The Role of Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare's Macbeth

853 Words2 Pages

With close reference to and comparison of act 1 scene 5 and act 5 scene 1, explain what you learn about Lady Macbeth’s role and character in the play

The play Macbeth is a tragedy set in 1605 in the 17th century written by William Shakespeare. It is about a regicide (killing of the king) which was even worst back then than it is now because it was thought that who the king was, was picked by God, therefore not only has the guilty persons committed murder but also gone against what God had chosen. It then carries on to tell the story about the aftermath and how it affects the people of that time.

This play would have first been performed by the King’s men and Shakespeare’s company at the Globe playhouse, an open roofed theatre at the time.

The king at the time would be King James 1 who was very interested in the supernatural, so much in fact that he wrote a book called “On demonology” in 1597 in old English which is about his beliefs in witchcraft and santan.

The play Macbeth reflected many people’s beliefs in the supernatural consequently lots of the public were fascinated by it and it became really successful.

Women in Shakespeare’s time were looked down on and didn’t have the same rights as men; they generally did not have an education and was mainly associated with the domestic housework. Once married, women lost the right to inherit any wealth and property that formerly would be theirs from being passed down in the family.

Lady Macbeth is very different to what women would have been like. Lady Macbeth takes control of her marriage and is usually more dominating than her husband Macbeth, although she still doesn’t have many legal rights she doesn’t let the men in her life look down on her. Lady Macbeth isn’t matern...

... middle of paper ...

... she is saying. “Of direst cruelty! ...The effect of it! .... You wait on nature’s mischief!...”. The excessive use of exclamation marks proves this point.

Lady Macbeth does have a relationship with the supernatural and so forth believe in this sort of things. After the messenger comes to the house of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, to deliver the news and saying “The king comes here to-night”, Lady Macbeth calls upon the evil spirits. She says “Come, you spirits that tend to my mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top – full”, this means she wants to be filled from her crown (her head, she is saying crown because of her becoming Queen after King Duncan is killed by her husband) right down to her toes with evil passion and her mortal thoughts of a normal human to be changed to that of a evil beast who can persuade another to kill/ murder.

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