Similarities Between Macbeth And Lady Macbeth

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A great psychological questions that people through the times have always wondered is if people have the ability to change. Changing thoughts and behaviors is extremely difficult in changing who a person truly is. However, extremely traumatic events often how the power to do so. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are both very dynamic characters that have personalities and behaviors that greatly change throughout the play. Unfortunately, most of these character changes are not for the greater good. Throughout the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth reveal some similar character traits as well as some very contrasting traits. As the play opens up in Act 1 and the beginning of Act 2, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth oppose
At this point, the characterizations of the two seem to be equal in malevolence and control. Macbeth is starting to take matters into his own hands and becoming more comfortable with the corruption. Macbeth is losing his loyalty and honor, making much more similar to Lady Macbeth. For example, Macbeth in Act 3 Scene 1 is sending murderers to kill his dear friend, Banquo. He manipulates and deceives the murderers to do as he wants. On the topic of murdering Banquo, Macbeth says to the murderers that, “So is he mine; and in such bloody distance/ That every minute of his being thrusts/ Against my near’st of life.” (III.i.119-121). This marks a character shift in Macbeth as he has abandoned the values of his friendship with Banquo in order to keep his power. On the flip side, Lady Macbeth still has control but it is diminishing. In Act 3 Scene 4, Macbeth has visions of seeing Banquo’s ghost at the banquet. Lady Macbeth takes control by imploring to the guests that her husband suffers from a rare disorder. She then goes on to scold Macbeth for his stupidity, telling him to pull himself together. At this point in the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are similarly doing whatever it takes to cover up the murder of
Macbeth is in full control and Lady Macbeth isn’t even coherent enough to know what is going on. Lady Macbeth is fully consumed from the guilt of her evil actions. She constantly sleeps, sleepwalks, and mutters things in her sleep. The gentlewoman reveals that Lady Macbeth needs a candle by her at all times because the darkness will consume her. In her slumber, Lady Macbeth asks, “What, will these hands ne’er be clean?” (V.i.31). This line of Lady Macbeth shows the complete switch of the dynamic characters of Macbeth at the beginning and Lady Macbeth at the conclusion of the play. In the beginning, Lady Macbeth had nonchalantly told Macbeth to wash away his guilt by washing his hands. Now however, the guilt has completely consumed her as she hysterically washes her own hands. On the other hand, Macbeth has now become a tyrant to the point that even readers cannot empathize with him, the protagonist. Macbeth has killed so many Scottish people that no one can even keep count anymore. He ruthlessly sent murderers to kill Macduff’s innocent family. Even Macbeth’s own army does not want to fight for him since he is so corrupt. Macbeth’s character completes a full turn of transformation when he recognizes that, “And that which should accompany old age,/ As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends,/ I must not look to have”

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