramatic tension.
Macbeth was written by Shakespeare during 1606 to 1611. At this time,
James I was on the throne. James I was highly superstitious, and in
1604 introduced a law that any person practicing witchcraft would be
executed. The play was most likely to have been performed in front of
the King. This may be the reason why Shakespeare has used witchcraft,
because it would have been able to induce optimum fear and drama into
the play for this specific audience, thus validating the king's
anxieties.
The Christian religion of the time considered that the monarch was
chosen by God. This was known as 'the Divine Right of Kings'. Due to
this ideology, the death of King Duncan in the play would have been
going against God's will. This would make the murder even more
horrifying for the audience as it would be defying God's laws.
Shakespeare manipulates and distorts the ideas held about women from
the very beginning of his play. In the early 17th century, women were
thought of as lower than men, and unable to be cruel or calculating;
they were expected to be good natured and agreeable. Shakespeare
contorts this view with most of the few women in his play. He opens
Macbeth with three witches. These women do not conform to the
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...d structurally. Shakespeare can let her guilt
override her, and cause her to become ill and die.
Throughout the play until her death, Lady Macbeth reveals the many
sides of her character. When the audience is first introduced to her,
she is seen as murderous, calculating and highly ambitious; yet, as
the play develops she exposes a more feminine and humane side. Her
complex character and strong ambition drive the play forward, giving
rise to dramatic tension and engaging the audience's imaginations
through the imagery, language and emotion of her role. The audience
will wonder whether she, indeed. is wholly evil. The audience will
feel mixed emotions at her death, as, although she could be portrayed
as 'evil', they will feel sympathy towards her because they have seen
her downfall and witnessed her guilt consume her.
In Act 1 Scene 7 of “Macbeth”, Lady Macbeth uses persuasive language to bring Macbeth from a man full of trepidation, to a hardened killer, ready to commit regicide. She does this in a variety of ways. The play was extremely controversial at the time; this was because it effectively reversed the gender roles of society. These roles were imprinted into the very fabric of medieval community; women were seen as inferior to males, and were brutally oppressed by the largely patriarchal society. As a result, shakespearean audiences would be shocked by the role reversal portrayed in Macbeth.
opinions in Act 1, Scene 2. The aim of this is to build the suspense
The Character of Macbeth in William Shakespeare's Play Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ is a play about murder and tragedy. When we first meet Lady Macbeth’s husband, Macbeth, we see him as a loyal and honourable man, however as we read further into the play his character changes. Macbeth says to Lady Macbeth: “False face must hide what the false heart doth know. ”
As the concept of traditional female is significant in Elizabethan society, Lady Macbeth is rather contradictory as she is ambitious and takes control to persuade Macbeth. To begin, when Lady Macbeth receives Macbeth’s letter with the witches appearance and the prophesies, she realizes that her husband is weak-willed and plans to persuade him to remove any obstacles. Worth mentioning is that not only she takes control of the situation but she spurs Macbeth into murdering Duncan by saying “…When you durst do it, then you were a man” (1.7.49). She acts out of her role as she insults his manliness and declares that she would have “dash’d the brains out” (1.7.58) her child while it was feeding at her breast. This reveals her unwomanly characteristics as Lady Macbeth do not care for her children. At the same time, Lady Macbeth overrides the source of evil as she believes in witchcraft and calls for evil spirits for help. She state...
Shakespeare’s piece, as an immeasurable ravine, would always be inaccessible for me to read due to the ancient English and the ancient background under which all the story had token place. I remember the first time of reading Macbeth was when I was in 8 grades. I was too young to appreciate the tragical theme; thus, my first impression of Macbeth was barely left, except knowing its short length. When I was watching the actual Shakespeare playing on the stage, my memory of my earlier reading suddenly was retrieved. However, in the end, Macbeth still left lots of questions for me to concern.
Throughout history women have fought for the same rights of men. In the time of William Shakespeare they were seen in society as weak and vulnerable. They were seen to be good, caring and not as powerful as men. Men were the superior and ruled the land. Shakespeare has taken the stereotypical image of the women of the time and turned it on its head in ‘Macbeth’. Lady Macbeth is shown as a very powerful, strong woman. She has an evil about her that Shakespeare has used to make ‘Macbeth’ a supernatural play. Women were seen to be good and not as powerful as men, in ‘Macbeth’ Lady Macbeth is the dominate character and commands and persuades Macbeth to commit the murders and crimes that he does.
From the very beginning, Lady Macbeth is depicted as an ambitious and powerful woman, who is central to the plot of William Shakespeare's Macbeth.
William Shakespeare was born in Stratford upon Avon in 1564. One of the most influential writers of all time, still remembered today for his enigmatic plays. The zeitgeist of England in the 17th century did nothing but intensify his success. In an age of acute paranoia and a morbid fascination surrounding the supernatural, plays like Macbeth' were the forbidden fruit craved for by the public of that era. Also as feminism was yet to be invented Macbeth' was also controversial in relation to the character of Lady Macbeth, and her almost masculine temperament. In a time where men were the dominant gender, Lady M's domineering character was intriguing. Shakespeare's plays are grouped into three categories; histories, tragedies and comedies. Macbeth is ultimately a tragedy. He was thought to have written The Scottish Play' for King James I, who had a personal interest in witchcraft and the supernatural. In this essay I intend to explore Macbeth and Lady Macbeths fall from grace and the deterioration of their relationship throughout the play.
In the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth has the opportunity to kill Duncan herself, but refuses to do it. Although she grows impatient with her husband and does not have confidence in his ability to commit the murder, she is not the one who carries out the crime. “If the king hadn‘t looked like my father while he slept, I would have done it myself.” (2.2.14-15) These words spoken by Lady Macbeth are clear; she could not kill the king because Duncan reminded her of her father. This gives a perceptible trace of good within her because her excuse for not being able to murder Duncan is baseless. She could never have done it; her compassionate and sentimental side took over. One could argue that Lady Macbeth manages to manipulate her husband with remarkable effectiveness to kill the king. She overrides all his objections and morals. She repeatedly questions his manhood in order to make Macbeth feel that he must kill Duncan. Her remarkable strength of persistence does induce her husband's actions until the crimes have been perpetrated, but in the end Macbeth is the one who decided to proceed with th...
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.
Shakespeare is known for strong male heroes, but they are not laying around in this play, not that Macbeth is full of strong female heroines, either. The women in the play, Lady Macbeth and the witches have very uncommon gender belief, and act as inhumane as the men. While the men engage in direct violence, the women use manipulation to achieve their desires. As Lady Macbeth impels Macbeth to kill King Duncan, she indicated that she must take on some sort of masculine characteristic in order to process the murder. “Come, you spirits/ that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full/ of direst cruelty.” (i v 31-34) This speech is made after she reads Macbeth’s letter. Macbeth, she has shown her desire to lose her feminine qualities and gain masculine ones. Lady Macbeth's seizure of the dominant role in the Macbeth's marriage, on many occasions, she rules her husband and dictates his actions. Her speeches in the first part of the book give the readers a clear impression. “You shall put this night’s great business into my dispatch, which shall […] gi...
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.
Macbeth rejects conformation to traditional gender roles in its portrayal of Lady Macbeth’s relationship with her husband, her morals and their effect on her actions, and her hunger for power. Her regard for Macbeth is one of low respect and beratement, an uncommon and most likely socially unacceptable attitude for a wife to have towards her spouse at the time. She often ignores morality and acts for the benefit of her husband, and subsequently herself. She is also very power-hungry and lets nothing stand in the way of her success. Lady Macbeth was a character which challenged expectations of women and feminism when it was written in the seventeenth century.
William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the history of English literature as well as the world’s paramount playwright. Possibly the most superlative writing attribute he possessed was his unmatched ability of characterization. Shakespeare created unique, opaque, and eminent characters who related to almost everyone. When one thinks of these famous characters, Shakespeare’s tragedy of Macbeth comes into consideration. Macbeth is possibly Shakespearian Theatre’s densest and most disturbed character, and this prestigious title can be credited to his obvious psychological problems. The troubled mind of Macbeth can be related to several modern day psychological problems.
Throughout William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is presented as an evil, cold-hearted person, but, when it comes to the actual act of committing the murder, Lady Macbeth does not commit murder. In the end, it is Macbeth who plunges the knife into Duncan’s heart. Lady Macbeth had planned the whole murder, brought the daggers, and even intoxicated the guards, but it is Macbeth who ultimately killed Duncan. After the crime is committed, it is Macbeth who collapses and Lady Macbeth who smears blood on the guards to complete their plan. From Lady Macbeth actions, it is readily apparent that she is physiologically and physical capable of committing murder, but why does she not? Lady Macbeth is unable to kill Duncan because of the 1600s notion of how a woman should be, Macbeth, being a man should, be the one to seek power, and Lady Macbeth’s feminine qualities forbid her to commit such a crime.