In the play Macbeth by Shakespeare, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s way of thinking get switched. The main reasons for this are the three witches. They told Macbeth and his trustworthy friend, Banquo, that he would be Thane of Glamis, which he already is, Thane of Cawdor, and the king of Scotland. Banquo was told he would father kings. They were both sceptic of these prophecies, but once Macbeth soon became Thane of Cawdor he started believing in what the witches told him. Once he sees Lady Macbeth, after she has been informed of this news, they immediately conclude they must kill the king of Scotland, Duncan, even though the prophecy mentioned no such thing. even though she is quick to act she is also sceptic of this and says, “Yet do I fear thy nature; it is too full o' the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way,”(pg.31) The debate over whether to kill Duncan or not was where their true colors were shown. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s personalities change over the course of the play, their similarities start to show, and in the end guilt over powers them both.
During the play Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s personalities have gone back and forth. When the play began Lady Macbeth was cruel, controlling, and very persuasive. On the other hand, Macbeth was not manly enough for his wife, had a good human nature, and was a hero. Lady Macbeth is the reason for Macbeth killing Duncan. She said to Macbeth, “What beast was’t. then, that made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man.”(pg.43) She believes he is a man when he kills Duncan and he thinks he i s man for not killing him. She says this to try to convince him to do this terrible deed. The only thing she cared...
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.... They switched roles over the course of the play. They both had innocent and evil moments, but each were at different times in their life. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s personalities can be very different, but they are actually very similar too. They both made terrible mistakes that ruined their lives. These mistakes were the killing of Duncan, by Macbeth, but influenced by Lady Macbeth and the killing of Banquo, Macduff’s family, and Young Siward. Macbeth was the one who killed these people. It was his own ideas and didn’t even question what he was doing. In the end they both died a painful death. Not as painful physically, but emotionally. Macbeth was corrupted by Lady Macbeth and ultimately cause this play to be a tragedy.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, Willaim, and Aaron Durband. Macbeth. Shakespeare Made Easy . Hauppagem, NY: Barron, 2004. Print.
Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.
Lady Macbeth is getting very confused that Macbeth is refusing to kill King Duncan and she cannot commit the crime her self because evidently King Duncan resembles too much like her father. She fells that Macbeth is not a man and she ridicules and tries to persuade him to kill King Duncan by saying that he is not a man and that the only way to become a man is to kill the king (regicide).
Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.
In William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, two main characters experience a change that alters their roles and brings out the worst in them. After Macbeth is promised greatness by three witches on a heath, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth try to achieve his prophecy. Because of their over-reaching ambition, they commit numerous murders to obtain their goal of becoming royalty. In order to cope with the guilt, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth undergo a role reversal, where they exchange characters and amount of ambition. At the beginning of Macbeth, Macbeth was hesitant.
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.
After struggling with the thought of killing Duncan, Macbeth is reprimanded by Lady Macbeth for his lack of courage. She informs him that killing the king will make him a man, insinuating that he isn’t a man if he doesn’t go through with the murder. This develops Lady Macbeth as a merciless, nasty, and selfish woman. She will say, or do anything to get what she desires, even if it means harming others. It is this selfishness that makes it hard for the reader to be empathetic towards her later in the play, as it is evident in this scene that her hardships were brought on by herself. If she hadn’t insisted on the murder, she would not be driven in...
As Shakespeare’s tragic tale of ambition unfolds, the two central characters, Lady Macbeth and the title character Macbeth, undergo a dramatic shift of dominance in their relationship. In the beginning of the play the couple act as a team, plotting the death of Duncan to further their mutual bloodthirsty ambition. Lady Macbeth soon shows her power over Macbeth when she questions her husband’s manhood and devotion to her when he gets cold feet. As Macbeth’s confidence slowly grows and the witches proclaim positive futures for him he begins to separate himself from his wife, planning Banquo’s assassination without telling her, and no longer being susceptible to her insults. By the end of the play the roles have completely switched and Lady Macbeth spirals into guilt-fueled insanity as Macbeth prepares to battle to keep his throne. This essay will explore the relationship between Macbeth and his wife, paying particular attention to the scenes previously mentioned.
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.
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
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Washington Square, 1992. Print. The New Folger Library Shakespeare.
When Macbeth arrives at his castle Lady Macbeth tells him to wear a friendly face and leave the plotting up to her. However, when Macbeth decides against killing the king, Lady Macbeth is outraged. She appeals to his ambition and pride while at the same time mocking his masculinity until she persuades him to persevere in her plot to kill the king. She even says that she would kill her own child had she promised to do so. This is where I think it becomes apparent that Lady Macbeth has a higher sense of ambitions and far less scruples than the future king. Its as if Lady Macbeth is actually Macbeth’s darker, more sinister side. She is the one that encourages him to do such sinister deeds even after he has decided to oppose the notion. She seems quite proud of herself for initiating the deed and says that she would have committed the act herself had Duncan not resembled her father as he lay their sleeping.
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
Throughout the play "Macbeth", two of the main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth gradually exchange roles. Macbeth is the kind, caring one of the two in the beginning, but completely changes as the play goes on, as with Lady Macbeth. She starts out as an evil, vicious beast. She is an evil woman who is bond and determined to kill Duncan.
Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.
Shakespeare, William. “Macbeth.” The Complete Works of Shakespeare. Ed. David Bevington. New York: Longman, 1997